Letter to Taylor from Leverett, October 2, 1921

Item — Box: 2, Folder: 14

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Series:

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: October 2, 1921

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

Additional Description

General

Rec'd your cards from NY and am glad to hear you are getting some good results. I have mostly been in the field since May 20 and I have stood field work very well. I can now walk 12+ miles without tiring. I am still a little stiff in the ankle, but that will probably wear off. The nerve is coming back into action clear to the end of my big toe. For the last 6 weeks, I have been working on the surface geology of the new quadrangles in southern MI: Springport, Rives Junction, Stockbridge, Schoolcraft, Durand, Holly, Flint and Burt. The topo maps were a great help in fixing boundaries of moraines, till plains, outwash plains and eskers. I did examine carefully the district SE of Flint to determine why your Thread River Esker did not show on the map. I found the part close to Flint had been almost totally removed, with only a chain of pits to show its former position. I had to revise some of the Genessee Co. moraine correlations. The moraine running thru Gaines continues thru Grand Blanc, but is a double ridge for a few miles W of Grand Blanc, and then curves to the N running to Otisville. The weak moraine crossing the Flint River at Genessee comes from the SE (Richfield Tp.) and ties into the Otisville Moraine. The ice thus faced NE there. N of there it followed the W side of Butternut Creek. The moraine running N from Flint past Mt Morris is thus the full equivalent of the Flint moraine and the moraines running thru Otisville and Genessee are older. If you have the maps you can trace this through and see I am right; I made certain of this in the field. P.S. I am surprised to find the Kearsley Lake shore too ill-defined to trace continuously on topo maps.