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I.— LIGNITE rORMATIONS OF THE WEST.

II.-FORAMINIFERA, COCCOLITHS AND
RHABDOLITHS, FROM THE CRETACEOUS

OF MANITOBA.

<^' M. DAWSON.

(From the Canadian Naturalist, April, 1874.)

z

c .

T

THE

CANADIAN NATURALIST

AND

(^Uiutcrljj §mxm\ of Mtiw.

THE LIGNITE FORMATIONS OF THE WEST.

Bv George M. Dawson,
Assoc R. S, M., Geologist 13. N. A. Boundary Commission.
The true Carboniferous formation and that with wliich the
• greater part of the valuable coals of the world are associ-.ed, and
■which IS so largely developed in the eastern half of the Amcn-can
continent, from Nova Scotia southward, does not appear in the
western prairie region. Its north-western border lies in the
eastern part of the Territory of Nebraska and in Iowa where
the thickly w. Jed country of the east has already pas.sed into
the prairie land of the west. Here, how ver, this formation
depended on for fuel in so many parts of the world, to a c^reat
extent loses its coal-bearing character. In Nebraska it has'^now
been pretty thoroughly explored, both by surface examination
and by boring, and yet lias only yielded coal in very sparine
c(uantities. Coal seams of 18 inches and 2 feet are described''
and one which has been pretty extensively worked in the vicioity
of Nebraska city, is not more than 8 inches in thickness Such
coal beds as these would not be workable in England or on the
continent of Europe, with all the cheap and skilled labour there
at command, and in a new country like Nebraska are only ren
dered so by the extreme scarcity of wood for fuel, the coal such
as it is, being sold at prices n-ging from about 40c. to 80c. per
l)ushel. ' *^

Hayden and other United States geologists, who have examined
this region, consider it to be upon the western lip or margin of
the true coal formation. Even in ^he State of Iowa the coal
beds are of comparatively small importance. The formation is

Vot. VII. n

242 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. VU.

thia iuiJ irregular, iind the coals themselves contain an excess of
moisture and much ash and sulphur. In this western country
the sandstones and mud rocks, usually associated with coal, are
gradually replaced by limestones, in Heating deeper water and
conditions unl'avourable to the fbrniMtiou of coal beds, as pointed
out by Proi'essor II;ill.

Poor as these western coal-bearing rocks arc, they labour r der
the additional disadvantage of being in great part covered by a
newer formation, the Cretaceous; and where the Carboniferous
formation again comes to the surface along the llocky Mountain
region of uplift, to the west of the great plains, it has not been
found to contain so much as a single seam of coal, but is repre-
sented by massive limestones, shewing deposit in deep ocean
water, and so far removed from land that it is rare to find in
them even a fragment of any of the plants which were growing
so luxuriantly in the swamps and deltas of the eastern half of the
continent at the same time. Just whore the coal of the recog-
nized formation fails, the luxuriant growth of timber of the east
also comes to an end, and the country assumes that prairie cha-
racter which persists with scarcely a break to the foot of the
Rocky Mountains. The bare rolling grassy hills and plains,
though in many places eminently suited for agriculture, seldom
yield wood for fuel or construction. Trees as a rule are only
found fringing the deep river valleys, and in steep-edged gttUies,
where they are protected from the sweep of the prairie firr?, and
find a permanent supply of moisture.

In the western portion of the Dominion, in Manitoba and the
Red River country, the Carboniferous formation is not found at
all, but the Cretaceous rocks already alluded to, overlap the
limestones of the older Silurian period. The true coal formation
can only be supposed to exist there below a great thickness of
CretaceuuS rocks, and even if accessible the probability of coal
of any value being found in it is, from analogy with the regions
already mentioned, exceedingly small.

Neither do the Cretaceous rocks of the eastern portion of the
plains yield, so far as known, any fuel of economic value in their
great stretch from the borders of Mexico to the northern part of
the British North-West. They consist almost entirely of clay
rocks and sandstones, with one interesting zone of limestone and
marl, which forms part of Hayden's group 3, or Niohrara Divi-
sion, and which appears to be recognizable in Manitoba at Pem-
Hna mouDtaiQ,

I

•No. 5.J DAWSON— IKINITE FOEMATIONS. 243

The lower part of thi»fb™a.iou, however, in Nebraska, and
OQ the M,ssonr, river, seem, to show an attc.npt at the produc-
n ss and of " earbonaceous clay, " .re met with there, espeei.Ily
. Hayden s owe»t, „r Du,..,,, Gro„p. F„.sil loaves and stems
are also found assoe.ated with those beds, and one lignite occur
r.u« m beds believed to be transitional between theCI
0,-«j, and the Far, JSe„>o„ Oro,,,, next above it, i, even stated
to have been worked to a small e.Uon,, and to have been .< uled
. Dy Diacksniitlis with some .success."

