REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1900 rl31 



Erie, extending from Gowanda, Chautauqua co., southwest to 

 beyond ChautaTiqua lake, a distance in direct line of about 35 

 miles. The line of water parting was examined throughout most 

 of its length from Perrysburg, southwest of Gowanda, to a point 

 S miles west of Mayville, with special reference to the channels 

 of overflow of the glacial waters. The distance along the wind- 

 ings of this line is about 45 miles.^ 



Divide and stream channels 



The stretches of the divide on the lower ground, nearer Lake 

 Erie, are mostly on moraine drift. A southward bendi of the 

 divide around the head of Oanadaway creek lies on high ground, 

 having only a thin veneer of ground moiraine drift. 



Few stream channels cross the divide, and none of great capac- 

 ity, as the glacial waters in this region escaped southwest past 

 the ice front as soon as the latter had receded some distance 

 from the divide. Only two summit swamps of any considerable 

 size lie on the divide, one of these being at the head of Bear 

 lake, 3 J miles southeast of Brockton, the other at the head of 

 the Little inlet of Chautauqua lake, 2 miles north of Mayyille. 

 The location of these swamps with reference to the general topog- 

 raphy forbids the idea that they could long have been the out- 

 let channels of large streams, though they carried the local 

 waters of the waning ice front for a time. The map altitude of 

 both of these swamp cols is between 1320 and 1340 feet. 



4 miles north of Mayville^ at the four corners by the Elm Flat 

 church and schoolhouse, is a short, open, clean-cut channel across 

 the divide, 15 to 20 rods in width. It lies near the head of the 

 Big inlet of Chautauqua lake, with a map altitude of 1340 feet. 

 Another channel occurs in the town of Arkwright, IJ miles west 

 of Mud lake. It carried the waters of the small Walnut creek 

 glacial lake over to the west branch of the Conewangoi creek- 

 The map elevation is 1420 feet. 



^ The topographic sheets which cover most of the territory involved in 

 this paper are the Silver Creek and Cherry Creek, Dunkirk and Westfield. 



