DRUMLINS OF CENTRAL WESTERN NEW YORK 407 



The type of form least exemplified in New York is the dome- 

 shaped. While such may rarely be found they certainly do not 

 characterize any district. The group of drumlins which most nearly 

 approaches the mammillary form, judging from the topographic 

 sheets, lies in the neighborhood of Fairhaven bay, and is partly shown 

 in plate 7. The oval form is excellently shown on the Weedsport 

 sheet [pi. 11]. The long oval or short ridge, the 'Molphin back " 

 shape, probably includes a majority of all the New York drumlins, 

 and is the most widely distributed. A massive development may be 

 seen on the Palmyra sheet, plate 4. Probably this form should 

 be regarded as the typical drumlin form, from which, the dome 

 on the one. hand and the linear ridge on the other are extreme 

 variations. 



The long drumlin ridges, which are specially pronounced in New 

 York and are therefore regarded as the New York type, are well 

 displayed on the Clyde, Auburn, Oswego and Brockport sheets. 

 There are two extreme varieties of the ridge form, the large and the 

 small. The large form includes broad, low swells or rolls which if 

 lying alone or far separated may not be recognized as of drumlin 

 nature. They are not often indicated by the map contouring. 

 These low, broad moldings of the till are the common and only 

 form over most of the surface of the Niagara-Genesee prairie. 

 Passing west on the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, 

 the change can be readily seen from quite typical long drumlins 

 near the Genesee river [pi. 18] to very long swells of low relief, 

 which if not at all indicated by the 20 foot contours may be 

 recognized by the shallow cuts for the railroad grade. AVestward 

 these rolls gradually fade into gentle' undulations of the surface, 

 quite imperceptible except by the up and down grades of the rail- 

 road. Large areas are perfectly flat to the eye. Buildings are 

 visible for miles in different directions on the plain unless hidden by 

 trees. The roads stretch great distances, ending to view only 

 by the overarching shade trees or by a turn in direction. That 

 this smooth country has been ice-molded is shown by the stream 

 flow, which is northeast or decidedly oblique to the general slope. 

 The low relief and the oblique stream control is well shown in 

 plate 19. 



These southwest-pointing drumlin ridges occur in strong develop- 

 ment southwest of Alden and west and southwest of Buffalo over 