^ There is therefore a possibility that tiie eastern edge of the

Man toba the lower beds, and those in which the deposits above
men .oned occur further south, probably lie east of the escarp!
mentof i enibnia mountain, and further east than the Cretaceous
formation is made to extend in Hind's Geological Map. which
ha,s hmuu-to been the authority for the region. The!e lowe
bed,., It they still exist beneath the alluvium of the Ked River
ralley, ar« nowhere exposed, and cannot be explored except by
boring operations. The possibility oi" the existence of fuel in thi
representative of the Bakotu Gr.,., in .Manitoba is much increa
If the coal beds of the Upper Saskatchewan, examined last sum-
mer by Mr.Selwyn,are, as he -supposes, of Lower Cretaceous
age also, for lu this case tii«re would aj.pear to be a tendency in
the Lower Cretaceous formation east of the Kocky Mountains .o
become coal-bcanng northwards.

Dr. Hector, many years ago, referred lignite beds observed bv
h.m in this region, to the same period, h. vi,,y of these faetl
the position and character of the Cretaceous rocks occurring in
Manitoba and the neighbouring country, becomes an intereetin-^
and important subject of inf|uiry. ""'

Fortunately, however, the advance of settlement and civiliz,.
tion on the AVestern plains need not wait for the development of
these possibilities, or for the tedious process of the planting and
growth of trees suitable for fuel. A great deposit of fossi? fuel
of still later age than the Cretaceous, has of late years been pro-
minpntly brought to notice in tiie Western States, and the nor-
thern extension of this lignite formation of Tertiary age islai-elv
developed in the Canadian Northwest. The existence of these
fuels on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains has loner been
known m u general way. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer

244 THE CANADIAN NATURAM8T. [Vol. vil.

of the river of tin; same n;nue, in his account of his vcy.ijrcs of
discovery prosccuti'(l durini; the years 1781) to 1793, says that
alonfj; the eastern side of the niotintains there exists " a narrow
strip of very iiiarsiiy, bo<:;i2;y, and uneven f^round, the outer edp^e
of whicii produces coal , I lid bitumen ; these I saw on the banks
of the Mackenzie River, as far north as Lnt. (id'-'. I also dis-
covered them in my second journey at tiie conimonce'^ent of the
Jlocky Mountains, in .50"^ N. liat. ; 120 W. Lons. ; and the
same was observed by Mr. Fiddler, one of the servants of the
II. B. Company, at the source of the South biaiieii of the Sas-
katchewan, in about I^at. 52; Loim. 1 12^ HO." lie also de-
scribes near the Peace River, " several chasms in the e irth which
emitted heat and smoke which diffused a stroni^ suljiliurous
stanch,"' — probably a case of the spontaneous combustion of a lig-
nite bod comp.ir ible with those observed in other localities. Sir
John Franklin i.i his second journey to the Polar Sea, noticed
what he calls biuls of liiiuite or tertiary pitch-coal at Garry's
Island, oif the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and al.-^o an ex-
tensive deposit near the Rabba:^e River, on tlie coast of the
Arctic Sea, opposite the termination of the Richardson chain of
the Rocky Mountains. Sir J. Richardson, who accompanied
Franklin in the expedition just referred ti», was one of those
en<>'a<J"ed in the search for him in subsequent years, and mentions
in his account of a boat voyaj^e on the Mackenzie and iu the
vicinity of Great Bear River, a species of coal which when re-
cently extracted is massive but shows woody structure, the beds
appearing to be made up of pretty large trunks, the fibre of
which is contorted. He says that when this coal is exposed a
short time to air it splits into rliomboidal fragments, which again
separate into thin layers, and much of it eventually falls into a
coarse powder. When exposed to moist air, it takes fire and
burns with a fetid smell, but with little smoke or flame. Some
varieties resemble charcoal, and others are conchoidal likecannel
coal. Amber is also noticed to occur, and the beds of coal are
ofteu destroyed as exposed by their spontaneous inflammability.
This description and the account given of the associated clays
and shales might almost as well apply to some localities in the
ssouthern part of British Americ i or to the lignite tertiary for-
mation of the Missouri River.

