CHAPTER LXXX. 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF ASHLAND COUNTY. 
BY M. C. READ. 
LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY. 
Ashland is a narrow county, having an extreme length, from north to 
south, of a little over thirty-five miles, and a breadth of fifteen. It is 
situated on the dividing ridge between the waters of the Lake and the 
Ohio River, and upon the northern margin of the coal field. The crest 
of this divide has a north-easterly and south-westerly bearing, lies a lit- 
tle north of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, and is nearly par- 
allel with its general course. This ridge is deeply divided by a valley 
now marking the course of a pre-glacial channel, which enters the county 
from the north a little west of Ruggles Center, following a branch of the 
Vermillion to Savannah Lake, and thence south-easterly, passing a lit- 
tle to the east of Ashland village, and generally coincident with the val- 
ley of Jerome Fork to its junction with the Mohican. North of the 
dividing ridge the land slopes gently to a broad plain, a few small 
streams gathering the surface waters and conveying them toward the 
Lake. On the north side, springs and streams are more abundant, the 
surface slopes southward, is very irregularly diversified with hills and val- 
leys, and presents many scenes of great beauty. 
The highest hills on this divide reach an altitude of six hundred and 
ninety feet above the Lake, indicating an original table land at this ele- 
vation which has since been eroded and diversified by the denuding 
agencies that excavated the ravines and valleys. 
Southward between the Black Fork, Jerome Fork, and Mud Fork, the 
hills rise to the height of six hundred and fifty feet above the Lake, and 
now form a succession of ridges trending nearly north and south, with 
occasional benches on their slopes, showing between them valleys in 
which the receding waters flowed southward. 
South of Loudonville an irregular succession of hills rises to the height 
of three hundred and ninety-five feet above the railroad at that place, 
and eight hundred and seven feet above the Lake. These, at their tops, 
in several places catch the Carboniferous Conglomerate, and on a narrow 
