CHAPTER LXXX. 



REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF ASHLAND COUNTY. 



BT M. C. READ. 



LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY. 



Ashland is a narrow county, having an extreme length, from north to 

 south, of a little over thirty-five miles, and a breadth of fifteen. It is 

 situated on the dividing ridge between the waters of the Lake and the 

 Ohio River, and upon the northern margin of the coal field. The crest 

 of this divide has a north-easterly and south-westerly bearing, lies a lit- 

 tle north of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, and is nearly par- 

 allel with its general course. This ridge is deeply divided by a valley 

 now marking the course of a pre-glacial channel, which enters the county 

 from the north a little west of Ruggles Center, following a branch of the 

 Vermillion to Savannah Lake, and thence south-easterly, passing a lit- 

 tle to the east of Ashland village, and generally coincident with the val- 

 ley of Jerome Fork to its junction with the Mohican. North of the 

 dividing ridge the land slopes gently to a broad plain, a few small 

 streams gathering the surface waters and conveying them toward the 

 Lake. On the north side, springs and streams are more abundant, the 

 surface slopes southward, is very irregularly diversified with hills and val- 

 leys, and presents many scenes of great beauty. 



The highest hills on this divide reach an altitude of six hundred and 

 ninety feet above the Lake, indicating an original table land at this ele- 

 vation which has since been eroded and diversified by the denuding 

 agencies that excavated the ravines and valleys. 



Southward between the Black Fork, Jerome Fork, and Mud Fork, the 

 hills rise to the height of six hundred and fifty feet above the Lake, and 

 now form a succession of ridges trending nearly north and south, with 

 occasional benches on their slopes, showing between them valleys in 

 which the receding waters flowed southward. 



South of Loudon ville an irregular succession" of hills rises to the height 

 of three hundred, and ninety-five feet above the railroad at that place, 

 and eight hundred and seven feet above the Lake. These, at their tops, 

 in several places catch the Carboniferous Conglomerate, and on a narrow 



