﻿66 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  can 
  flow. 
  Gilbert, 
  with 
  the 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  theory, 
  sought 
  

   for 
  a 
  torrent 
  spillway 
  along 
  the 
  retreading 
  ice 
  sheet, 
  and 
  considered 
  

   " 
  The 
  Gulf 
  " 
  the 
  outlet 
  for 
  the 
  glacial 
  waters. 
  " 
  The 
  Gulf 
  " 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  is 
  an 
  integral 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  wonderful 
  story 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  glacial 
  

   lakes, 
  and 
  the 
  political 
  chance 
  which 
  has 
  drawn 
  the 
  boundary 
  line 
  

   between 
  Canada 
  and 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  across 
  " 
  The 
  Gulf 
  " 
  serves 
  

   doubly 
  to 
  remind 
  us 
  of 
  its 
  living 
  type, 
  the 
  gorge 
  of 
  Niagara. 
  

  

  On 
  Thursday, 
  July 
  4, 
  those 
  who 
  had 
  taken 
  the 
  preliminary 
  trip 
  to 
  

   Covey 
  hill 
  drove 
  from 
  Mooers 
  southward 
  to 
  West 
  Chazy 
  along 
  many 
  

   abandoned 
  shore 
  lines, 
  at 
  elevations 
  varying 
  from 
  300 
  to 
  600 
  feet 
  

   above 
  the 
  present 
  sea 
  level. 
  At 
  West 
  Chazy 
  others 
  joined 
  the 
  party 
  

   from 
  Plattsburg, 
  and 
  all 
  met 
  on 
  Cobblestone 
  hill, 
  where 
  a 
  halt 
  was 
  

   made 
  for 
  an 
  hour 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  remarkable 
  beaches 
  of 
  cobbles 
  show- 
  

   ing 
  pronounced 
  bars, 
  spits 
  and 
  hooks, 
  at 
  levels 
  of 
  600 
  feet 
  and 
  over 
  

   above 
  sea 
  level. 
  

  

  These 
  beaches 
  of 
  heavy 
  glacial 
  detritus 
  were 
  laid 
  down 
  in 
  a 
  fresh- 
  

   water 
  glacial 
  lake, 
  when 
  the 
  ice 
  stood 
  a 
  short 
  distance 
  north 
  of 
  this 
  

   point, 
  by 
  the 
  waters 
  discharging 
  from 
  the 
  northwest 
  over 
  Flat 
  Rock 
  

   from 
  the 
  Altona 
  spillway. 
  

  

  Thence 
  the 
  party 
  drove 
  across 
  the 
  bare 
  Potsdam 
  sandstone 
  over 
  

   the 
  Altona 
  spillway, 
  where 
  striking 
  evidences 
  were 
  seen 
  of 
  the 
  scour- 
  

   ing 
  action 
  of 
  torrential 
  glacial 
  waters. 
  After 
  lunch 
  at 
  a 
  spring 
  of 
  

   water 
  running 
  from 
  the 
  Potsdam 
  sandstone 
  in 
  the 
  spillway 
  the 
  party 
  

   listened 
  to 
  a 
  talk 
  by 
  Prof. 
  H. 
  L. 
  Fairchild 
  on 
  

  

  Lake 
  Iroquois 
  extinction 
  

  

  Lake 
  Iroquois 
  was 
  the 
  great 
  glacial 
  water 
  held 
  in 
  the 
  Ontario 
  

   basin 
  while 
  the 
  Laurentian 
  ice 
  mass 
  occupied 
  the 
  St 
  Lawrence 
  valley 
  

   and 
  forced 
  the 
  overflow 
  by 
  the 
  Rome 
  outlet 
  to 
  the. 
  Mohawk 
  and 
  

   Hudson 
  valleys. 
  This 
  original 
  Iroquois 
  outlet 
  was 
  effective 
  for 
  

   several 
  thousand 
  years, 
  and 
  determined 
  the 
  water 
  level 
  for 
  nearly 
  

   the 
  whole 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  waters. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  ice 
  body 
  weakened, 
  and 
  the 
  front 
  receded 
  on 
  the 
  salient 
  

   which 
  projects 
  northeastward 
  from 
  the 
  Adirondacks 
  into 
  Canada, 
  

   a 
  lower 
  escape 
  for 
  the 
  ice-dammed 
  waters 
  was 
  opened 
  across 
  the 
  

   Covey 
  hill 
  ridge, 
  precisely 
  at 
  the 
  International 
  boundary. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  Gulf," 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  locally 
  known, 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  cut 
  in 
  Potsdam 
  

   sandstone, 
  long 
  since 
  noted 
  by 
  Emmons 
  and 
  Gilbert, 
  and 
  recently 
  

   described 
  by 
  Woodworth. 
  The 
  present 
  altitude 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  

   Covey 
  outlet 
  is 
  over 
  900 
  feet, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  it 
  was 
  opened 
  the 
  

   locality 
  was 
  about 
  460 
  feet 
  lower 
  than 
  today, 
  and 
  the 
  initiation 
  of 
  

  

  