424 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



regularity of form seem to occur in the middle of the belt and to 

 characterize the maximum work of the constructive process. 



lo Steep struck slopes seem to be more commonly associated with 

 the steep and long ridges; while the low struck slopes pertain to the 

 lower and broader f,orms. 



Relation to moraines 



The precise relation of the several drumlin belts to the terminal 

 (recessional) moraines can not be fully stated until further careful 

 study has been given to the moraines, but a few interesting facts can 

 now be given. 



If the drumlins specially represent the more vigorous movement 

 of the bottom ice during episodes of either frontal advance or halts 

 in the frontal recession then each drumlin belt should correlate with 

 a frontal moraine.^ Such relationship seems definite for the central 

 or main drumlin belt, the Oakfield-Syracuse series, in the stretch 

 from Syracuse westward as far as the meridian of Rochester. Where 

 the drumlins fade out to the attenuated forms, from Auburn west- 

 ward to Geneva, a distinct moraine lies 2 or 3 miles in front, on the 

 south [pi. 13]. Remnants of the moraine mark its course eastward 

 to Split Rock, southwest of Syracuse, but in the Split Rock district 

 the ice front was swept by rivers of ice border drainage and the ice- 

 rafted drift was largely dropped into the ,grasp of the streams. West 

 of Geneva the same relation of drainage to the ice front is very pro- 

 nounced. A remarkable series of strong river-cut channels extend- 

 ing from northwest of Batavia eastward to Phelps swept the ice 

 margin and removed most of the terminal drift, though some 

 remnants are left, sufficient to prove its position. ^ 



The interesting fact in this connection is that the drumlins of the 

 main series reach in full strength up to the north bank of these 

 channels [pi, 9, 11, 14] and there abruptly end. The drainage chan- 

 nels do not represent the forward position to which the ice would. , 

 have reached with no interference (or the location of the moraine 



1 The theory is now held bj'- glacialisis that the front of the continental glacier receded by 

 oscillation, a succession of retreats and lesser readvances, and that the stronger moraines were 

 accumulated at the ice margin during the culmination of the advances. The successive moraines 

 in any given area are thus supposed to mark the successive readvanced positions of the ice front. 

 For this subject see specially the writings of F. B. Taylor, " Moraines of Recession and Their 

 Significance in Glacial Theory" [Jour. Geol. 1897. 5: 421-66]. 



2 The description of these glacial river channels will be found in another bulletin of the State 

 Museum, under the title, * Glacial Drainage between Batavia and Syracuse." 



