Teays River Research Articles

Drainage History, Evolution, and Conservation of Tonguetied Minnow (Exoglossum laurae), a Rare and Imperiled Teays River Endemic

Legacies of ancient riverine systems are often manifest in patterns of genetic diversity within aquatic species. The ancient Teays River, a principal drainage of the eastern United States, engaged ...

Cambarus loughmani, a new species of crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) endemic to the pre-glacial Teays River Valley in West Virginia, USA

ABSTRACTA new species of crayfish, Cambarus loughmani sp. nov., is described from the preglacial Teays River Valley of Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, and Putnam counties, West Virginia. The species was previously considered to be part of the Cambarus dubius complex. Loughman et al. restricted C. dubius to an orange colour morph found in central and northern portions of the Allegheny Mountains and Appalachian Plateau in central West Virginia, western Maryland, and south-central Pennsylvania. The new species described herein can be distinguished from all other members of Cambarus Erichson, 1846 by a double row of cristiform tubercles on the palm, an open areola with two rows of punctations, and a consistent blue colouration.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5BC7C861-038E-457C-80F3-ED7A66E10D73

A New Map of Pleistocene Proglacial Lake Tight Based on GIS Modeling and Analysis

Glacial-age Lake Tight was first mapped by John F. Wolfe in 1942. Wolfe compiled his map from photographs of 50 USGS topographic maps, and used the 900-foot contour to delineate its shoreline. An estimate, as reported by Hansen in 1987, suggested an area of approximately 18,130 km2 (7,000 mi2) for the lake. Using a geographic information system (GIS) environment, an updated map of Lake Tight was developed employing the 275-meter (902-foot) elevation contour. Calculations now suggest the area of Lake Tight was 43 percent larger or approximately 26,000 km2 (10,040 mi2) and the volume approximately 1,120 km3 (268 mi3). The reconstruction of Lake Tight in a GIS creates a spatial analysis platform that can support research on the origin and development of the lake, the geologic processes that occurred as a consequence of the advance of the pre-Illinoian ice, and the origin of the Ohio River. The development of the upper Ohio Valley during the Quaternary Period remains one of the outstanding problems in North American geology. The details of the transition from the Teays River to Lake Tight, and from Lake Tight to the Ohio River, are poorly understood despite more than 100-years passing since the first significant study of those changes. A refined understanding of the area and depth of Lake Tight is essential but is complicated by fundamental unknowns—such as the location of the pre-Illinoian ice margin and the extent and consequence of isostatic flexure of the lithosphere due to ice-loading and lake-loading. Given the assumptions required for the model, the accuracy of both the raster data and the 1942 topographic maps, and the paucity of essential field data, mapping the lake shoreline at the widely cited 274.32-meter (900-foot) contour would not provide increased verifiable accuracy.

The Conhaway Crayfish (Cambarus (C.) appalachiensis), a new species of crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from the New River Basin of Virginia and West Virginia, USA.

The Conhaway Crayfish is a stream-dwelling species endemic to the greater New River basins of Virginia and West Virginia. The new species is morphologically most similar to the Teays River Crayfish (Cambarus sciotensis). Conhaway Crayfish can be differentiated from Teays River Crayfish by its more elongated chelae which possess a single mesial row of tubercles, reduced to no tuberculation on the dorsal-longitudinal ridge of the dactyl, and reduced lateral impression. Teays River Crayfish have a more subrectangular chelae with two rows of mesial margin tubercles on the chelae, as well as both a pronounced dorsal-longitudinal ridge and pronounced lateral impression. Several chelae meristic ratios also differentiate Conhaway Crayfish from Teays River Crayfish. Within the New, Gauley, and lower portions of the Greenbrier basins Conhaway Crayfish are the dominant tertiary burrowing Cambarus species, and as such, the species is considered stable across its range.

