J. R. Reeves — The Anderson Esker. 67 



of it has been dug away, the gravels being valuable for 

 commercial uses. From the break at the branch it grad- 

 ually becomes larger in width and height until at its 

 southern end it is two hundred fifty yards wide and 

 thirty feet high. 



The last section is rather complex in its form. It 

 begins with a division into two branches, the east one 

 being about one-half as large as the west one. They 

 converge again three-eighths of a mile south forming in 

 between them a long narrow basin. The eastern branch 

 is broken in two places, one being one-fourth of a mile 

 south of the division and the other at the point of con- 

 vergence. Only a few yards south of the union of the 

 two branches the esker again divides, the largest part 

 of the gravel having been heaped up in the eastern 

 branch. There is a long break in this branch but the 

 two branches again unite making the main ridge some 

 one hundred fifty yards wide and twenty feet high. 

 From this point on to its end, the esker loses its symmet- 

 rical form, having been deposited in heaps forming 

 irregular basins. 



A great many pits have been dug in the esker for the 

 clean water-washed gravel of which it is made up, but 

 many of these pits have been closed, only a few remain- 

 ing open where it is possible to observe the gravels. 

 From these newest pits observations were made and 

 collections taken. 



In all exposures the stratification of the gravels was 

 quite marked, there being a great variety in size of the 

 sand grains and rocks. For instance one stratum would 

 be made up of fine sand with dark streaks or stratifica- 

 tion lines, immediately on top of which would be another 

 stratum pitched at a different angle than the lower com- 

 posed of rocks not less than one-half inch in diameter 

 and generally twice this size, and then above this would 

 be another layer at the same or different angle which 

 would be made of gravels of various sizes. Each of 

 these stratum represents a different velocity and shifting 

 of the current of the stream which deposited them. In 

 places where the strata were parallel it is probable that 

 the stream pursued an orderly course but in places men- 

 tioned where the strata lay in steep angles it may be 

 assumed that the stream dashed and pitched along its 

 course. The strata which contained the rocks of larger 



