Drift Region.

Our county may also be divided into two other geological divisions, viz: the Glaciated or Drift Re- gion and the Non-glaciated. North of the Great Lakes is the Laurentian Highland. This highland was once a lofty range of mountains. It was then, with them, just as it is with high mountains today. On their snow-capped summits, ice was formed and it pitched in frightful avalanches to the valleys below, carrying with it masses of rock, from their deep scarred sides. Glaciers, or river-like fields of ice were thus pushed out further and further toward the southland, taking with them the granite, which they ground and pol- ished with their tremendous weight. This vast river of ice passed, in many places over the soft bed-rock and we can vet see the grooves and scratches on its surface. The climate must have been somewhat cooler in that time, than now, or the glacial sheet could not have come so far south. But finally it reached a point where it began to melt. As it receded toward the north, it left scattered over the land, millions upon millions of tons of granite boulders, many of immense size, peb- bles and earth. The pebbles and earth mixed with 6

lime and other rock gathered in its journey, constitutes the soil in the entire "Drift Region." It is very fer- tile and is known as "Till." The line marking the southern extremity of the ice region is known as the "Terminal Moraine." It ex- tends in a general easterly and westerly direction throughout the United States. In Ohio its trend is northeast and southwest. This "Terminal Moraine" passes through Perry county. In Thorn township can be found evidences of the ice. The boulders or "nig- ger heads" can be found lying promiscuously about. The fertility of its soil is dependent upon the "till," which is often found to be 90 feet in thickness. It is a coincidence that the "Terminal Moraine" in Perry county is practically the same line that divides the Carboniferous from the Sub-carboniferous areas. (See Map.) There are some exceptions and these have been designated as "drift loops." (See Map), These "loops" may have been caused by subsequent erosion and drifting of streams. There is no doubt but that our streams have not always had the same course that they have now. The "Drift" extended much farther in Perry county than most people sup- pose. The finding of a granite boulder, weighing al- most a ton, in Section 16, Jackson township occasioned some surprise. Such a rock could not have been car- ried by water. This Ice Sheet scraped out the Great Lakes, to- gether with the thousands of smaller ones in the north- ern part of the United States. The natural part of Buckeye Lake is a remnant of the weakened power of the glacier. What a pity that the ice did not cover all of Perry county. Its fertility throughout would then have been equal to Thorn township. 7

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