Ancient river systems and phylogeographical structure in the spring salamander, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus

AbstractAimThe river drainages of the Appalachian Mountains have experienced a dynamic history as glacial cycles, stream capture and other geological processes have led to the fragmentation and fusion of formerly isolated palaeodrainages. Some ancient rivers have gone extinct, including portions of the great Teays River. Here we investigate the contribution of contemporary and historical drainages to patterns of phylogeographical structure in the spring salamander complex, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus.LocationEastern North America, USA.MethodsSampling spanned the range of the G. porphyriticus complex, and included representative samples of the cave species of Gyrinophilus as well. Molecular sequence data included the mitochondrial DNA locus cytochrome b and the nuclear locus recombination‐activating gene 1 (RAG‐1). Time‐calibrated phylogenies were inferred, and Bayes‐LAGRANGE was used to reconstruct ancestral distributions. Contemporary and historical river influences on patterns of genetic diversity were tested using distance‐based redundancy analysis (db‐RDA).ResultsThe G. porphyriticus complex originated prior to the Pleistocene glacial cycles, and historical river systems explained more genetic variation than did contemporary drainages or geographical distance. Patterns of genetic variation suggest that extinct or remodelled palaeodrainages, including the Teays River, played an important role in structuring contemporary patterns of genetic variation.Main conclusionsThe hydrogeological history of eastern North American drainage basins has been instrumental in structuring patterns of regional biodiversity in freshwater species. Here we show that hydrological remodelling has also left its genetic signature in the semi‐aquatic spring salamander complex, G. porphyriticus. Historical drainages accounted for the largest fraction of phylogeographical structure, more so than did contemporary drainages or geographical distance, with spatial and temporal patterns of variation associated with the extinct Teays River.

Evidence of transient topographic disequilibrium in a landward passive margin river system: knickpoints and paleo‐landscapes of the New River basin, southern Appalachians

ABSTRACTThe upper New River basin of the southern Appalachian Mountains, a major tributary of the modern Ohio River, represents the unglaciated headwaters of the Tertiary Teays River system of eastern North America. Dating of relict fluvial gravels have suggested that New River incision may be outpacing lowering of the surrounding uplands, but physical evidence of transient topographic disequilibrium has yet to be identified. We use focused topographic analysis of the upper New River basin to delineate a perched, low‐relief paleo‐landscape that is experiencing transgressive dissection due to incision by the New River and its tributaries. Accelerated incision has decoupled hillslopes from the drainage network, generating knickpoints which represent the boundary between remnants of the paleo‐landscape and actively adjusting topography downstream. Steepening of hillslopes downstream of knickpoints suggests dynamic headward migration which, along with knickpoint occurrence throughout the drainage network, is inconsistent with the development of fixed stream profile convexities atop strike‐extensive geologic contacts. In the absence of tectonic forcing, we favor a climatically‐forced drop in external base level as driver of the incision pattern we observe. Plio‐Pleistocene glacial damming and diversion of the Teays River to form the modern Ohio River lowered regional base level for the study area, potentially forcing the paleo‐landscape developed during the Teays era to adjust to the modern drainage pattern. The upper New River may therefore represent the potential for glacially‐driven drainage rearrangement to drive transient topographic evolution hundreds of kilometers away from the ice margin, long after the disappearance of ice sheets. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mitochondrial DNA Variation in the Ouachita Map Turtle

We examined mitochondrial DNA sequence variation among populations of the Ouachita Map turtle (Graptemys ouachitensis ouachitensis), an aquatic species distributed throughout the Mississippi River drainage. We sequenced a 620 base-pair segment of the mitochondrial control region for 65 individuals collected throughout this turtle's range, identifying 18 haplotypes that form two minimally divergent groups. These haplotype groups exhibit substantial range overlap. A presumably disjunct population from the Scioto River in Ohio is represented by both haplotypes groups. The limited genetic differentiation observed suggests that the broad geographic range of haplotypes of G. o. ouachitensis reflects considerable dispersal from two Pleistocene glacial refugia, possibly Mississippi River and Teays River.