In the United States the first observers of this formation ap-
pear to have been Lewis and Clarke, who, in the narrative of

^O- 5.] DAWSON— LIUNITE FORMATIONS. 245

their exposition ou the Mis.souri in 1804, mention soniewlmt
fully the occurrence and distribution of the rocks of this forma-
tion. Many other exph»rers have since that time noticed the
occurrence of this li-nitj formation even as far south as tlie Ar-
kansas River, but till the inception of the trans-con.inental rail-
way, it was thou-ht of as lying too far west to be useful. The
explorations connected with the railway and its construction, and
the simultaneous -rowth of an important -old and silver '-ining
region in Nevada and other western territories, with the explo-
rations of HaydiMi and other gvologists, have brought the great
Lignite Tertiary Basin of tliase regions to notice in a manner
commensurate with its importance. The lignite coals of this
formatiot. are now very extensively worked in several places
near tlie lino of the Cnion Paeifie, and are ibund to subserve
all the ordinary purposes of the more perfect coals of the true
Carboniferous formation. They are used on tl»e railways, and
also tor the mctailiirgical treatment of ores.

The region . x n.ined by me duri.ig the latter part of last
summer, lies Wn- il.c most part immediately north of the Inter-
national 13ound IT, which crosses the continent from the Lake of
the Woods to the Pacific (3ceai,, on the 4!3th parallel of latitude.
Of the country through which the line passes, .bout 300 miles
trom Last to West, have remained unknown even geooraphically
until explored by the Boundary Survey during last summer,
and the Lign.te Tertiary formation described in this paper lies
almost entirely in this hitherto unvisited re-ion.

In proceeding westward from Red River,''the Cretaceous beds
already motioned are met with in the region of the escarpment
called Pembina Mountain, and in the streams which flow down
over It, and occasional exposures of these rocks are found for a
distance of about 45 miles. Beyond this, for about 150 miles
no rock exposures whatever are to be seen in the vicinity of the
Line, the whole surface of the plains being composed of drift
materials and marly sands and gravels. The river valleys are
deep and broad, but the banks are grassed from top to bottom,
and though very generally strewn with boulders belonging to
the drift formation, do not show any sections of the underlvin*^
rocks. ^ "*

At about 240 miles west of Red River, the boundary line
strikes the Lignite Tertiary formation ; the prairie level rises
at the same place by a gentle step, which may be considered as

-rrxr

246 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol VU.

the first elevation towards the Cotoau de Missouri, or region of
high and broken ground which separates the waters draining by
the Souris and Saskateliewm Rivers to Hudson's Bay, 'Vom
those forming the northern tributaries of the Missouri River,
and falling at last into the (Julf of Mexico. Here also the river
valley of the Souris, which is the largi-st stream in proximity to
the line, u.. ''-rgoes a remarkable change, its banks become
scarped and bare, and are seen to ba composed of stratified
fi mds, clays and sandstones belonging to the Lignite formation.
The beds here represented are probably among the lowest of the
Lignite group, and near their b ise is a remarkable nodularly
hardened s indstone, which has been formed by the action of the
■weather wliere it outcrops in the valley into a group of extremely
pietnres((ue ;ind castellated rocks, known collectively by the
lialf-brecds as the Rovhe Ptrde. The lower part of this sand-
stone is grey, and so soft tliat it may be cut and scraped away
■with a knife. The upper part is divided into thinner beds and
is hardened by calcareous cement. IJoth L.yers show false bedded
structure in great perfection, and the lower has been pierced by
■window-like openings, due to weathering along lines of jointage.

These rocks have bc'cn probably from time immemorial objects
of superstition to the Indians inhabiting this region of the plains,
and chiefly belonging to the Cree and Assinel)oin tribes. They
have covered the lower soft part of the sandstone with rude
carvings, some re|)resenting human figures on foot or on horse-
l> ick, others various animals of tiie chase, and many merely re-
sembling strings and necklaces of beads. These sandstones closely
resemble those described in Wyomi g and elsewhere to the south
at the base of the Lignite tertiary, and which there weather inco
similar fantastic forms, to which names such as "Fairy's Caves,"
"' Hermit's Caves." (!te., have been applied.

For iibout 15 miles westward along the Souris Valley, many
loiinks showing good exposures of the Lignite Tertiary rocks
occur. The strata there represented probably overlie those of
the Roche Percee, and cont:iin many beds of lignite, which those
seen immediately underlying the sandstone do not.

