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(From Canadian Naturalist, Vol. A'., No. J.)
PALJIOZOIC GEOLOGY
OF THE RKOION ABOLIT
THE WESTERN END of LAKE ONTARIO
By Pr.)K. .1. W. Si'KSCKU, B.A.Sc, Ph.D., F.G.S., Vi,.o-Presicl<-nt ui Kxnu'^ Clleg.-. Wui.l.s.-r. Xova .--utia.
PaEFACE.— In 1H74, I published, in this Journal, a short paper on the •' Geolo-y of the Neighbourhood of Hamilton." Subsequently (1S77-80), I made an addith.ial study ot the rcMon, and found an iinnunse an.ount of geolo^/ioal informutiou obl.inabl.. This paper on th. Hala.,.zoic Geolo,^ was ready for print in the autumn of 1879, but its publieatiun was delayed in order to complete the work; but as the completion seem8 some .Ustance off, 1 present this paper on the iirst portion of the subject of the Geology about the Itegion of the Western Lnd ot Lake Ontario. A very lai-e amount of new material in Palaeoo- tolo.-y has been collected and i . now ready for presP.
\lthou-h the principal facts oi' the Surface Geology have been coUected/yet the study is .-t yet completed, it being very large, as more than local phenomena are involved.
1. — INTRODUCTION.
Skirting the Western End of J.ake Ontario, in our Canadian
Province of tlic same name, there are excellent exposures of the
various portions of the Silurian formations (or Upper Silurian
of the New York Geologists) overlying, to a depth of several
hundred feet, the upper members of the Cumbro-Siluriau Age
(of the Hudson River epoch) about the city ot Hamilton,
No. 3. Vol. X. ' : . •
wm
whilst bawi'fii O.ikvillc iiud Turmitn, tin; rock> of tin' lattur iip- ;ii)|)(';ir at the surface of tlui eouiitfy.
Tlinsc iii.'iiib-'rs of llio Siliiri:in fonii.it ion wliich arc I'XiioHcd ii; till- ii'iiioii under coiisideration boloiiii to the Meditiii, Clinton, and Niagara ejioehs. The hest hicalilie^ for niakiiiL; L'eoh)j.Mcal exaniinatioiis are at Tliorohl, Grimsby. 11 imilton. Duiidas. Limehou<c .Station ((jr.T.ll.; and lloekwood. Nowhere in Ea.st cni America arc there; bi'tter exposures of tlie various rocks of this ajie. though in some h)cilitics, ospcciaily in the Western 8tatcs. the fossils are in a better ,>t.ito of pro.-civ.ition. How- ever, in the altove inealities there i^ a very '^re.it difforenco iu tlie ]ii-e.Mrvati(in of the fossils fnund. and iie.irly liOII species of or^.ini,-in'> can l)e prociued from .1 limited number of localities. A coii.-iderable vari.ition of tixture is observed in the rocks in (he different pl.aces, .and .iltliouL:]! the number of species of animal remains is consideiablo, yit owitiu to tlie cryst dliin' texiuic of the lime.-'.ones, one is rew.arded with me.i,i;re ri'tuins lor his d.iy's labor.
As we will see further on. the loeks untler e'iii>iderati<»n are intermediate in chir.ict r b'twicn tlmse of the Sta^^ of New York to tlie t;.istw;ird, and ihnse of ( Hiio tn the wistwird, bc^iiii; more calcap'nu- tlem their equivalei'ts in the I'ormer St.ite. and more arijillaeeous than those in the Litter.
In tlie study of the v.irious rocks of tin- Niauira uronp. I have examined the microscopic il structure, .and have ma<le a number of clu'tuical analyses. At the end oi" the ))re^ent piper there will be found a c.italoi:ue of all the speci( s ol' I'ossils in my own col- lection, with some lew th.it have bern obtained by others, but of which I have not been fortunate etiouuh to obtain sprcimeiis. This will be found to be the fulle. t eit.ilouue of Can idian fossils I'rom the Niij:ara i:rouji yet publislu'd.
Aiiain, ;i lew miner.ils are jirocurable at various localities from cavities in the Niauar.i limesteoes, ;is well as mineral w iters from several natural springs and artiticiil openini:s. ill of which will be noticed in their proper placs.
As no p.irt of tlie Province affords a greater variety of interest to the student of ireolouy than the repon about the western end of Lake Ont.irio, T will endeavour to 'j,ive 1 full but concise account of those leature.s and objects of attraction th.it will assist the geological observer and .student in the pursuit of this most attractive and useful study of Nature.
