﻿364 J. 0. Branner — ThieJc/ness of the lee in Northeastern 



In the depression between the two, at an elevation of about 

 2,400 feet, I found the rocks presenting the general features of, 

 ice-worn surfaces ; but inasmuch as there were no striae pre- 

 served, and as the original surface of the not very hard Catskill 

 sandstone had generally disintegrated, it could not be said with 

 certainty that the form of the rock had been produced by gla- 

 ciation. Many large fragments, and some of the sandstone seen 

 in place before reaching the summit of the north knob, seemed 

 to indicate ice wearing. But in no case were these evidences 

 beyond some question, owing always to the original surfaces 

 having been degraded by weathering. From several of the 

 ledges we turned back the thin soil, but the laminations of the 

 decaying rock always came away with the turf. 



Upon reaching the top I was at first greatly disappointed in 

 finding no exposures of the rock in place. The summit area 

 is a small flat space of less than half an acre of ground, most of 

 which has been cleared of its brush by a triangulating party 

 which has used this peak as one of its stations. Mr. Green 

 and T, in the hope of finding some exposed rocks in place on 

 the side where ice marks are most liable to be found, passed 

 over the summit and a short distance down the north side, and 

 then skirted around the peak toward the east. At an eleva- 

 tion of 2,530 feet I found what seemed to be evidences of ice 

 action upon a rock immediately overlying the Catskill red, 

 shaly sandstone. At 2,550 feet I found another fragment worn 

 flat, evidently by ice, but retaining no well-defined striae. 

 Climbing up again toward the top of the peak along the east- 

 ern flank, I found that the crest of the knob was bordered on 

 this side by a perpendicular ledge of rock, some ten or fifteen 

 feet high, about the base of which were strewn many large, 

 angular fragments. Climbing this ledge to the table-topped 

 summit again, I was struck by the general flatness of this point 

 and by the somewhat rounded appearance of the northern mar- 

 gin of this ledge. A narrow strip of the rock, from one to 

 three feet wide, was exposed along the verge of the ledge. This 

 bare space is being gradually encroached upon and covered by 

 the moss and thin turf of the summit. The whole appear- 

 ance of the rocks along the moss-covered edge was so sugges- 

 tive of ice wearing that I examined all the exposed surfaces 

 with the greatest care. My search was finally rewarded by 

 finding positive and unquestionable evidence of glacial action. 

 The original glaciated surface had been preserved on this ex- 

 posed rock in one place over an area of three or four square 

 inches, and this surface was ice-worn, polished and striated ; 

 all about it was more or less weathered. Turning back the 

 mossy soil a couple of feet, we laid bare a number of striae a 

 foot or two in length and as well defined as any I have ever 