The beds in association with which the lignites occur are
mostly arenaceous clays, sometimes changing into moderately
coarse sands or soft sandstones, but generally more resembling a
true clay of a hard character, and frequently passing intc a species
of clay-slmle. The colours of the beds are very varied, much

No. 5, J I)AW80\ — LUiNITE FORMATIONS. 241

more 80 than thrir Uixtiire, nnd a bank which from a distance
frcf|uently shows a porfoetly bundod appuaranco lioni top to
bottom in sliados of drab, yellowi.sh. lii;lit brown and purple <;roy,
when aj.prcdchod more closely, loses all distinctness, and it is
almost injpossiblo to draw well defined liniis between the hiyers
in a measured section. The forni.ition, thon^-h showing some
slif;ht undulati(ms on a small scale, does not aj)pe;ir to have any
definite direction of dip, and it is jfore diflicult to correlate

the beds seen in different places.

Miiny seiinis of li-nite coal crop out in this part of the Souris
Valley, the tliickest observed was 7 feet 8 inches, and from this
they show all intermediate degrees of thickness down to layers
of a few inches oidy.

The following is one of many sections seen in tliis locality, and
may be taken as an illustration of the manner of alteri.:ition of
■ the deposits. The beds are arranged in descending order:

rrnirio Sod

1. Mixt.'d Slijilc and Drift 7 to H ft;et.

2 Li,!,^'«ito C fr.i (Jin.

3. (JrcyisJi ,S mdy Shale 4 u o

•i. Liiiiiiti! 1 '< U

5. Finn sjiHd and shrtl.y clays, greyish and

yellowish, wi'Il stratidcd 14 " 0

6. Ironstone (nodular) 2 to 4 in.

. 7. Greyish uiul whitish clay 2 feet 0 in.

8. CarhonaceouH shale 1 <( o

9. G rey soft sandstone ] n g

ao. Lignite 1 a q

11. Laminated Kaudy oluy, gniy and yel-

lovvisli 5 " 0

12. Ironstone (nudniar) 0 " 3

.13. Lignite j « ^

14. OarhonHceous shale 1 » q

15. Lignite , 2 'i 2

16. Gre, sandy clay 2 " 0

17. Ligni*- 1 " 6

.18. Sandy under clay, with large and small

roots, poorly preserved 1 it g

19. Lignite 3 " 2

20. Greyish soft sandy clay _

About 58 0

The Ujtper lignite lies so near the surface that it is penetrated
<foy the roots of shrubs and small trees growing above, a-d where
•exposed is soft and rotten. The lower lignites though not of

248 THE CANADIAN NATCIlALISr. [A^ol. vil..

great thickness are excellent in qnallty. Bed No. 18 is one oT
the very few instances where a well characterized underelay was
found to lie below a bod of ll,i;iiite.

Few recoj^nizable remiins of plants are found in this part of
the region in connection with the liii,iiites. Some beds, however,
and often those in close association with the li^nites, yield luol-
luscan remains, representini^' two species of P<iliedina or Vivljvini
at least tw<) oi' Mclaiiia, one Corhnht and several ^'/i/o-like bival-
ves. All these resemule those described by Meek and Ilayden,
from the Li<i;nite Tertiary further South, and the Cndmhi is
probably identical with their 6'. mftctrifoniiis, and indicates that
brajkish as well as fresh waters took part in the deposition of
the lower beds of this formation.

Another peculiar feature in connection with the lignite deposits
is their tendency to burn away in sifii, and below the surface of
the ground. The beds become ignited by some prairie fire, or
'*he camp-fire of some Indian or trader, or it may be spontane-
ously (though this seems iniprob ible, as iron pyrites, the general
agent of spontaneous combustion in coals, is absent in these lig-
nites) ; and smoulder away I'or years, producing bivaks in the
edges of the bank by the caving in of superior beds, and giving
Tise to a material which is plentiful in many places, and resembles
a scoriaceous lava, but is reilly a species of clinker prmluced by
the fusion of the ashes of the lignite.

