DRUMLINS OF CENTRAL WESTERN NEW YORK 4ljr 



section ; and some in longitudinal section. One could not reason- 

 ably ask for more favorable exposure than nature here affords. 



The structure can not be seen properly at close range from the 

 beach, nor at the long range from the steamers. In August 1905 

 the writer secured the help of an oarsman and with a small boat 

 examined the entire shore from Sodus bay to Oswego. Part of this 

 stretch was reexamined in September, and the study carried westward 

 from Sodus bay. Many photographs ^ were taken, some of which 

 are produced in plates 43 to 46. 



The erosion cliffs range in hight from 20 feet up to 140 feet The 

 growth of vegetation is rarely sufficient to obscure the structure, and 

 in some cases is in itself a proof of the till bedding, as it lies in 

 horizontal lines. The higher cliffs are all bare. 



More than half of the cliffs show undoubted concentric bedding 

 and in several it is surprisingly distinct. At distances which 

 minimize the relief of the cliff faces, in buttresses, reentrants, 

 and amphitheaters [pi. 43], the fact of bedding parallel with the 

 drumlin surface is strikingly evident, and is shown in different 

 v/ays. A difference in the texture of the beds is apparent even at 

 close range. Distinct zones or lines of boulders are often seen. A 

 difference in shade of color is common, and the shading due to 

 varying capacity for moisture is pronounced. The latter is also 

 shown by patches of vegetation clinging along certain zones. The 

 second cliff east of Sodus bay, " Cline's bluff," shows at even 2 miles 

 distance a conspicuous line of vegetation. A most striking proof 

 of bedded structure is shown by the differences in weathering, 

 which are often indicated, as in plate 46, by the uniformity in hight 

 on the cliff face of the conical buttresses. Two other cliffs which 

 show this feature well are: one east of Juniper pond and 2 miles east 

 of Fairhaven bay, which shows three lines of erosion cones ; and 



iThe first photographs were taken with an ordinary shutter which proved too slow with the 

 tossing of the boat. These first photographs show clearly the bedded structure but they are too 

 blurred to be suitable for reproduction. For the second trip the Bausch & Lomb Optical 

 Company kindlj'- loaned a "Plastigmat " lens and a "Volute" shutter, and the photographs of 

 plates 43 to 46 represent an exposure of 1-150 of a second, in the hazy light of the last day of 

 September, The camera was a 5x7 Cartridge kodak, the only camera which the writer has used 

 in six years. 



When these views were taken the drumlin sections were very dry and the hygroscopic differ- 

 ences in the till layers did not show as well as they do soon after a heavy rain. Much better 

 views can be obtained when all conditions are favorable, as quiet water of the lake, good light- 

 ing and the cHff faces in best condition. 



To Mr W. R. Walsh of Sodus Point the writer's thanks are due for valuable assistance. 



