11 IE CLYDE SERIES OE SOILS. 11 
continental glacier and the formation of large or small glacial lake 
and glacial .stream terrace areas, which in turn was succeeded by the 
withdrawal of the lake waters and the formation of extensive swampy, 
or at best poorly drained areas within the lake basins, and ended by 
the accumulation of considerable amounts of partially decayed or- 
ganic matter in the surface soils. 
The soils thus formed have been rendered capable of agricultural 
occupation only through the installation of artificial drainage in the 
majority of cases. Many thousands of acres of these soil materials 
still remain poorly drained. 
TOPOGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE SOILS OF THE CLYDE 
SERIES. 
The greatest development of the glacial lake province in New York 
State occurs from the vicinity of the St. Lawrence Valley westward 
along the shore of Lake Ontario to the Niagara River. 1 In the St. 
Lawrence River counties the area within which the glacial lake sedi- 
ments are developed is narrow, forming a belt varying from 5 to 15 
miles in breadth along the shore of the river. Its surface is anything 
but smooth and the irregularities are due to the different elevations of 
the consolidated underlying rocks, which present an uneven and slop- 
ing surface, as well as to unequal deposition of the glacial till. Over 
materials of diverse origin and of uneven altitude the sediments of 
the glacial waters were deposited to greatly varying depths. 
In general, the lowest elevations occur along the shore of the St. 
Lawrence River and around the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The 
surface of the sedimentary lake deposits consists of large and small 
level tracts which are interrupted by ridges of rock, by swells of 
moraine, and by hollows within which swamps still exist. Gradually 
this uneven surface rises toward the Adirondack border until the 
highest distinctly glacial lake deposits are found about 750 feet above 
sea level or about 500 feet above the waters of Lake Ontario and the 
St. Lawrence River. 
Throughout this section of the glacial lake region there has been 
a sufficient degree of obstruction to surface drainage to give rise 
to the formation of swamps of large and small size, resulting in the 
formation of soils of the Clyde series. They are always to be found 
in locally depressed positions, which are not so poorly drained as 
the associated swamps but which are less well provided with natural 
drainage facilities than the surrounding upland soils. Many of the 
areas also accumulate local seepage waters from soils or rock areas 
lying at higher elevations. 
1 Bulletins Nos; 106, 127, and 115 of the New York State Museum. Glacial Waters in 
the Lake Erie Basin. Glacial Waters in Central New York. Geology of the Thousand 
Islands Region. By H. L. Fairchild and others. 