In continuing westward, and after Inving crossed the region
of drift hills already mentioned as the Coteau de Missouri, the
Lignite formation is again represented in all the valleys and gullies
of the streams which now run southward, and form the upper parts
of the North Western tributaries of tho Missouri. Specially
good exhibitions of the rocks are to be seen in the first of these
large valleys, at a distance of ;U5 miles west of R 'd Uiver, and
also in another a few miles further west, whieh h;is been called
Pyramid Creek, from a remarkable pyramidiol hill formed by
the wearing away of the softer beds of the fornvition fi-om below
a layer of harder sandstone, a block of whidi has f^>rmed th3
capping of the hill. The beds are everywhere- nearly horizontal,.
showing merely local dips, and it does not ap^)ear that a great
thickness is represented by the whole of the- sections examined.
One locality is remarkable as showing the groatest development
of the lignit3 beds, and also for the abund mce of remiins of
plants in moderately good preservation. This is nearly 400'

No. 5.] DAWSON — LIGNITE FORMATIONS. 24^

miles west of Rod lliver, and the cliief exposure is sotnethinj^
less than a mile south of the line, and in the Territory of Mon-
tana. A seam of ligniLC coal no less than 18 feet thick there
crops out. The section, including this liyuite, is as follows, iik
descending order :

1. Siiif'iut' soil 1 foot 0 in.

2. Drift (quartzitf pi'bhles) 1 " 6

3. Yoliowisli and gwy stratiiicd «au(ly

clays 9 " 0

4. LiKiiiU! 0 " 9

5. Uiown, handed clays, with plants and

some rrystalliiu! gy[)sum 5 " 0

G, Lignitt; (weatlicring soft) 10 " 0

7. liiguitt; (hard and compact) 8 " 0

8. Soft grey sandstone 5 " 0

40 3

The laminated clays of bed 5 when first exposed show plant
remains in great perfection ; even the delicate fronds of ferns^
which are here unusually common, showing every detail of their
form. On drying, however, the clay becomes cracked and fis-
sured, and it is with difficulty that the impressions can be pre-
served. The association of selenite crystals, isolated or in groups,.
with the clays and arenaceous clays holding plant remains, is
very constant.

The upper part of the lignite bed weathers soft and forms a
steep slope. The lower part is hard, and being divided by ver-
tical jointage planes, like many true coals, falls into the stream
in great rectangular blocks, and presents a vertical face.

The plants associated with the lignite beds are very numerous
in species, but have not yet been fully examined. Many Jiag
and sedgc-Wke leaves occur. At least two kinds of Ferns are
represented — a Sphvnopteris and an Onoclca apparently identi-
cal with 0. seiisihilis, a form still living. There are also twig»
of several coniferous trees, including a cedar, TIhiJk interrupta
of Newberry, and apparently species of Seipmla and Tuxns ;■
and from the microscopic structure of the lignites it would
appear that most of them are made up of woods of this kind.
Leaves of a great many species of deciduous trees also occur, and
are generally full grown, and appear to have fallen in the order
of nature, and at the change of the season, and floated quietly
out into the great lakes, in the fine silty deposits of which they
have been preserved. Fopulus, ^nlix, Ulmus, Plutanus, and.

"250 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vil.

prob;ibly Rnbns and Iledera are among the genera represented ;
and it is not the least romarkable of the facts indicated by
these deposits that they thus prove tliat in a conip ir;«tively
modern period tlie region now so entirely destitute of trees was
covered by a dense growth of foi 3St.

Though it must not bo supposed that the lignites of this re-
gion are comparable with true coal as fuel, they are still of con-
siderable value, and will play a very important {)art in the
settlement of a country so destitute of wood, not only as fuel for
ordinary use, but in the manufacture of bricks for constructive
purposes from the abundant clays. Most of the samples obtained
•were necessarily merely outcrop ones, and these fuels deteriorate
xapidly under the action of the weather ; still the average of
fixed carbon in 13 samples from widely separated localities was
over 40 per cent, and the ash in nearly every case very small in
amount and light in colour, indicating the absencL^ of iron pyrites.

As examples of the composition, two analyses of lignites from
good compact seams, where the b mk had recently fallen away
and exposed a fresh surface, are here given. The first is from a
l)ed 7 feet 3 inches thick on the Souris ; the second from the
lower part of the 18 foot bed included in the last section, and at
a distance from the other of considerably over 100 miles.

*Souris R. Valleif, 1ft. 3 jh. seam. J'orcupine Creek, l%ft. seam.

