* * * * *
_The Correlation of Moraines with Raised Beaches of Lake Erie._
By =Frank Leverett=, U. S. Geol. Surv. (Wisconsin Academy of
Science. Vol. VIII., 1891).
References have been made in Geological literature to the beaches of
the eastern portion of the Lake Erie basin, but up to the time of
Mr. Leverett's work none of the beaches had been completely traced.
Mr. Gilbert had discovered that several of the raised beaches do not
completely encircle Lake Erie, and supposed that their eastern termini
represent the successive positions of the front of the continental
glacier during its retreat northeastward across the Lake Erie basin.
Mr. Leverett verifies this theory by demonstrating that certain
moraines are the correlatives of the beaches. They are as follows:
I. The Van Wert or upper beach and its correlative moraine, the
Blanchard ridge. II. The Leipsic or second beach and its correlative
moraines. III. The Belmore, or third beach and its correlative moraine.
I. The Van Wert beach extends eastward from the former southwestward
outlet of Lake Erie near Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Findlay, Ohio, where
it joins the Blanchard moraine. Through Indiana and Ohio its altitude
is quite uniformly 210 feet above Lake Erie.
While the Van Wert beach was forming, the ice front was the
northeastern shore of the lake as far east as Findlay, Ohio, its
position being marked by the Blanchard moraine. East of Findlay, where
the Van Wert beach joins it, the moraine is of the normal type. But
west of Findlay, it presents peculiarities of topography and structure,
resulting from the presence of lake water beneath the ice margin.
The water was shallow and incapable of buoying up the ice-sheet,
and producing icebergs. The motion of the water under the ice-sheet
produced a variable structure. This is the only instance of a moraine
demonstrably formed in lake water.
II. The Leipsic, or second beach, was formed after the ice had
retreated from its position marked by the Blanchard moraine. Its
altitude is 195 to 200 feet above Lake Erie. It has its terminus near
Cleveland, where it connects with the western end of a moraine.
III. The Belmore beach and its correlative moraine. Between the Leipsic
beach and the present shore of Lake Erie are several beaches. One of
these, the Belmore beach, terminates near Cleveland, while the others
extend into southwestern New York, and probably connect with moraines,
though this connection has not been traced. The general altitude of
the Belmore beach in Ohio is 160 to 170 feet above Lake Erie. Unlike
the Van Wert and Leipsic beaches, it does not directly connect with a
moraine at its eastern end, but a gap of ten miles intervenes. Terraces
at Cleveland, Mr. Leverett thinks, make a connection between the
eastern end of the beach and the western end of the moraine at Euclid,
Ohio.