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H. — TOPOORAPIIY AM) DISTIUIM'TION .
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Kxti'udintr aloni; the southern sliorcs of L;ikc Ontario, af dis tJincos varyini: from one to ;i (I'W niik-s from its waters, tlnrf is a ridge of liill-;, or more prnporly an iscarjiment, i<no\vii to um olo- f^ists as the •• Niairara Kso;'rpmont," extmdintr from the State of New York into Canada, and eritcrinii' our country near Quoenston, wlxtiee tli.i nin.'>>, of tlic Xia-^ara Falls lias worked backward for several miles. From tlie Nia-ara IJiver this ridev . xtend.s westward to the town of Dundas, and thence the trend is a litth; west of north to Lake Huron and Manitoulin Island^.
This rauue everywhere forms a bold feature. Along the .-iouthern shon- of I^ake Ontario, the brow is K)l» feet above the hike, while near tht " I'eak." north ot* Dund is, the height is: 520 feet, from whioli place the ascent is gradual as it extends north- ward, until just wc-t of Iiim<hon>e. the eliiF-! have a iieight of 847 feet, whence the plateau gradually rises to *XM] feet at Kockwood (on the (^i. T. Uailwayj, and ntnthward, in Amaranth townsliip, it has an elevation of 1400 feet above Lake Ontario. In its course, south of Lake C)iit:irio, th ; slope i.> general!)' more abrupt than after the range assumes a northerly trend, — the upper portion often formim,^ almost prpendicular cliffs from lOO to 250 feet above the rising slope at its base. The brow where tlie IL i\c N. W. Hail way ascends the mountain (four miles cast of Hamilton) is ;}1J5 feet, and at the head ol' James street, Hamilton, it is 3SS feet above tlte lake, while the plateau above gradu.dly rises t(. 40;> feet, five and a half miles .south of the former place, and to 485 ieet, two miles .south of the latter. This height of land forms tin; watershed between Ijakes Ontario and Erie, and from it the country gradually slopes to the latter lake.
The rocks of thi.s range belong to the various subdivisions of the Niagara Group of the Silurian Age. The Canadian Geolo- gical Survey, many years ago, separated the Niagara and Guelph groups from the overlying Lower Helderberg group, and called these. Middle Silurian, wiiilst the New Vork geologists placed them all togetlier, and called them ll{)per Silurian. We will adopt that nomenclature wliich recognises the rocks of the various groups from the Niagara to the Lower Helderberg (inclusive), as being members, not of the middle or upper, but of the one great Silurian Age, and consider the Lower Silurian formations (Treu-
ton and IIu'lMin HiviT LTiciups of Airu'ricM) d' tlir New W)rk GcnloLMCil Survey. uikIit the n;iin<' C'lnibnt-Siluriaii — a name trivcn by niu! of the rulliers of Ktiuli.sli (m'^Iul^v (i'rofc.->>or Sedg- wick) before Sir H. .Mriiclii.>on incluilid tlicir Welsli ('(juiva- lent;- a- llie lower portion ol" his "Silurian System," as the cliiiracter of the oTiianic remiins is intermediate between Si,1g- in'r/c's CiDiilirlini and MmrliisDii's Oriijlmil Sihirlmi Si/sfn)is.
In tlie State of N(-w York the Niagara uroup is divi(led in aseendinir onler in<o the Onkida, Mkdina, Clinton and Nia OAHA Kl'ociis, and overlies tlie Hudson lUver i'ormation.
The (~)iiei(bi of New York consists of a eoiiLilomerate. and is watititiij: in ('aiuula. l)Ut all Mu^ other inenil)ers of the series are present in tln' I'rovince. At tlu; head of li^ki' Ontario, the Me<lina is underlaid by the rctcks ol' the Hudson Uiver epoch; rind tlie rocks of the Nia,ti;ara period form the surface de])o.sits adjacent to tin- like nyion, while twenty miles to the westward, they are overlaid iri the iieiLdibourhood of the towns of (ialt and Guclph by the deposits of the Guelph I'ormation.
In tlu' Xiairara PcMiinsula, south of Haniillon. the NiaLTiira formation is succeeded by some ol' the uiembers of the; Helder- beri; trroup, unless tluuc be some thin loiicealed deposits of the Guelph i::roup not exposed.
The LTCneral dip oi' the whole series is 25.5 feet in the mile in fi direction of ab"Ut twenty deirrees west of south.
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TIT.
OKOI-OOIOAI, SKOTIONS.