A Loss of Tone

A Loss of Tone B. D'J Pancake (bio) Guest Editor's Note: "A Loss of Tone" appears in the U.Va. papers. Under the title in the typescript are the words "By: B. D'J Pancake." This signature and the style of the story suggest a composition date in the mid to late 1970s. The contextual content appears to come straight out of one of Breece's favorite pastimes as a youngster in Milton: sitting on the Old Bank steps listening to the old-timers tell stories. As I walk to our shop, I think what a fine town Rock Camp really is and how well the early light strikes the bricks on Front Street and mingles again with the haze that spreads up at night from the Mud River. It is an old town, but its history is very calm. There were no Indian Wars here, only a grist-mill to draw the settler into rich corn and cane lands, and in the years to follow, the Civil War was only a popping far off in the hills. I think of my great-grandfather selling dry goods and notions from his wagon right here on Front Street, then building the shop to be handed down. I turn the corner at the Old Bank and see Willy Foutz sitting on the steps, sunning in the pink morning haze. He retired from the C&O Railroad when I was just a boy, but he still wears his fireman's clothes, brags about the accuracy of his watch. I take to the step beside him, lean back to soak in the warmth. Willy is no fool, it's good to sit this way a few minutes every morning before going on with your business. "Know what I seen yesterday?" he says. "A high-yellow, but a nigger just the same. Lives in that new bunch of houses other side of the river." "Well, it won't hurt anything. There have never been any Negroes in Rock Camp that I remember." "Was too. Raymond what's-his-name who cooked at the Justice Inn was black as your hat. Damn good cook, too, but he was awful bad to drink. Drank... [End Page 36] "Willy, the Justice Inn closed thirty years before I was born." "Drank real sweet wine for breakfast. Used to tell Mrs. Justice he was cooking with the stuff. Ain't that something?" "What became of Raymond?" "Militia ran him out because he—they claimed—got to chasing after white girls. Too bad, too. The Inn went to hell in a handcar after that." "I always thought there were no Negroes here because there was no slavery in this part of West Virginia." "Aw, hell, there was too. I recollect one nig Paw said they hung back before the war. Hung him off the trestle over Mud River—where the Teays River Pike is now—called Tin-Bridge." "Why'd they hang him?" "Don't know for sure. Paw was just a boy back then, and I'm not sure he got his facts straight, but he claimed the nig was a slave who killed his master—chopped him up with a caneknife. The master was supposed to be Mr. Gregs, and Paw said he was give to fits and beating on his slave. Looks to me like a fellow wouldn't give to beating on the only slave he had, but from what Paw said, Mr. Gregs lit into him pretty regular. Yes sir, he even said Mr. Gregs poured salt on the welts, but I don't think he got that right. "Anyhow, it was after Mr. Gregs had whipped him for something—I don't recollect what—he was out in the field working cane and his master come upon him and commenced to yelling at him. Well, the nigger'd took about all he wanted, so he just turned that cane-knife on his master. Must of come as a shock to both of them, but the nig did have the good sense to hide in the canebreaks till after dark. What he didn't have no sense about was how to clear out of...

Possible Extirpation of Cambarus veteranus (Big Sandy Crayfish) from West Virginia

Historical collections and records show that Cambarus veteranus (Big Sandy Crayfish) occurred in 3 West Virginia counties (Logan, Mercer, and Wyoming). The last statewide survey (1988–1989) found C. veteranus only in the Bluestone and Guyandotte river drainages in West Virginia. Competitors for C. veteranus niche space include C. sciotensis (Teays River Crayfish) and other cambarids. Using natural history and previous distributional information, a directed survey was conducted searching 15 probable locations, all at elevations greater than 457 m on the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau province of WV These locations included moderately wide streams (>10 m) with permanent pools and having gravel or sand bottoms with large, flat, overlying rocks. Methods included one-hour timed searches using dip net or hand collection of the 15 sampling areas including historical record sites. At each site, water quality data were recorded, and a rapid bioassessment protocol (RBP) score was produced using several physical characteristics. Sampling for this project occurred between June and December 2001. This field survey failed to produce any individuals of C. veteranus. Possible reasons for this included poor water quality, as indicated by low RBP scores, or inadequate sampling. Large-river surveys in West Virginia may produce C. veteranus. Some of the sampled sites may meet criteria for future re-introduction efforts.

