;J60 The Aiitericdn dle^olixjlsl . Decombor, 1897 
tinct and nearly parallel morainic ridges, which ma}^ ((uite 
properly be treated as independent moraines. 
These ridges or moraines mark the iialting places of the 
glacier in its first stages of retreat after the so-called Wis- 
consin re-advance. One of them lies within the St. Croix 
Dalles area and extends throughout its length, from sections 
19, 20 and 21, T. 33 N., R. 18 W., to sections 1 and 2. T. 34 
N., R. 19 W., coming in its northern development close upon 
the river in Sec. 2. This is an especially important moraine, 
not so much because of its relation to the Kettle Range, as 
because it follows the dividing line between the eastern and 
western drift. The western material cannot in all places be 
traced eastward to this morainic ridge, but generally it can 
be thus traced, and nowhere has the western material been 
found to the east of this moraine. 
The name St. Croix nioraine is proposed for this ridge, 
since it passes in its tj'pical development only a short distance 
to the east of the village of St. Croix Falls, and follows al- 
most parallel with and at certain points encroaches upon the 
river St. Croix, and because it apparenth^ marks a stage of 
ice lobe adjustment and drift accumulation that was the chief 
factor in causing the St. Croix river to flow in its present 
channel. 
The St. Croix moraine varies in width from one mile to 
two and a half or even three miles. It is bordered on the 
east by a high rolling plain extending several miles beyond 
the district. The moraine is bordered on the west by several 
valley and plain areas, all of which will average 200 feet low- 
er than the corresponding highest parts of the moraine itself. 
This ridge is characterized by a very hilly and irregular con- 
tour. The surface is alternately a knoll and a kettle or a 
short ridge and a blind valley. Many of the larger kettles 
are small lake basins. 
Drainage courses are not sharply marked, and man}- of the 
lakes have no outlet. Most of the drainage is underground. 
The kettles sink frequently 100 feet below the lowest possible 
outflow. The knolls often rise 100 feet above the average level. 
The whole effect is to produce an almost continuous succession 
of knobs and ridges v/hich are simply bewildering in any topo- 
graphic determinations. The. materials of the St, Croix mo- 
