Creek

40     B. View down the valley of Umpog Creek 40   III    Limestone plain southwest of Danbury, in which are situated Lake Kanosha and the Danbury Fair Grounds 44   IV A. View down the Housatonic Valley from a point one-half mile below Stillriver Station 52     B. Part of the morainal ridge north of Danbury 52   V A. Kames in Still River valley west of Brookfield Junction 54     B. Till ridges on the western border of Still River valley, south of Brookfield 56

Page
FIGURE	1.	Present drainage of the Danbury region	13
	2.	Geological map of Still River valley	17
	3.	Profiles of present and preglacial Rocky River	19
	4.	Preglacial course of Rocky-Still River	21
	5.	Diagram showing lowest rock levels in Rocky River valley	24
	6.	Course of Still River	29
	7.	Map of Umpog Swamp and vicinity	39
	8.	Profiles of rivers	41
	9.	Early Stage of Rocky-Still River	49
	10.	Five suggested outlets of Housatonic River	51

 

 

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INTRODUCTION

The Danbury region of Connecticut presents many features of geographic and geologic interest. It may be regarded as a type area, for the history of its streams and the effects of glaciation are representative of those of the entire State. With this idea in mind, the field work on which this study is based included a traverse of each stream valley and an examination of minor features, as well as a consideration of the broader regional problems. Much detailed and local description, therefore, is included in the text.

The matter in the present bulletin formed the main theme of a thesis on "Drainage and Glaciation in the Central Housatonic Basin" which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy at Yale University.

The field work was done in 1907 and 1908 under the direction of Professor Herbert E. Gregory. I am also indebted to the late Professor Joseph Barrell and to Dr. Isaiah Bowman for helpful cooperation in the preparation of the original thesis, and to Dr. H. H. Robinson for assistance in preparing this paper for publication.

 

 

 

 

DRAINAGE MODIFICATIONS AND GLACIATION IN THE DANBURY REGION, CONNECTICUT

By Ruth S. Harvey

REGIONAL RELATIONS

The region discussed in this bulletin is situated in western Connecticut and is approximately 8 miles wide and 18 miles long in a north-south direction, as shown on fig. 1.[1] Throughout, the rocks are crystalline and include gneiss, schist, and marble--the metamorphosed equivalents of a large variety of ancient sedimentary and igneous rocks.

For the purposes of this report, the geologic history may be said to begin with the regional uplift which marked the close of the Mesozoic. By that time the mountains formed by Triassic and Jurassic folding and faulting had been worn down to a peneplain, now much dissected but still recognizable in the accordant level of the mountain tops.

Erosion during Cretaceous time resulted in the construction of a piedmont plain extending from an undetermined line 30 to 55 miles north of the present Connecticut shore to a point south of Long Island.[2] This plain is thought to have been built up of unconsolidated sands, clays, and gravels, the débris of the Jurassic mountains. Inland the material