Pistrihutioii of the Loess. — IVri^^ht. 207 
very (lislincl level-topped terrace, more than a mile in width, 
and completely enveloped in loess, extends for three or four 
miles along the river, being bordered by the higher land rising 
abruptly about 150 feet above it. The level of this terrace is 
150 feet above the river. 
I'rofessor Todd* extends this list of terraces of loess down 
to the mouth of the Osage river. At Kansas City they are 
prominent at an elevation of from 125 to 150 feet above the 
river, and lower down at Camden and Lexington, and espec- 
ially in a flat surface covering several square miles in the great 
bend of the river in Saline county, near Marshall. Similar 
terraces arc prominent, also, in Boone, Cooper, and Moniteau 
counties ; the first being upon the north side of the Missouri 
valley, and the last two upon the south side. The depth of 
the loess upon these terraces is from 50 to 100 feet. Corre- 
sponding terraces appear on the tributary streams coming in 
from the north, especially along Grand river, east of Thomp- 
son's fork, near Chilicothe. Professor Todd also notes that 
"the loess and loamy clay present over most of its surface cer- 
tain areas which are very level, to which the term 'flats' may 
be conveniently applied. On the other hand, the surface of the 
older formations, with its covering of residuary clay, very rare- 
ly shows such features, but is everywhere of rounded or brok- 
en outline. In applying this difference of character it should 
be remembered that there are not included the flat surfaces 
which are surrounded by higher levels, for such of course may 
be -the result of recent alluvial deposition. The 'flats' of the 
typical loess region uniformly occupy the highest levels" (p 
130- 
It is extremely difiicult, if not impossible, to conceive of the 
origin of such level-topped areas and terraces of loess, espec- 
ially thcise on the west and soutli sides of the river, as due to 
wind deposits. 
'IMiirdly, the agency of water in the distribution of loess is 
favored by, or at any rate consistent with, the facts that the 
loess is quite uniformly found to Ix' thickest on the margin of 
the streams flowing out of the glaciated region, and that it is 
of somewhat coarser texture nearer the streams, thinning out 
at a distance from them, and merging gradually into a more 
•Uo. GcoJ. Siir., vol. X. pp. irniofi. 1896. 
