REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1901 r33 



LATEST AND LOWEST PRE-IROQUOIS CHANNELS 

 BETWEEN SYRACUSE AND ROME 



Location and character of the channel phenomena 



A former report of the writer 1 gave descriptions of the an- 

 cient, elevated stream channels which lie across the north-facing 

 slopes of the great ridges between Syracuse and Oneida. Those 

 high ancient channels were cut by eastward flowing waters 

 escaping past the front of the glacier when the ice sheet was 

 slowly melting away from the higher ground. In that report 

 mention was made of the later and lower channels, which lie on 

 the plain at the north edge of the slopes. A description of 

 these low channels will now be given. 



These lowest channels were the last formed in the district 

 previous to the establishment of Lake Iroquois. 2 They lie at the 

 south edge of the Ontario plain, close against the foot of the 

 slopes or against the outlying hills. They form level, water- 

 planed stretches which are utilized from Syracuse to Rome, 

 about 40 miles, by the New York Central Railroad, and between 

 Syracuse and Canastota by the Erie canal. The accompanying 

 maps (pis. 7-10) indicate the location of the channels and stream- 

 out banks. 



That these channels were formed at the immediate edge of 

 the glacier, by stream flow squeezed between the ice front and 

 the high ground or hills on the south, is clearly shown by the 

 absence of north banks to the channels for most of the distance. 

 At many places the lower land surface is a smooth plain, sloping 

 gently to the northward. The glacier is the only conceivable 



X N. Y. State Geologist. 20th An. Rep't. p. rll9. In the introduction to 

 that paper will be found a list of the writings on the subject of ancient 

 stream channels in western New York. 



To clearly understand the present paper the reader should have in hand 

 four sheets of the New York State topographic map, namely, Syracuse, 

 Chittenango, Oneida and Oriskany. These sheets may be obtained for 5 

 <?ents each from the United States Geological Survey, Washington D. C. 



2 A map of the glacial lake Iroquois is published as plate 19, in the 20th 

 annual report of the state geologist. 