Water 15.1 1 Water 12.0.5

Fi.xi'd Ciirbun 45.57 Carbon 46.18

Volatile niattL-r, . . , H'J 7(3 Volatile matter. . . .3"). 12
Ash 4.50 Ash 6.65

These lignites, therefore, while superior to many which are
nised in other parts of the world, are somewhat inferior to the
best class of lignite coals found on the line of the Union Pacific
llailway, some of which contain from 45 to 53 per cent, of fixed
carbon. These occur in detached basins of this formation, but
probably in lower beds than those now described, and have also
been improved by metamorphism connected with the elevatioa
of the mountains with which they are in proximity, and with
the contortion of the strata containing them, the lignites being
in some cases actually on edge, and frequently inclined at high
angles. Similar flexures will probably be found to affect the
formation north of the 41)th parallel, when ti'aced towards the
Biountains, and the lignites may improve in quality in the same
-waj. The deposits here described, however, gain much by their

^0. 5.] DAWSON — LIGNITE FORMATIONS. 251

horizontal attitude cuid easy accessibility, and could probably bo
mined by a system similar to that known as long wall, at the
expense of a comparatively small amount of mine timber, which
in these woodless regions would be a great advantage. The
iron-stones, though occurring frequently in proximity to the
coals, have not yet been observed in workable quantity, but it
is highly probable that further explorations may bring such
localities to light. The ores are among the best of their kind,
both as to percentage of iron and freedom from sulphur and
phosphorus. None of the lignites yet discovered yield however
a coherent coke suitable for the smelting of iron in the blast
furnace.*

The conditions implied by the nature of these deposits are
marshes, lakes and estuaries, on a grand scale, and from which
the sea was for the greater part of the time excluded. The
previous deposits of Cretaceous age show that at that time the
■whole western part of the continent was covered by a sea of
some depth, in which during a long time before the advent of
the lignite period, fine silty and muddy sediments were laid
slowly down, and included the remains of Cephalojwda and
LamelUhrnncldata peculiar to that age. Then came on a period
■of emergence, coarser sediments were carried by the waters, and
at last the sea was entirely shut oiF from the area in question
and replaced by great lakes of fresh water, with wide swampy
margins, where the lignites were slowly formed by the growth ol
trees and peaty moss.

Much (juestion has lately arisen with regard to the true age
of the representatives of these deposits in the Western States.
The plants as compared with those of European formations, have
a comparatively modern aspect, and were originally referred on
good authority to the Miocene. The molluscous fossils occur-
ring in marine beds connected with the base of the formation on
its western margin, show Cretaceous affinities. Cope maintains
that the Cretaceous age of the greater part, if not the whole of
the formation, is proved by the existence in it of a few relics of
Dinosaurian reptiles. It would seem indeed that in the regular
passage of beds of well marked Cretaceous age upwards into the
Lignite Tertiary formation, we have a case of the blending of

* Mr. MilU-r, in some remarks made after the reading of tlii« paper,
mentioned the successful emphiynient of charcoal made from similar
lignites in Uermauy, in iron Buielting.

252 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol.

VI 1.

two p:eolouical periods, but complicated by a simultaneous chancre
over the area in question from marine to estuarine and fresh-
water conditiouH. It seems certain that the formation of lignites
began in the Rocky Mountain region before the suit waters had
entirely left the area, and consequently while forms generally
known as Cretaceous were still living there. The evidence does
not ap|)ear to show that the Cret.iceous species were of them-
selves becoming rapidly extinct, but that over the Western
region, now forming part of this continent, the physical condi-
tions changing drove the Crctnceous marine animals to other-
regions, and it is impo'^r^ible at present to tell how long they
may have endured in oi .duic areas in other parts of the world.
This being so, and in view of the evidence of the preponderant
animal and vegetable forms, it seems reasonable to take the well
marked base of the Lignite series as that of the lowest Ten ary^
at least at present. The formation described belongs to this
lowest Tertiary, being in fact an extension of Hayden's Fort
Union group, and from analogy may be called Eocfuc. Judging
froiM Hayden's descriptions this Northern extension would ap-
pear to be richer in lignite beds than that portion represented
on the Missouri lliver, and therefore to show a tendency in the
lignites to increa-o in importance northwards as they do south-
wards of that regi'U.

NOTf] ON THE OCCUllRENCP] OF FORAMINIFERA,.
COCCOLITHS, &c., IN THE CRETACEOUS ROCKS
OF MANITOBA.

I'.v a. M. Dawson, As. K. S. M., kc.

A great portion of the Cretaceous division "in England and oa
the Continent of Europe, is composed of typical chalk, a sub-
stance which must have been formed in the tranquil depths of
the ocean, far removed from land, as it contains but a very
small proportion of any earthy impurity. It consists in great
part of the calc ireous shells of Foraminifera, and the still more
minute calcareous bodies known as Coccoliths. The remains of
the larger Molluscs and of Echiuodernis occur but rarely. The
American representative of this formation contains no beds of
true chalk, but is made up for the nio>-t part of deposits of sand

No. 5.]