Phylogeography of the bigeye chub Hybopsis amblops (Teleostei: Cypriniformes): early Pleistocene diversification and post‐glacial range expansion

The bigeye chub, Hybopsis amblops, is a member of the Central Highlands ichthyofauna of eastern North America. Phylogenetic analyses of the H. amblops species group based on a 1059 bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene did not recover a monophyletic group. The inclusion of Hybopsis hypsinotus in the species complex is questionable. Within H. amblops, five strongly supported clades were identified; two clades containing haplotypes from the Ozark Highlands and three clades containing haplotypes from the Eastern Highlands and previously glaciated regions of the Ohio and Wabash River drainages. Estimates of the timing of divergence indicated that prior to the onset of glaciation, vicariant events separated populations east and west of the Mississippi River. East of the Mississippi River glacial cycles associated with the blocking and rerouting of the Teays River system caused populations to be pushed southward into refugia of the upper Ohio River. Following the most recent Wisconsinan glaciation, populations expanded northward into previously glaciated regions and southward into the Cumberland River drainage. In the Ozarks, west of the Mississippi River, isolation of clades appears to be maintained by the lack of stream capture events between the upper Arkansas and the White River systems and a barrier formed by the Arkansas River.

New Frontiers: The Evolution of William G. Tight From Geomorphologist to University President

William George Tight (1865-1910) contributed to our knowledge of U.S. Midwestern drainage patterns and the impact of glaciation on fluvial systems, including the Teays River (Pleistocene; now buried under glacial sediment in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois). In 1901 he accepted the Presidency of the University of New Mexico (UNM). Subsequently, most of his attention was devoted to academic administration, although he managed some investigation of the geology and botany of the New Mexico Territory. He had many successes but ran afoul of political situations that led to his dismissal by the UNM Board of Regents in 1909. Although elements of Tight's geomorphic work in Ohio were published and his administrative endeavors in New Mexico were well covered by campus newspapers, serious gaps in our knowledge of William Tight exist because a campus fire in 1910 destroyed most of his papers and correspondence. Thus, a full account of his life exemplifies the biographer's task, literal in this case, of sifting through ashes. Just as the geologic column contains breaks, the history of science frequently has its lacunae. Tight's life as a researcher and administrator is partially visible, thanks to his publications and existing, albeit limited, archival resources. His biography helps us understand the early evolution of glacial geomorphology in the Midwest and the development of a major public university in the Southwest.

Vicariance Biogeography, Parsimony, and Evolution in North American Freshwater Fishes

