REPORT b. The Lake River Group...........................................47 Generalizations on the Lowland Flora................... 48 OF THE Conclusion....................................................................49 STATE BOARD OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF MICHIGAN Muskegon County..........................................................49 FOR THE YEAR 1901 Some general remarks on the topography, soils, water sources, flora, etc., of Muskegon county, by C. D. BEING THE REPORT OF McLouth........................................................................50 ALFRED C. LANE Washtenaw County........................................................52 STATE GEOLOGIST. Lapeer County................................................................52 BY AUTHORITY Surface Geology of Lapeer County—Summary of Report of Progress, by F. B. Taylor, ............................52 1902. WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., LANSING, MICH. STATE PRINTERS\ Illustrations THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Figures STATE GEOLOGIST ALFRED C. LANE Figure 1. Illustrating possible occurrence of gas or oil. .........34 TO THE BOARD OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Plates FOR THE YEAR 1901. Plate I. Physiography of Alcona County, by F. Leverett. .......13 Plate II. Soil map and geological section of Alcona County. .30 Plate III. Plant Societies of Kent County, by Burton E. Contents Livingston. ......................................................................38 Letter Of Transmittal....................................................... 1 Plate V. Pine stumps in dry and wet ground—photographed by C. D. McLouth. ...............................................................50 Tuscola County. .............................................................. 2 Plate VI. Lapeer County, Surface Deposits, by F. B. Taylor..54 Saginaw County. ............................................................. 2 Bay County. ..................................................................... 2 Preliminary report on Arenac County, by W. M. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. Gregory ............................................................................ 3 OFFICE OF THE STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, Table of contents of this report...................................... 3 LANSING, MICHIGAN, DEC. 31, 1901. Alcona County, by F. Leverett and A. C. Lane ........... 13 To the Honorable the Board of Geological Survey of the Table of contents of this report.................................... 13 State of Michigan: Alpena County............................................................... 37 HON. A. T. BLISS, President. HON. P. H. KELLY. Kent County................................................................... 37 HON. DELOS FALL, Secretary. The Distribution of Plant Societies of Kent County, Gentlemen—You have deemed it wise for me to make Michigan, by Burton Edward Livingston. ..................... 37 my annual report more full than usual this year,* and Introduction.................................................................. 37 include therein reports of progress that shall give the A New Field for Research............................................ 37 chief results of the work, in regard to a number of Literature...................................................................... 38 scientific and practical matters which cannot be Kent County—Its Climatology ..................................... 39 published in more final form for some time. Inasmuch as Geology of the county.................................................. 39 this involved more work and a start upon the report before the end of the calendar year the details of Methods....................................................................... 41 business and finance are placed at the end, to which The Upland Societies:. ................................................ 41 they could be added at the last. 1. The Five Societies Characterized.....................41 Table of the Upland Plant Societies ...........................42 The work may be conveniently treated as heretofore by 2. Distribution ........................................................42 areas and by subjects, the units of area being in general 3. Generalizations.................................................43 counties. The counties upon which we are at work will a. The Soil Factor ......................................................43 be taken up in the order in which they have been taken b. The Historic Factor ................................................45 in hand, but when we expect in the near future to have The Lowland Societies:. .............................................. 46 the report ready, the account of the state of the work will a. The Pond-Swamp Group.......................................46 not be so full. Annual Report 1901 -- Letter of Transmittal - Lapeer County – Page 1 of 57 *My two previous annual reports were short, and contained not much do in Saginaw county is to prepare a map of the bed matter of scientific interest, so that I did not recommend them to be rock surface. This is of importance for coal mining, as printed by the State. They will be found, however, practically complete, in the Michigan Miner for February, 1900, and January and the danger of mining into old channels is not February, 1901, the publisher, Mr. C. B. Schaefer, furnishing 500 inconsiderable. reprints to the Board. It seemed wise to wait therefore for this material, so as to make the report on the county fairly complete, rather than to issue one which would be out of date before it TUSCOLA COUNTY. could be released from the hands of the printer. But in Prof. C. A. Davis, of Alma College, who has been the meantime I have tried to give publicity to some of the preparing the report upon Tuscola county, has been more important economic results. Much of the material transferred to the chair of forestry at the State University, regarding the coal of the county will be found in my coal a place for which his knowledge of geology and botany, report.* on the relation of which to forestry I elsewhere touch, It will be noticed that I find seven coal seams, three of especially fits him. them at least important enough to work. The two upper The necessary duties involved, and some brief but very or Verne seams are higher in sulphur and volatile matter. fruitful studies on the origin of our marl deposits from a The lower or Saginaw is higher in moisture, but very low botanist's standpoint, showing the important part which in ash and sulphur, and there are likely to be lower Chara has played therein, have delayed his report. In its seams. surface conditions Tuscola county consists of strips In another place in this report under the head of running northeast and southwest. The northwest corner prospects for oil and gas, will be found an account of the is a fertile and recently emerged lake bottom mainly of upward flexure of the Napoleon sandstone near Saginaw clay with superficial sand ridges. Then from the which seems to exist. This sandstone seems to have northeast corner between Gagetown and Cass City little if any rise when followed from north-northeast to there is a tongue of rolling till. Then the valley of the south-southwest, but probably falls quite rapidly to the Cass is very largely sand and boulders washed from the west. ice, or deposited by the great stream which once occupied the Cass valley.* Finally in the southeast The soil of the county is prevailingly clay. In some places corner we come upon some deeply cut rough till country patches of clay till are left bare and there are also areas once more. of river silt and of sand, but the latter is not usually very deep. The sand is generally more than eighteen feet Recent explorations about Vassar, while showing that above lake level, and a large part of the county is below coal is there, have not found it in quantities enough to this. warrant mining. Another reason for not pushing the publication of the The beet sugar factory at Caro has found a large flow of county report, is that I found it would be well to wait until water in the Napoleon sandstone, as I told the driller he the contours of Bay county were adjusted before might expect. This sandstone comes next underneath preparing the contour map. I have, however, studied the drift in the southeast part of the county and dips carefully the altitude of the East Saginaw datum, and gently to the west. It will generally furnish a good supply found it to be 582.3 A. T. (supposing that the United of water but poorer qualities of water that sometimes State Lake Survey Plane of reference at Milwaukee, occur above it will have to be cased out. known as Highwater of 1838, is 584.38 A. T.), with a *See Report on Huron and Sanilac counties, Vol. VII. probable error of only two or three hundredths of a foot, and no perceptible change in altitude (of two-tenths of a foot, say) in the past forty years. With the help of Mr. SAGINAW COUNTY. Charles Holmes, I have been able to refer all the levels about Saginaw, and the profiles of all railroads mining The preparation of the repeat on this county has been in into it to this datum. This matter is treated of later under my hands personally. I will not plead pressure of other elevations. duties for delay in its appearance though I have not been *Part II of Vol. VIII. idle, but the reason why I allowed other matters to interfere have been as follows: There are no outcrops of bed rock in the county, and BAY COUNTY. therefore the geologist is dependent almost entirely upon information furnished him by exploring companies. The