Letter to Taylor from Leverett, November 20, 1919
Scope and Contents
The correspondence series includes approximately 1100 letters written between 1892-1939. The majority of the collection are letters between Frank Leverett and Frank Bursley Taylor; they discuss their field work, Monograph 53, other publications and various related problems. There is also other correspondence with other geologists, including T.C. Chamberlin, Grove K. Gilbert, J.W. Goldthwait, H.L. Fairchild, et alia. There is extensive correspondence with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Michigan Geological Survey. The primary subject of this series is the surficial glacial geology of the midwestern U.S. and Canada. Leverett & Taylor's work was essential for understanding how the Great Lakes were formed as the Pleistocene glaciers advanced and retreated from the midwestern states. The letters describe the 30 year process of gathering data, mapping the data and constructing the picture of glacial processes during the last Ice Age.
Dates
- Creation: November 20, 1919
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Access
The material is stored offsite in Remote Storage. Please contact Special Collections 3 working days in advance if you wish to use it.
Extent
From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
General
I just finished the field work in the Saginaw basin last Friday and will give you a brief report of the results. I thought of you many times and wished you were here to talk over matters on the ground. I presume you will not be surprised to learn I have found it necessary to qualify your observations and make different correlations. The new 5' contour maps make the results more definite. One of the greatest surprises was that the tilt line for the Saginaw and Arkona beaches is only 7-10 degrees E of N instead of being NNE as it is in the southern part of the Huron basin. The Saginaw basin is therefore similar to the Michigan basin in the tilt line direction. The rate of eastward rise is 3"/mile from the outlet to Perrinton, Elsie, Chesaning and Flint quads. but it is 15"/mile on the W side of the basin going northward from Greenbush and DuPlain Tps to the N edge of Perrinton, with a similar rise on the E side of the basin up to Clio. But N of Clio to SW Tuscola Co. there is an area which makes no rise. Davis' map shows the highest shoreline at Millington and the highest shore directly E of Clio are both 750', but Davis' map does show a rise of 30' NE of Millinton and a rise of 40' on the Warren beach from Vassar to Gagetown. You should draw the 750' isobase from North Star to Clio. Discussion of the height of the Arkona beach in Saginaw basin on a projection of the isobases follows. I do not find the Saginaw and highest Arkona rise any more rapidly in the N than the 2nd Arkona on the W side of the basin. The outlet seems to be at 735' for the Saginaw, 720-725' for highest Arkona and 705-710 for 2nd Arkona. But the beaches stand ~10' higher eight miles N of the outlet. I presume the shorelines I found in Elsie, Chesaning & E part of Perrinton at 700-705' are 2nd Lake Saginaw during Lake Whittlesey time and the outlet was cut down to 680' when the Warren waters came through. You may be surprised to learn that your Fowler moraine and St. Johns moraine are one and the same. I traced it through continuously. You may wish to drop the Fowler name and retain the St. Johns name. There is some inconsistency in the course of the St Johns moraine and the moraines you discussed on pg. 243-44 are not traceable to any topographic feature I could discover. There is also some problem tracing the Henderson moraine. One of the most intersting matters was the network of drainage courses developed by the Imlay Channel in the Perrinton Quad, the extensive sand & gravel deposits, and the great delta where the outlet entered Lake Saginaw near DuPlain.
Repository Details
Part of the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections Repository