GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF THE SARATOGA QUADRANGLE 2>] 



an elevation of 660 feet and it is inferred that originally the de- 

 posits stood at this level. The materials as seen at the surface con- 

 sist mainly of coarse sands grading to fine gravels, but in the south- 

 eastern extension there is a considerable admixture of clay. In the 

 locality of Corinth the formation is exposed in section in recently 

 graded roads and is seen to consist of a thick mass of sands and 

 gravels well stratified. A good exposure was also seen along the 

 road which crosses the southeastern area, the materials being strati- 

 fied grayish sands weathering to yellow. 



These deposits are evidently of lacustrine origin. It is clear 

 that after the period of a stationary ice front had passed and the 

 glacier resumed its retreat to the north the moraine acted as a bar- 

 rier to the flow of waters derived from the melting ice. As the 

 ice sheet continued to withdraw to the north, a lake developed, 

 bounded by the belt of moraine on the south and having the ice 

 front as its northern margin. This body of glacial waters, which 

 may be named Lake Corinth, received sediments from the melting 

 ice and from the streams issuing from the edge of the ice and from 

 the drainage of the slopes lying to the east and west of the lake. 

 These sediments, abundant in quantity and borne by strong cur- 

 rents, were widely distributed over the floor of the lake. They con- 

 tinued to accumulate until the mass of stratified sands and gravels, 

 described above had been laid down. 



The overflow waters of the lake followed lines of depression 

 across the belt of moraine forming the dam. Through differences 

 in rate of erosion, a single outlet stream became established. The 

 present topography, as well as the distribution of the materials of 

 sedimentary origin, shows that the main outlet became established 

 across the western end of the moraine. This outlet stream, after 

 its passage across the moraine, debouched upon the outwash plain 

 and formed a channel or channels in the plain. The materials 

 picked up by the currents may have been deposited farther south, 

 thus resulting in a redistribution of the materials of the plain and a 

 further aggradation of it in its southern extension. It may thus 

 be inferred that the lowering of the waters of Lake Corinth, due to 

 the cutting down of the morainic dam by the outlet stream of the 

 lake, was partly counteracted by the aggradation of the plain in 

 the South Corinth locality. 



Other lacustrine deposits. North of the group of kame hills 

 which form the easternmost portion of the morainic belt, lies an 

 area of sands. Its present topographic form is that of a terrace, 