Durinu' the sunimer of 187'.>, the writ^ir. witli the assistance of the l;'t(! Georire Beaslcy, Esq., (\ K., made instrumental measurements of I'our Geological Sections — the most complete that could be obtained. Two of these sections were at Dundas, one at Hamilton, and one south-east of tlie city, from the water- shed between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, alonj; the exposures of the Niagara Limestones in the bed of the llosseaux Oreek, to its falls at Mount Albion. These measurements re<|uired sev(>ral days' levelling over many miles of ground. In addition to the principal sections, several smaller exposures were measured in order to compare the continuity of various strata
The thickness and character of rhe lowest portions of the Medina formation were ascert;;!ned I'rom the log of an Artesian well, sunk to a deptli of 1600 feet, in the western part of Dundas.
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Mr. lic.sl.y j.ri'l riiys^lrcn-iii.otr.l (1„. lliickii."<0)r|u, . i, ili,. a.lj:i- pcnt suiiiniif n!' fli.. Mrdi,,,, Mr.Mi]>. wl.idi i. '2CA I'.ct .iIk.v.- tho l.<ko. by !,'v. lliiio (,,,„i alldwiin.-- iW dij.) with Mi.' iiH.iitli ..t' the
W<'1I Olwilicll «■<■ Iwi.l fll<. !•(•(•(, r;l, ;,ml W-.T." tllUS CIlil.lMl In Clllc'll-
I'llc ;ic('iiril-ly flir thickli-ss of the loriiiarin-i.
Holnrc .i.lvni'inL' liirtli. r we will -ivc a t;.l.iil ,t vi.'w nC (he Coiir s<'cticitis in('asiu<(I.
The tir-t .M'fiinii is ,1 th" w. stmi mi] <>[' DuimIi.w, nifir the jiliicowhiM' ilic ArtiH.ii Will Wiis sunk.) Thr hci-ht nfth.' iuouiImI ill.' w.'ll w:is rduiiil t.. 1,.. l;!li C-t :il)'.\v I»"si .nlin's {-';mal Al'tr-rwiinis w l.wli. .] t-. thr Miiimiit .il'll..> clifFs :.l.)iiu' til.' x.iiKi uvstiTii si.l.' .,r ih.' r:i\!ii,.. which i> loniicd l.y (ho "!'i"'i "Itii.. (wo !-trraiiis rr,,ii) S)Mn.'.T'-~ m.! \Vfh<t(M-V Fiills-- tli«- iii-h.st p., ill! ,,f til.' .■x],ov,.,| i-ock. l„.i„.^ ,t ll,.- juiicti.w) (,r (he iw,. -i.iis. wh.i-c tlic I..1, hc.i> aiv CMiiiiM.x.l (,rtl,,. i-h.rty liaii.!^ i^iili.. same ii.irizcii ,.s thnsrwhi.'h I'oriii th.' ca]!]. in- strata H.iUh .'!' II iiiiilt.-ii. ]iy iii.aiis ,,f (hi, Mcti..!! ,11.1 th.' Art.'Hian well, w ■ wviv :i|,h. lo ascitiiin (in' wiiujc (hicklU'ss ,,( the Medina ■'"'"'"I"" 'li'' wh.ii,. thickness ,,r th.' (Mint.. 11 i'.irni.iti.ni. .••nd
•tl^' i"'^ I |Mi|li.ei .iI'Mi.. Xi:,- 11- . [ilMlMT.
Hut lie- w.-ieiii H.le <'i' the laviii.' i- ni ; • (ii n ..n.- hiiielnd <'•'■' '"^^ ■■' 'li'iii 'h.' .•is.,rii .M.ie. altieiii_Hi llie ro,-ks an- nearly h.iri/niit;,,. This h-.v li-in .nvin- to ih- hie.) .]■ imd.ifinu in the f-pir ot r.iekv heiw.'.Mi t\v.. -ivii va'l'vs. whi.-ii wili 1,,. lenice.! in a liituir I'.ji'T (111 the suii'.ci' uv.dnjv.
