Finger Lake Region of Central N. V. — Tarr. 273 
professor FaircliiUl calls especial attention. With its head- 
waters removed hy possihlc glacial diversion* this stream now 
rises in the moraine south of Cortland and flows through a 
deeply drift-filled valley, without reaching rock, to a point be- 
tween the villages of Varna and Forest Home, where it en- 
counters rock at an elevation of 880 feet. Below this point 
it is in rock most of the way until it emerges on the Ithaca 
delta; but below Forest Home (Fig. i) it crosses a buried 
gorge (Figs. 3 and 7) in which Cornell University has formed 
a lake, Beebe lake, from which the University water supply 
is obtained. The fall (Triphammer, Fig. 4), over which 
the creek emerges from this buried gorge, furnishes the power 
used for lighting the University buildings, and also supplies 
the hydraulic laboratory. 
Where Fall Creek gorge forms the northern boundary 
of the Cornell University campus, rock may be traced for a 
distance of a mile or more, both north and south of the creek, 
with such practical continuity as to eliminate the possibility of 
the existence of any other than a gorge valley. The level 
at which the rock may be thus traced is about at the 800-foot 
contour. Consequently, the bottom of a valley emptying into 
Cayuga lake valley along this line must of necessity be at 
least 800 feet above sea level. Translating these figures with 
relation to the main Cayuga valley, the tributary valley bottom 
must be at least 420 feet above the surface of Cayuga lake, 
and at least 845 feet above the present rock floor of the lake 
vallev (Fig 7). The last conclusion is based upon the fact 
that a boring in the Ithaca delta, almost opposite the point 
where Fall creek flows out upon this delta, reached rock at 
a depth of 430 feet. Although this boring is near the middle 
of the valley, it by no means follows that it is made at the 
deepest point. In fact, if the Cayuga valley is a stream-cut 
gorge, there is ample opportunity for a much greater depth 
on the eastern side of the boring. 
In other words, if a valley tributary to Cayuga valley ex- 
isted along the line of the present Fall creek, its bottom is 
now hanging at least 845 feet above the bottom of the main 
valley to which it was a tributary. This difference in elevation 
• Carney. Jour. School Geog.. vol. ii, 1903. pp. 115-124. 
