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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



and 4 to 5 miles broad from east to west. On the northwestern 

 corner its line runs along the Schroon river, and the town con- 

 tains the watershed between the Hudson and the Lake George- 

 Lake Champlain-St Lawrence drainage systems. This divide 

 extends nearly but not quite the entire length of the town, in- 

 asmuch as it veers to the southwest near the southwestern 

 corner so that the outlet of a small pond at this point flows into 

 Lake George. 



As might be inferred from the above description, the topo- 

 graphy of the town includes one long ridge and one large 

 valley, the valley of Lake George. The ridge itself is cut in two 

 by a northwest and southeast depression which is occupied by 

 a large brook. The highest summits are on the western side of 

 this brook, and in Prospect mountain, due west of the head of 

 the lake, the altitude is just in excess of 2000 feet (exactly 2021) 

 above tide. The northeastern part of the area is less rugged. 

 On the southeast the town extends up on the slopes of French 

 mountain, whose steep front, presumably an old fault escarp- 

 ment, faces Lake George. This relation is coincident with others 

 which have been noted to the eastward as far as Fort Ann. All 

 the ridges, viz, French mountain, the ridge of Buck mountain, 

 Pilot Knob and Sugar Loaf, Putnam mountain and the Pinnacle, 

 present sharp fault scarps to the west and more gradual slopes 

 to the east. There is little doubt that the large features of the 

 topography are conditioned by these factors, and that Lake 

 George lies in a depression primarily caused by them. The faults 

 on each side of French mountain come together under the lake, 

 but the eastern one is prolonged in Northwest bay and in its 

 tributary valley. When the lake turns to the northeast at the 

 mouth of the bay, it may lie in a Grabensenkung, or the valley 

 formed by a pair of faults, whereby an intervening block is 

 dropped. Faults similar to the above have been traced in 

 the paleozoic areas on the south by X. H. Darton, and, indeed, 

 the two on each side of French mountain have already been noted 



