202 
The A iin'rirai) Geohx/isf. 
Marrh. 1S95 
b.\ allcnuatcd (Iril'l Imnlcrs; and lii' (l(iiil)lcd tluit liiiili cIin at imi (if llic 
land was coiiK-idciil with llic uniwlli of llic ict'-slit'(.'t. 
I'ruf. Cjia.mbkhmn spoki^ of Ihc Iwo lliicds deposits of till intfi-lx'ddcd 
Willi fossilitVrous siriitififd clay and sand at Scarboro'. as indicative of 
great ciinialic chani^cs and lon;^' sla,i;es of ylacial re;id\ance. 
(i/tiriii/ Liil.ix ill irixtcrji ^nr Vnr/.-. 1>\ H. L. FaikcUILI). 'I'lie course 
of inai\iiinal moraines extendinji' from west to east across tiie r(\<iion of 
the Finger lakes in central New York shows that Die glacial recession 
there was in general from south to north. I'his is a region, of strongly 
marked and [)eculiar topographic fealures. consisting of long south to 
north valleys, often deeply eroded continuously across the watershed 
wliich disides the sources of the Alleghany and Susciuehaniia rivers 
from th(> lake Ontario basin, with plateaus several hundred feet above 
the meridional \alleys. During the retreat of the ice-front, therefore.it 
was a barrier holding long glaidal lakes in the valleys, with ciiannels of 
outflow over the present watershed. Wilhin the past autumn, field e.\- 
ploration of the Finger lakes region has resulted in I'ecognition of eigh- 
teen such ice-dammed lakes, which ai'e named in this jiaper. with few 
exceptions, from the principal towns in tin' formerly lacustrine valley 
or on its outlet. In tiieir order from west to east these Pleistocene lakes 
are thus named the Attica, Warsaw, TJpper Genesee. Dansxille. Scotls- 
burg. Siiringwater. (ilacial C'anadice. (ilacial Honeoye, Hristol, Xiii)Ies. 
Flint. Hammoiidsporl. Watkins, Ithaca. (Jroton. Glen Haven. Glacial 
Olisco and Tully Valley lakes. Descriptions of several of them are 
given in the following notes. 
The ])ans\ille glacial lake, in the valley basin of the pi'csent (";inas- 
eraga creek, had a length of about 24 miles, a width of two miles, and 
a depth exceeding 500 I'eiU . Its outlet is at a hight of ai)oul l.OOO feri 
above th(> i)resent sea level, and the old lake shore terraces and deltas 
are at ],2:«) fed. 
Coming forward to the Naples glacial lake, the tenth of the series, in 
lhe\alley of Cariandaigua hike, its length is shown to have reached 
about Ki miles, with a width of two miles ;iiul deptli of (piile 700 feel 
over the i)resenl lake, before Ihi' continued glacial i-ecession permitted 
it to be merged with the vastl>' larger glacial lake of the whole Ontario 
basin, its (diainiel of overHow southward is now I.)!40 feet above the 
The ancient Hammondsjiorl lake, now represented liv lake Keul<a. 
became about 24 miles long, two miles wide, and more than .')0(i feet 
deep. Its mouth is 1,12") feet above the sea. or somewhat more than 
WO feet above the present lake Keuka. The old deltas and other traces 
of tlie highest slu)re lini^ are appro.ximidely at 1,150 feet. 
AVatkins lake, as the glacial representative of Seneca laki' is called, 
grew to l)e :50 miles long, foui' miles wide, and 1,000 feet deep. Its 
southward outflow, the lowest of all the serii'S. is !)00 fed abovr the se;i 
(or 4(i0 feel above the modern lake), and its higliesl deltas are at !)(!() 
fe.'t. 
Tile glacial Ithaca lake, now Cayuga, attained a south to north ex- 
tent of perhaps iJS miles, with a width of 5 to 10 miles, and depth of 
1.100 feet. At its beginning oiu' outlet, in the continuation of tlie Ca- 
yuga valley, was 1.024 feet above the present sea levtd: but a lower pass 
in the southeast valley was uncovered by tli(> glacial recession, causing 
the western branch to fall suddeidy about 40 feel. The lower or prin- 
cipal outlet, at !)(!7 feet, is 5SSI fiM-t"above Cayuga lake. 
Ij(iI,->' Xeirbcn-fi. the xiirccKKtii- (if f^iikc Warrcii. l>y II. L. FAiHciiii.t). It 
has long been known that when the ice-sheet covered western Xew ^'ork 
the great Laurenlian lakes discharged at Chicago to the Mississippi: 
and the far expanded glacial lake thus held by the ice barrier and cov- 