DAWSON — FORAMINIPERA, MANITOBA.

253

and clay, indicating comparatively shallow-water conditions, and
the proximity of land. The nearest approach to chalk is found
in tlu' interior continental basin, especiall;: where the Cretaceous
rocks are finely exposed along the ?'8Ssouri Iliver, and where in
Hayden's third group or Niobrara division a soft white shelly
limestone occurs. It forms bold bluffs on some parts of the
river, and the name '* chalk" is popularly applied to it, and is
justified by the fact that it contains largo numbers of Foramin-
iferii, some of which froTii the Cretaceous of the Missouri and
Misf^issippi have bcun described by Ehrenberg,

In 3Ianitoba, the rocks of the Cretiiccous Series are much
masked by drift material, and do not in any place I have seen
jield fossils in any quantity Through the kindness of Mr. A.
T. llussel, I have however received specimens from a locality
about twenty miles north of the 49tli parallel, on the escarpment
called Pembina Mountain, which exactly resemble the so-called
" chalk " of Nebraska, and contain interestinir or<:anic remains.

The greater part of this rock is composed of shells of Inoce-
rami and oysters, the latter probably identical with Ostrea con-
</esfa, characteristic of the Niobrara division further south.
These shells are imbedded in a soft whitish earthy matrix,
which on microscopic examination proved to be rich in Forami-
nifera, Coccoliths, and allied organisms.

X JOO

Fig. 1. Foraminifera from the Cretaceous of Manitoba,
(a) Textularia globulosa. (i) T. pygiiiwa. (c) Uiscorbina globularis.
(d) Plai >rbulina Ariniineusis.

The commonest foraminifers belong to the genus Textularia,
and represent two of its varieties. Of these the predominant is
a stout form with globose chambers rapidly increasing in size at
each addition, and sometimes even as broad as long. The pri-
mordial chamber, and those next it, are often bent away several
degrees from the axis of symmetry of the larger part of the shell.
The surfaces of the chambers are marked with extremely minutQ

254 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. viL

diagonal interrupted ridges or wrinkles, which may also be seea
in specimens from the English chalk. This form is doubtless
identical with T. globulosa* of Ehrenberg, noted as being ia
cretaceous material from Dakota and Nebraska, and falls under
D'Orbigny's species 7'. gibbom.f T. glohnlosa was found by
Ehrenberg in the Brighton and Gravesend chalk, and ia one of
the commonest forms in the latter. It also occurrs in the Meu-
don chalk of France, ana is still living in the Mediterranean and
elsewhere, in depths of from 50 to lUO lathonis.|

The second Textularine form is usually 'Mnnller and more
delicate than the last. It is longer in proportion, consiaerubly
flattened, and with more elongated chambers. It is compara-
tively rare. Not unfrequently the first two or three chambers
nre very small, and arranged almost in a linear series. This
may be equivalent to T. Missoimensis, or one of the other forms
recognized by Ehrenberg, but according to the revised nomen-
clature may bo included under T. cnjglittinans, variety ^>^<f?na'</,
D'Orbigny. This form is closely allied to if not identical with
one found in the English chalk, and is common at the present
day in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, becoming, however,
rare and small at great depths, and appears to be most at home
in about 90 fathoms in the latitude of England.^

Both of these Textulariae are small and frequently defornjed,
and there are forms more or less intermediate between the types
here described. Both typijs appear prominently in the material
I have studied from the Upper Missouri, || and Ehreuberg's addi-
tional varieties, if his specimens were such as I have seen, were
probably based on transitional or more or less abundant forms
which might be included with advantage under these types^
Both forms have a weak and depauperated appearance.

* Hmithsouian chock list of C.ctaceous Fossils.

t See Parker and Jones, Geol. Mag. Vol. viii. No. ] 1.

i The same species or a variety of it seems to be named T. Americana
by Bailey, in Silliman's Juurnal, vol. 46. In any case, a comparison
of specimens shows that the common species at Pembina Mountain is
even varietally identical with one common in the English chalk.

g Parker and Jones on North Atlantic and Arctic Foraminifera.

II Specimens presented by the Smithsonian Institution to the Mu-
seum of McGill College, from '< Eau qni Court,"' on the Niobrara
River, about 500 miles South of Pembina Mountain, are rery similar
to those from the latter place, containing the same Foraminifera and
abundant Coccoliths and Khabdoliths, with Ostrea congesta.

