401 



can be distinctly seen on practically all sides of this hill, coming slightly 

 above the 760-foot contour line. 



About one and one-half miles southwest of Ellettsville in the south- 

 east corner of Section 8, T. 9 N., R. 2 W., is a sink which has a small 

 stream entering it, and draining about one-half square mile of Flatwoods. 

 This stream has lowered this corner of Flatwoods considerably below 

 the general level. The water that goes into the sink flows out about a 

 half mile to the southwest from a couple of large springs which drain 

 into Raccoon Greek. 



Perhaps the most interesting opening in the periphery of the basin 

 occurs in Section 1, T. 9 N., R. 3 W. This opening leads into a tributary 

 of Raccoon Creek, and is at least a third of a mile wide. To the east of 

 it is a high hill or ridge attaining a maximum height of 910 feet, and on 

 the west another ridge reaches above the 880-eontour line. The floor of 

 the opening itself is twenty-five feet or more below the silt-line on the 

 sides of the bills. This opening is really a connection between Flatwoods 

 proper and a continuation of it in the Raccoon Creek Yalley. Consideration 

 will be given it later. 



There is yet another outlet to the Flatwoods region, which at first 

 was very puzzling to the writer. At the western extremity of the basin 

 Allistons Branch reaches into it by many deep and narrow tributaries. 

 These tributaries are almost invariably headed by seepage springs which 

 come out into the sandy material in which the tributaries are cut. The 

 basin itself is some higher at this western part. The basin cannot be said 

 to have a margin at this western limit; it ends more or less abruptly in 

 the tributaries of Allistons Branch. If it ever had a peripheral margin at 

 this end it has been effaced by the V-shaped valleys leading into Allistons 

 Branch. The writer intends to prove that this western end never had a 

 distinct margin, that is, like the so clearly identified ones on the southern 

 and northern periphery of the region. 



From the silt line at the foot of the hills, the slope of the basin is 

 generally inward toward the mathematical center. The lowest part of the 

 basin (not considering the valley and channel of McCormicks Creek i is 

 along the Monroe-Owen County line, between sections 31 and 36, T. 10 

 N., and branching off from this along the southern part of section 31 and 

 and along the northern part of section 36. This region is very fertile, being 

 almost entirely a black loamy soil. The white silt of the bordering 



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