ULACIAL GEOLOGY OF THE SARATOGA QUADRANGLE 39 



Fairchild 1 who states : " The average northward uplift of the 

 marine plain in the Hudson-Champlain valley appears to be about 

 2j4 feet a mile." 



5 Eroded till east and southeast of Corinth. Evidences of 

 flooded conditions in the Hudson channel east of Corinth may here 

 be further noted. The slopes of the river on both sides are made 

 up at the surface largely of eroded till. At the upper reaches of 

 the slopes there are frequent exposures of bedrock presenting the 

 appearance of ordinary weathered rock, but at the lower levels the 

 valley is cut in till. The boulders lying on the slopes, especially 

 where terracelike stretches occur, are of large size, showing clearly 

 the sorting action of powerful currents. The sloping surface of the 

 terrace, 3 miles southeast of Palmer, likewise attests the existence 

 of powerful, eroding currents, subsequent to the time of lacustrine 

 conditions. The deposits which had been built up to near the 640 

 foot level in the lake were graded down, producing the present sur- 

 face gently declining from the outer margin of the terrace toward 

 the river. The same currents swept away the eastern terminal 

 portion of the moraine, producing a well-defined blurt continuous 

 with that which lies east of the terrace facing the river. The top of 

 this bluff is estimated at 200 feet above the level of the present 

 river. 



There is also an area of eroded till extending southward from the 

 river at Corinth and Palmer. It marks the course of the currents 

 which, moving southward, swept away the western end of the 

 morainic belt and produced the further effects described above. 



SOURCE OF THE FLOODED WATERS 



It does not seem probable that a river of the magnitude requisite 

 to produce the effects above described could have resulted from 

 the ordinary gathering of waters from the melting of the ice. Dur- 

 ing the development of Lake Corinth — through the accumulation 

 of waters in front of the slowly retreating ice sheet — comparatively 

 quiet and stable conditions as regards depth and movement of waters 

 prevailed, as is shown by the fact that the morainic dam held the 

 waters in check. The Lake Corinth deposits extend northward 

 beyond the edge of the sheet and, as well as could be determined 

 by a cursory inspection, continue as far north as Luzerne. It may 

 be inferred that the relatively quiet conditions lasted until the ice 

 front reached Luzerne. 



1 Pleistocene Geology of New York Stale, Science, February 21, 1913, p. 297. 