The North American freshwater fish fauna exhibits considerable species diversity and patterns of endemism. The fauna has enormous potential for use in investigations and tests of biogeographic and evolutionary theories. Many of these studies are presently impossible to execute, however, because of our impoverished knowledge of native fish species relationships. Fish communities of the Central Highland Regions of eastern North America are exceptions to this observation. The fauna is diverse and contains patterns of endemism identifiable as gen- eralized biogeographic tracts. This ichthyofauna is reviewed and employed as a case study in applications of phylogenetic relationships of organisms in vicariance biogeography. In this new method species relationships and distributions are coded in a binary and multistate data matrix and analyzed using a parsimony algorithm to elucidate the age, origin, and biogeographic history of the fauna. Rivers inhabited by species are analogous to taxa; relationships between species and their distributions are analogous to characters possessed by each of the taxa (Rivers). From seven fish clades, 33 equally parsimonious cladograms are obtained for the Central Highland drainages. The resulting strict consensus cladogram is consistent with the known pre- Pleistocene geological history of eastern North American rivers and supports the hypothesis of an ancient ichthyofauna. With this group of fish clades the Mobile Basin forms the sister group to all rivers of the Mississippi River Basin. Among the Mississippi River tributaries, a clade inclusive of the Tennessee, Duck, Cumberland, and Green rivers forms the sister group with the Salt River in Kentucky. This clade is sister to a large Teays-Mississippi clade. Within the latter group, a sister-group relationship is obtained between tributaries of the upper Ohio River, formerly of the Teays River, and a clade inclusive of rivers across the glaciated Central Lowlands and into the Interior Highlands. These relationships may be predicted from pre-glacial drainage patterns, but not by present-day drainage connections. Concordance between the known pre- glacial drainage history and the drainage cladogram supports the existence of a diverse and widespread pre-Pleistocene Central Highlands ichthyofauna. (Biogeography; freshwater fishes; parsimony; phylogenetic systematics; evolution; speciation; extinction.)

The Zoogeography of the Fishes of the Youghiogheny River System, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia

A total of 266 fish collections were made at 172 stations in the Youghiogheny River drainage, the largest tributary to the Monongahela River. Collections were made using seines, electrofishing gear, gill nets and trap nets. A comprehensive literature review yielded 99 species of fishes reported from the Youghiogheny River system. Six species collected during this survey (Amia calva, Carassius auratus, Ericymba buccata, Notropis rubellus, Ictalurus catus and Fundulus diaphanus) established new distributional records for the system, increasing the total to 105 species. Of this total, 78 species were verified either by our collections (57 species), museum records (10) or stocking records (11), whereas 27 could not be verified. Of the 27 unverified species, 21 are expected to occur and six are considered misidentifications or erroneous records. An additional 24 species are expected to have occurred historically in the Youghiogheny or have the potential to do so based on their distribution in the Monongahela or Allegheny rivers. Of the 78 species of fishes confirmed to have occurred in the Youghiogheny River, 57 were collected during this survey, 11 were unsuccessful introductions and nine have probably been extirpated. One species, Esox masquinongy, is considered extant, but was not collected during this study. The ichthyofauna of the Youghiogheny River system was largely derived from Teays River by dispersal up the newly formed Ohio River after the onset of Pleistocene glaciation. Two species, Clinostomus elongatus and Catostomus catostomus, dispersed into the Youghiogheny from the N during the Pleistocene. Rhinichthys atratulus atratulus dispersed into the Youghiogheny from Potomac River via stream capture. Several species, (Jampostoma a. anomalum, Ericymba buccata, Nocomis micropogon, Notropis spilopterus and Etheostoma b. blennioides, may have used Youghiogheny-Potomac stream captures as a dispersal route eastward into the Atlantic slope.

Micromorphology of Polygenetic Soils in the Teays River Valley, Ohio

AbstractSoils in the preglacial Teays River Valley in Jackson County, Ohio, are polygenetic. Modern sola are developed in 50 to 60 cm of loess over loamy or silty colluvium which, in turn, overlies either weathered bedrock, old river alluvium, or thick lacustrine clay. Micromorphological observations of heterogeneous plasmic fabrics and embedded argillans and aggregates support the field identification of a paleosol developed in colluvium and buried hy loess. Abrupt changes in plasmic fahrics over short distances in thin section are interpreted to represent mixing of soil materials during colluviation. Compound argillans with varying degrees of orientation and disruption suggest that at least two periods of clay illuviation occurred. Discontinuous banding of plasma and silt particles suggests that the colluvium moved down valley walls during periods of solifiuction. We hypothesize that solifluction occurred about 18,000 RCYBP, when Wisconsinan ice had advanced to about 50 km northwest of the Teays Valley.

