REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I916 35 



were all important channels of ice movement, and those which head 

 in gaps in that escarpment all carry heavy deposits of moraine 

 whose southern limits are marked, in a general way, by the Esopus 

 valley and by the valley of Bush kill between Grand Hotel and 

 Arkville. From Stony Clove, Forest Valley and Bushnellsville 

 creek, the ice entered Esopus valley, spreading, in bulb form, both 

 up and down the valley. 



Of the valleys at the head of the east branch of the Delaware 

 river, those heading against the central escarpment, namely, those 

 of east branch, Batavia kill, and Vly creek have massive moraines 

 ending respectively at Margaretville (?), Kelly Corners and 

 Griffin Corners, whereas those which do not extend back to the 

 escarpment, notably Red kill, have very little morainic material 

 in them. 



There are strong moraines near Stamford and between Stamford 

 and Hobart, opposite the gaps in the escarpment east of Stamford, 

 and there is an almost unbroken series of morainic loops along 

 the valley of the west branch of the Delaware river from South 

 Kortright, 4 miles below Hobart, to Delhi and beyond. These 

 moraines are most strongly developed along the south side of the 

 valley. 



At about the time that ice lobes were descending from the 

 Bushnellsville and other valleys into Esopus valley, the great tongue 

 of ice on the Hudson river lowland lay across the mouth of 

 Esopus creek. From it, lobes of ice pushed westward and north- 

 westward into the valleys of Beaver kill and Little Beaver kill, 

 and pushed up the Esopus nearly to Phoenicia, impounding a lake 

 in Esopus valley. Meanwhile the ice lay banked against the 

 eastern spur of the Catskills at High Point, south of the Esopus. 

 At this period, which must have been a long one, the marginal 

 drainage of the ice, together with all the drainage of the Esopus 

 watershed, discharged into Rondout creek through the " Gulf " 

 past Peekamoose lodge, and cut a magnificent gorge. Later, as the 

 level of the ice banked against the eastern spur of High Point was 

 lowered to that of the bottom of the ''Gulf" (1677 feet), the 

 latter was abandoned and a sharp notch, " Wagon Wheel gap," 

 noted by Darton^ was cut in the mountain spur. Further lowering 

 of the ice caused this channel to be abandoned. The lower slopes 

 of the spur have not been examined. 



^ Dar.ton, N. H., Preliminary Report on the Geology of Ulster County, 

 N. Y. State Museum Rep't 47. 1894. 



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