AREAL DESCRIPTION 625 



with kettles; at Bijantville a rolling plain at 100 feet; and at Bonney 

 Hill a smoothed ridge at 140 feet. It is probable that the sites of most 

 of the villages have been determined by plains with better drainage. 



BARNSTABLE AND CAPE COD 



Besides the argument supplied by the neighboring territory for lower 

 altitude of the moraine belt, there are intrinsic evidences of submergence : 



1. Superficial stratified sands and gravels at high levels or the fre- 

 quent stretches of horizontal water-laid deposits. 



2. Areas leveled by wave-work, shown conspicuously by the horizontal 

 lines in many landscapes. The hill summit at Woods Hole, used for 

 the golf links, is leveled at about 130 feet. Two miles south of Barn- 

 stable village is a wide gravel plain at 80 feet (47, page 94). All of 

 the Cape Cod Peninsula shown by the Wellfleet and Provincetown sheets 

 has the hilltops wave-planed. The Highland Light plateau, at North 

 Truro, has been mentioned. On the massive, stony moraines the wave- 

 eroded surfaces are not common in such form as to be unequivocal and 

 are elusive features, which can be seen when sought and may be unrecog- 

 nized or ignored when not in harmony with the student's theory. 



3. The prevailing compact and unassorted structure 'of the lower 

 gravels. These lack the bedding which is quite inevitable in shallow- 

 water deposits. Subsequent wave-work in the shallowing waters has 

 produced some stratification of the surfaces. 



4. The subdued, billowy aspect of the heavier moraine. The hills and 

 knolls usually lack the harshness and asperity commonly seen in land- 

 laid moraines. Of course, this feature is comparative and the personal 

 judgment requires experience in different fields. 



An argument against submergence might be found in the existence of 

 considerable irregularity of surface or topographic relief, not only in 

 the stony moraine tracts, but in the sandy Cape Cod belt. It might be 

 asked, how such irregular surface of sand and gravel could persist in the 

 face of the open sea while emerging from the water. The answer in- 

 volves some factors of the geologic dynamics: 



(1) The relief was not nearly as great when the planing occurred, 

 but has been increased by the subsequent slumping due to late meltin'-'- 

 of buried ice blocks. The presence of many and large kettles is not an 

 argument against submergence, but in its favor, since it appears that 

 the melting of buried ice is very slow until the deposits are exposed to 

 the air (74, page 232). Kettles appear to be much more abundant 

 in moraine and kame areas laid under standino^ water. 