Parent Materials and Paleosols in the Teays River Valley, Ohio

AbstractSoils in the preglacial Teays River Valley of southern Ohio were studied to identify their parent materials and to investigate the presence of paleosols. At each of four sites, soils formed partly in a mantle identified as loess. The loess mantled the landscape to a uniform depth of 50 to 60 cm and was characterized hy 45 to 50% medium silt on a clay‐free basis as well as by Ti/Zr values of 10 to 12 in the total silt fraction. At sites near the old valley walls, the sola extended into colluvium. At sites near the center of the valley, the sola extended into silty alluvium or colluvium. Clay‐free particle‐size profiles and total silt Ti/Zr values generally supported the field identification of a lithologic discontinuity between the loess and underlying material. Finally, the soils were underlain by a third material: either lacustrine clay (Minford Clay), old alluvium (Gallia Sand), or weathered sandstone bedrock, depending on position in the valley.Paleosols were developed in materials underlying the loess. In the field, paleosols were identified by continuous argillans on ped surfaces. Laboratory determination of total clay revealed the presence of two argillic horizons in the soils: (i) in the loess (22 to 26 % clay), and (ii) in the underlying materials (27 to 35% clay). More intense mineral weathering in the paleosol compared to overlying or underlying horizons was indicated by its higher ratios of mica weathering products to mica in the clay fractions, higher exchangeable Al, and lower K/Zr values in the fine silt fractions. The presence of a paleosol in one pedon was supported by two subsurface accumulations of amino acid nitrogen.

The claryville clay and early glacial drainage in the Cincinnati, Ohio, region

The Claryville Clay is lacustrine sediment that has been preserved in an entrenched meandering valley beyond the maximum extent of glaciation southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio. Deposition of this and related preglacial material occurred when the north-flowing rivers of the region were dammed by an early episode of glaciation. Although the Claryville Clay is pre-Illinoian in age, its “normal” remmant magnetism suggests that deposition occurred within the past 690,000 years. On the basis of variations in clay mineralogy, grain size, and sedimentary structures, three lithologic units of the Claryville Clay are defined. The upward progression of sedimentary characteristics in the sandy to silty clay is interpreted as reflecting the increasing influence of the southward-advancing glacial dam and fluctuations in this ice margin. Retreat of the ice allowed this proglacial lake to drain. Because of drainage changes initiated by overflow from this and other ponded valleys of the region, the Claryville River valley was abandoned, and new drainage routes were established that discharged west into the Old Ohio River watershed near Madison, Indiana, rather than north into the Teays River valley of central Ohio and Indiana. Present-day rivers lie more than 50 m below the floor of the abandoned Claryville River valley.

Fishes of the Greenbrier River, West Virginia, with Drainage History of the Central Appalachians

The Mississippi river valley was the origin of dispersal of the majority of freshwater fishes east of the Rocky Mountains. The Pliocene Teays river was the major drainage from the east-central United States to the ancestral Mississippi. In the north, the Pittsburgh river flowed northward to join the Pliocene Laurentian river. The advance of Pleistocene glaciation brought about profound drainage reorganization and influenced faunal extinctions through ecological changes. Headwater tributaries, remote from the ice fronts, were less severely affected by these changes and served as refugia. The Allegheny-Ohio river eventually succeeded the Teays river as the major eastern drainage to the Missis- sippi. The New (upper Kanawha) river basin is a remnant of the ancient Teays system. The Greenbrier river, a tributary to New river in West Virginia, was a sub- sequent centre of dispersal of fishes as the Pleistocene ice front receded. Major captures occurred with the Monongahela river to enhance dispersal, but were not limited to that drainage. A total of fifty-three fish species is presently known from the Greenbrier river, with eighteen others listed as expected. The depau- perate fauna is influenced by limiting factors associated with the New river --4-to

Preglacial (Teays) and Early Glacial Drainage in the Cincinnati Area, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana

