Correlation of Moraines with Beaches. 
233 
ON THE CORRELATION OF MORAINES WITH RAISED 
BEACHES OF LAKE ERIE* 
By FRANK LEVERETT. 
The narrow ridges of sand and gravel which traverse the plains of the 
western Erie basin, at distances varying from a few miles up to 80 miles 
or more from the present shore of Lake Erie, as well as those of the 
eastern portion of the Lake Erie basin, which lie near the borders of the 
lake, were recognized by the early settlers as old lake shores, and were 
known in many sections as “lake ridges.” Nearly all the reports of 
geologists, whose work has lain within the territory covered by these 
beach lines, contain references to the beaches, and many contain valu¬ 
able data concerning them, but so far as I am aware no complete tracing 
of any one of the beaches has been made by my predecessors. 
At the time the reports of the Ohio geological survey were written, 
the question seems not to have been raised as to whether the beaches 
completely encircle the lake, though Dr. Newberry and Prof. Winchell 
each entertained the hypothesis that the high stage of water in the lake 
may have been caused by the occupancy of the present outlet of the 
Great Lakes by the retreating ice-sheet.^ During the twenty yeaps that 
have elapsed since these reports appeared, critical investigation of cer¬ 
tain districts has shown that these beaches do not in all cases surround 
the bodies of water which they border. To Mr. Gilbert especially are 
we indebted for the advancement of knowledge along this line. The 
discovery was made by him, some years ago, that several of the raised 
beaches of Lake Erie do not completely encircle that body of water, but 
that those along its south shore terminate in a successive series from 
higher to lower in passing eastward from northern Ohio to southwestern 
New York. The results of his study are unpublished, but through his 
kindness I have been made acquainted with his recent views and sup¬ 
plied with the principal data. In explanation of the failure or disap¬ 
pearance of these beaches, in the eastern portion of the basin, Mr. Gil¬ 
bert has entertained the theory that their eastern termini represent suc- 
* The article from which the main part of this paper is taken appears in full in the 
American Journal of Science, Yol. XLIII, April, 1892. 
t Geology of Ohio, Yol. I., p. 552; Proc. Amer. Ass. Adv. Sci., 1872, p. 183. 
