B. F. Koons—IIigh Terraces of Eastern Connecticut. 427 



At stations one and two the terraces are well defined on both 

 sides, and extend far up and down the stream, also, considerable 

 distant hack from it. indicating that the floods had great width 

 at this point. As indicated bj tl two stations 



I expected a gradual decrease in the elevation of the terraces as 

 I ascended the river from Norwich, but found that at station 

 three, on the west side of the stream, in the village of Occum, 

 the height is 84 feet, but upon investigation found the cause of 

 this increase of height above station two to be the narrows in 

 the river, a mile below the village, where the stream breaks 

 through a line of hills, and doubtless during the flood times, as 

 now, had a narrow channel and rapids between the rocks rising 

 abruptly on both sides of the stream. 



At stations four, five and six the floods again spread very 

 widely, and formed what might more properly be called a lake 

 than a stream, for the terrace outline can be traced far back from 

 the present stream, and in an almost unbroken line well up to 

 station seven, where the river again makes its way through a 

 line of hills. At this point bold cliffs project well into the 

 stream, and the evidences are very clear that this was the loca- 

 tion of another ice-dam ; for, at the head of the narrow gorge, 

 which is about one-half mile long, there is a terrace formation 

 107'5 feet high, and located close to the stream. 



Had the passage through tiie.se hills remained unobstructed 

 during the flood period, the great force with which the vast 

 volume of water would have gone into these narrows would 

 have been such as to sweep everything before them, and no 

 deposit could possibly have been made at this point. Also the 

 nature of these deposits, the coarse and irregular condition of 

 the stones and bowlders, seems to indicate that only floating 

 ice could have placed them there. Likewise, a kettle-hole, some 

 25 feet deep, is found within this deposit, and it appears as 

 though a mass of floating ice became stranded at one side of 

 the entrance to the .gorge, was subsequently buried by the 

 stones, sand and gravel, brought down upon the floating ice, 

 and finally melted leaving tins depression. The deposits a 

 mile above this are very fine, coin |» >-< d pri icipa ! \ of clay and 

 sand, while at station eight, a mile and a half above, they are 

 considerably coarser, and at station nine coarser still. If an 

 obstruction existed within the [kiss, then the waters above would 

 be checked in their flow and would drop their coarse material 

 far upstream and their liner lower down, and the floating ice 

 would carry its material into the pack at the head of the pass; 

 and this is just the condition we have here, and that too with- 

 out the aid of any considerable side streams to produce it. 



All these facts, together with the great difference in the 

 height of the terraces above and below the narrows, seem to 

 indicate that this was the location of an ice-dam. 



