396 
James D. Thompson, Jr. 
Description. The Locust Grove Esker, approximately three- 
quarters of a mile in length and oriented S.55°E., is situated about 
three miles southwest of Newark, Ohio, at Locust Grove on the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Shawnee Branch (fig. 1). The esker 
is in an angle of Dutch Fork, a tributary of the South Fork of the 
Licking River. On the south it gradually flattens out in the valley 
bottom, which has been covered over by a layer of silt. A thorough 
search failed to reveal any continuance of the esker south or south- 
west of Dutch Fork. 
The Locust Grove Esker consists of two main segments, being 
interrupted about midway between its termini. This interruption 
does not appear to be due to any post-glacial stream action, as the 
esker is evidently in its original form. Near its northern end, the 
esker has been cut away by a small stream flowing into Dutch 
Fork. The portion of the ridge lying north of this point is low and 
comparatively flat, and is some 40 or 50 feet in breadth. 
The esker is nearly straight, and its main part has an average 
height of 24 feet 11 inches, the extremes being 30 feet 6 inches, 
and 21 feet 8 inches. Its width varies from 83 to 100 feet. The 
southern half of the esker is quite regular in form and gradually 
flattens out upon the valley floor several hundred feet from the 
stream. The surface of the northern half of the ridge is irregular. 
Two very short distributaries and several kettle holes may be 
noted here also. This part of the esker rests upon a deposit of 
glacial till which has been deeply cut by Dutch Fork, disclosing a 
fresh bank some 40 feet high. The entire hill to the top of the 
esker is 60 feet above water level. 
The upper part of this till section disclosed by the river consists 
of yellow gravelly clay containing a few large stones. In the 
lower part of this yellow till are masses of bluish clayey material 
which is evidently partly metamorphosed. The upper till section 
here exposed is severely weathered and rusted to a considerable 
depth. At other points close at hand the stream has exposed 
quantities of the bluish clay which is usually overlain by a few 
feet of silt. No very fresh unweathered till was observed in the 
ipimediate vicinity of the esker. 
Although no complete section of the Locust Grove Esker is 
exposed, the surface and other slight exposures indicate stream 
deposited drift. 
