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GEOLOGY OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT. 
CHAPTER XV. 
LAKE RIDGES. 
Ridge roads of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie—Terraced lulls—Modern lake ridges and 
beaches. 
One of the most interesting of the superficial deposits of the district is the “ Lake Ridge,”* 
which, from Sodus in Wayne county, with some trifling exceptions, is a travelled highway, 
nearly as far as the Niagara river. Beyond this it can be traced quite to the head of Lake 
Ontario ; and I have been informed that it exists upon the northern side of the lake. Through¬ 
out its whole extent in New-York this ridge is well defined, except from slight interruptions 
caused by the passage of streams. It bears all the marks of having been the boundary of a 
large body of water, and of having been produced in the same manner as the elevated beaches 
bordering the ocean or our larger lakes. The ridge follows the general course of Lake On¬ 
tario ; being, at its nearest point, about three miles distant; and at its greatest, perhaps less 
than eight miles. 
In some places it is strongly defined, descending toward the lake twenty or thirty, and 
even fifty feet, in a moderate slope. Its seaward side is usually covered with coarse gravel, 
and often with large pebbles, resembling the shingle of the sea beaches. The top is generally 
of coarse sand and gravel, though sometimes of fine sand, as if blown up by the wind, similar 
to modern beaches, when the coarser materials are thus left as the waves deposit them, while 
as the finer parts become dry they are carried to a higher elevation. It is sometimes so 
contracted upon the top as to offer only space for a broad carriage road, and again expands to 
a width of two or three hundred feet, being scarcely defined on the inland side. It is far 
from uniform in height, and in passing the distance of a mile inequalities of several feet may 
be perceived; still this feature is only an exception, and when the road is tolerably direct, a 
traveller may be seen as far as the eye can reach. Neither is this a single continuous ridge, 
but often divided into several, running parallel to each other, and again uniting in one. 
All these deviations in height, breadth, continuation, etc. only the more forcibly impress one 
with the idea of its analogy to existing beaches, where we observe the same inequalities. In 
looking from the ridge toward the lake, the uniform surface of the country and gentle slope 
* The term lake ridge is used to distinguish it from the terrace formed by the outcropping edge of the Niagara limestone, 
which is known as the “ Mountain Ridge.” 
