39 

 INTRODUCTION. 



Physical Features. 



The portion of Southern Ontario which lies west of a 

 line from Georgian bay to Toronto is known as the Western 

 Peninsula. The whole of this region is embraced in the 

 coastal plain of Palaeozoic age which was laid down on 

 the western flank of the continental Pre-Cambrian protaxis. 

 The area is divided into two physiographic units by a more 

 or less abrupt escarpment (Niagara cuesta), which extends 

 from Queenston on the Niagara river to Hamilton at the 

 head of Lake Ontario and thence into the Bruce peninsula 

 between Lake Huron and Georgian bay. East of this 

 escarpment lies the Palaeozoic lowland of Eastern Ontario 

 which therefore extends only a short distance into the 

 Western Peninsula and appears as a narrow belt along its 

 eastern side. The western and much greater portion of 

 the peninsula constitutes an upland with an average 

 elevation above the eastern lowland of about 300 feet 

 (91 .2 metres). 



The southern part of the western upland is remarkably 

 flat as shown by the following elevations along the lines of 

 the chief railways: 





Elevation at Elevation 

 Niagara Falls, at Summit. 



Elevation 

 at Windsor. 





Feet. 



Met. Feet. 



Met. 



Feet. 



Met. 



Michigan Central Ry. — 

 Niagara Falls to Wind- 

 sor, 225-75 miles. . . . 

 (361-2 km.) 



Grand Trunk Railway- — 

 Niagara Falls to Wind- 

 sor, 229-35 miles. . . . 

 (366-9 km.) 



585 

 573 



177-8 

 174-2 



815 

 1007 



247-8 

 306-1 



580 

 579-4 



1763 

 176- 1 



A little farther to the north, the maximum elevation 

 on the line of the Grand Trunk railway from Toronto to 