No. 5.] DAWSON — FORAMINr;ERA, MANITOBA. 258^

The common spiral Foraminifcr in the Pembina Mountain-
specimens, is Discorhinn (Rotnlla) g/ohiihtris, D'Orb. sp., and
is probably identical with Rotalinn, {RofalUi) ghhularls, cha-
racteristic of and very common in the upper and lower chalk of
En<;;land. This form is also common in the specimens from
Nebraska, and must be the same as PhinnrhuUna globnJosay
lecogni/ed by Parker and Jonos from Khrcnberg's figures as
occurring in the Mississippi Crctaceouh.'^ Thcpe authors there
remark that PhinorJmlina globulosa, Ehr. sp. "must not be
regarded as worth much, being a very minute Rotaline, and
such a form as several species might present in their earliest
stage of growtli." It forms, however, a well marked type
in the Maiiitob:i and Nebraska deposits, and as no larger
examples occur, must bo regarded as an adult though depau-
perated variety. It is common everywhere at the present day»
In the North Atlantic it is best developed from the shore down to
50 or 70 fathoms. It becomes flatter at greater depths. The
specimens from ^Manitoba are considerably flattened.

A second Rotaline, smaller and flatter than the rest, and with
more delicate chambers and more in a wjiorl is rcfcral)le to
Phmoi'bnlliKi (^Pldiinliiut) (tvinihioisis, D'Orb. sp., included
under P.f'irctn by Messr-*. Parker and Jones, and belongs to
the series of small quasi Kotalian and Nautiloid forms, more or
less symmetrical, which they state f to be very common in some
secondary deposits, and abundant in the present seas at from
100 to 1000 fathom?. J\ <n-iminensis la common in the English
chalk, in that of Miien, Denmark, and doubtless elsewhere. It
is also found in Tertiary and recent deposits. GliJ>ig<:i'iiHr —
referable to G. crftncea, J>lso occur, and an examination of a
larger qumtity of material than that now at my disposal would
no doubt bring to light many additional form-^.

The general facies of the foraminiteral fauna of these Creta-
ceous rocks of ^lanitoba and Nebraska singularly resembles that
of the ordinary English chalk. Both abound in Textularine
and Rotaline forms of similar types, the most abundant ia
both being the form with globose chambers, and each having
its rarer analogue with chambers flattened and more delicate.

To the bodies now included under the general name Coccolithsy.
attention has only been prominently drawn of late years. Ehren-

• Quart. Jour. Geol. See. 1872.

t Memoir on Atlantic and Arctic Forams.

m

:256

THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.

[Vol. Vii.

i)erp long ago recognized them as forming an important consti-
♦r.eot of the English chalk, and supposing tiiem to result from
a rearrangement and partial crystallization of the particles of car-
bonate of lime, called them '• niorpholites." The name by which
they are now known was applied to them by Prof Huxley, who
found them to be characteristic of many deep sea sediments,
where t'.icy appear in corjunction with the Aiuoeba-like Bathi/-
liiis. It is still fl question 'n dispite, whether they form an
integral part of that orgiuism. RhabdoUths were discovered by
Dr. 0. Schmidt in 1872* in the Adriatic Sep, in association with
Coccoliths, with wlr.ch they appear to be closely allied in struc-
ture and mode of increase. I do not know that they have
lieretofore been found in the fossil state.

X /250

Fig 2. Various forms of Coccoliths (a) and Rhabdoliths (i) from
the Cretaceous of Manitoba.

In the samples of Cretaceous limestone from Manitoba and
Nebraska, both Coccoliths and Rhabdoliths are abundant, and
■constitute indeed a considerable proportion of the substance of
the rock. The engraving represents a sel .ction of the forms
observed, magniaed about 1250 diameter' The Rhabdoliths
i\gree closely with those figured by Dr. ^Schmidt, f and pass

• Ann. and Mag. N. H. 1872.

t Loc. Cit. PI. xvii.

No. 5.] DAWSON— PORAMINIFERA, MANITOBA. 257

through nearly the same set of forms as those there rcproscnted
The Coccohths a^re* with those figured in the s.n.e place .xactly
and also with th'^.e found in the English chalk and recent seas'
They are in a remarkably good state of prcgervation The
average diameter of the large/ aiauQg them is about -008 milJi-
metres which .,rees very n-arlr with that of those fonnd in
other places. Dr. Gumbel ha« discovered Coocoliths i„ lime
stones of many ages, and they appear, thuMgh .-> minotc even in
comparison with the Foraminifera, to have pky.d no unimpor-
tant part m the fixation of calcareous matter, .uui the building
up of the crust of the earth.