The preglacial rivers of southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana flowed toward the north and joined with the west-flowing trunk river, the Teays, in central Ohio. The main tributary valleys to the Teays River in this region—containing the Old Kentucky, Manchester, and Old Licking Rivers—were meandering and incised to a depth of 30 to 60 m (100 to 200 ft) below the upland level. The bedload carried by these rivers had a distinctly southern source. During the first glacial advance into central Ohio and Indiana in pre-Illinoian time, the Teays drainage was dammed, and impounded waters filled the valleys. East of Cincinnati in the Manchester and Old Licking River valleys, thick lacustrine clays were deposited. West of Cincinnati, however, in the Old Kentucky River basin, there is very little lacustrine sediment, suggesting that either (1) the Old Kentucky River was not ponded because its flow had already been reversed as a result of preglacial piracy by the west-flowing Old Ohio River, or (2) glacial ponding occurred but was short-lived because overflow from the Old Kentucky River basin west into the Old Ohio River basin caused rapid downcutting of the divide between these basins. Thick lacustrine sediment in the Manchester and Old Licking River valleys indicates a long period of water impoundment. Hence, deepening of the spillways between this lake and the Kentucky River basin to the west must have taken place very slowly. The lake probably existed for many years before the addition of water overflowing from the Teays tributaries in southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania began to contribute to spillway erosion. Eventually, probably as a result of this initial glaciation, a new west-flowing Ohio River was established, approximately along its present course from Pittsburgh to southern Illinois. The new river closely followed the trend of the Teays-age valleys but seldom coincided with those old meandering valleys in the Cincinnati area. Entrenchment of the new Ohio River took place soon after the old valleys were abandoned, leaving many high-elevation preglacial valley remnants south of the pre-Illinoian glacial boundary. The initial post-Teays drainage pattern was modified in several places when Illinoian glaciation, and, possibly, a second pre-Illinoian advance (stade?) invaded the Ohio River valley north of Cincinnati and at several points to the east and west of the city.

A Major Buried Valley in East-Central Illinois and Its Regional Relationships

A large buried valley, tributary to the well-known bedrock valley along the Illinois River, has been traced eastward across central Illinois to the Indiana state line, and continuation into Indiana and beyond is indicated by well records and outcrop data. Detailed studies are confined largely to Illinois, and the valley is herein named "Mahomet Valley" after a locality in Champaign County, Illinois. Mahomet Valley is considered preglacial, as Kansan, Aftonian, and possibly Nebraskan deposits occur within the channel. After the advance of the Kansan glacier the valley probably ceased to function as a major drainage line; and by the end of Illinoian time the valley was so completely filled with drift that the Sangamon interglacial plain continued across it without interruption. A new working hypothesis favored by the writer is proposed, namely, that Mahomet Valley represents the lower course of Teays River, a preglacial master-stream which probably had its source near the eastern scarp of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina; flowed westward across Ohio, northern Indiana, and central Illinois; and finally discharged into the Gulf Embayment through bedrock valleys now generally occupied by the present Illinois and Mississippi rivers.

The Preglacial Teays Valley in Indiana

The preglacial Teays River, which rose in Tertiary time in the vicinity of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina, flowed across north-central Indiana and turned south through the present lower Wabash Valley to discharge its water into the Gulf Embayment in the vicinity of the southern tip of Illinois. That portion of the valley in northern Indiana, as well as that in western Ohio, was buried beneath the Pleistocene glacial plain. Its route across this area has been traced, by means of well records. Along the west side of Indiana the present Wabash River flows in the deeply alluviated Teays Valley. Well records in the lower Wabash Valley indicate the position of the preglacial valley floor. The Teays Valley in Indiana has a gradient of approximately 8 inches per mile; the buried bedrock floor drops from an altitude of 463 feet in northwestern Jay County to an altitude of 229 feet in southwestern Posey County.