T\,r V i\ me uv riri'iii just relerrel m is iii,m',. t\\ \n .'MO i'e-t dei'p. i' w.' e..:ei.l lie |'i,.in ils e.ist.Tti (mi- nther inirih-'visteni ) side. Owin- ! ' ihe ;i|iseii('e .i!' (h.' hi-her !..■.!< ,,|' th> s, j-j,..,, ^ye Icvelle.l \l\> ill'' e-e irpni.'nt ..:i lie' (.pjin-ite si.ie n|' the uTrat '.li-'ii, ;.( tlu! Jiille kill-, jusl e.isl (if the •' I*,' k." Wlie; ■' (1,.- hijll.st roeks ;ire
''!'• '•■ ■! :<hiive the lak.'. all IhiU'^'ii tie' -oil ris.'- a i.'w |'..'t hi-her a '-liorl .li-t lUce tn the nni-tliwai'l.
By tl.. M' iiiriisur'ineiils, md ih.' n e .^-.|■v '• ileulatiMii- in cmi-- relatiai;- tl,.' elj leeiit uie ism-eiii.'iii-. it wa.- t'lu-el Ihat tin' wliol.' thickii"— mI tjic Niauai'i Liniiip i- -de !.■.•! at jtinidis. .it' wliicdi
the liiwe-t Hiiit leet liehaii:: to the .MedMl 1 S.'l-ies.
The .-.cond s<'eti.iii i- iLmi'^ the Sydenham iMa.l at Duiiday. The third section is at Ilaiuilton. h'tweeti thr liea-l .ilMaines slrcLM an<l the Jolly Out road The i'mrt!) srethm, as w.> have Heen. wa^ (aken aloni: the Mo-.-r.nix Cr.'rk to Alhi-ui Fans.
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Si-:{ iKi.N I. (ill I>iiihIixs). Ill ilrscciKliiiL' onliT : I'm (Is jn.) | ivcir inc(i>'ii( il iiIkivc l,iiiu'kilii. Mi'ils i;i-2, tncaMiicd iit liii' sniilli-wisti tti sidr of (Jliii Sjiviicer, fire ((iiiclutrd willi llmsc !i1m.v. Series oI IkmIs tiilliiliiTi'd 1 is at Artesiiin Well
lifjs. N'iAi;\i:\ l''(iit\i \riiiN. Tliicknenn.
;V... I'eH. '20 i''ilir triflilied j^lc'lV (ireli;ii emis ddlnlnile. 'r<'li I'ed
-lili iiited. ( ll'i-lit ;il.(i\( I.iike dlitiirid 'ilT 11.) .. Hi.f! ID DlIlK doli'lllites (soliiewlljil l>il lllllIlK ills) colitllillill.U;
1 I i|i( let idi.diy liifiSM'S dl II l.leii jjitid li|i|>eiillllice . . li.7
IH Meii^uie> ( dill ciijed Id . 'i
17 GlilV illld dillL ddlnlllite.- ill ihill iie(l> — llie llpper Itcrtidii I'niiiiili;: Irnw ol e--i iii|iiiieiit just eiisl I'l' •■ I'eid;." 2.S.3
Id Ivirt \:\ (lull mites will: edliejididn j lilli tllU' .'!. 'J
ir> Ddldllillie sliilies CdXi red Willi ilielllstlltidlis dt e|l-
s. mile :',,,»)
14 (Jiiiy fiiiil viirieLTated ddldiiiites in thiii lieds with
eartlix pill tint's ?,H .A
10:^.9
\'S (.'lierlv ddldiniles ( ') I dill enli ij. Ii\ Illeiisiin Ilielit i'>. I fell, I'llt aildwili;.'- !',.r dip. \)M feet liilisl lie lidded, and tlii> i diine.ts Mie seeiidn at tlie l.iiiiilvilii with Ihiit iiiea^nred at western side of liaxiiie lidiii
Wehsler's td S|ie||( er s Falls t^ . 1
12 Gray ridldiiiiles with minieidiis i heity nudnles. tiiis I'diiiis the i row of cliff jit jiiiiei iciii of liavines trim SpeiK e, - .It ,1 Widister's Falls l'',o
II Sliuly ddldiiiilo. w ith sleil,\ Imrtinjs '.^.O
lO (.'diii|iai I darU uia.N ddjdiuitev. iiidic or less arijilhi- aieiiiii ecus, ill heds lidin twd lo twn and a half t'eet
tlii'k ... !(;.<)
0 Ddldinitii Mile .vhilies, with sIiiiIn (Idldlnites 1:{J
H I'dliipai t liuhl ;;ray ddldinite in clie hed. 'I his lied is ediistant for niiiiiy miles, and it was trdin this that the (li)i was i jihiilated. and ehei ked in hy dtiier hed.s 5.3
7 Nia^iini ddleiiiite^, (d\eied here, hilt ex|)dse(l else- where 10. n
G.l . 4
' 'l.lNI'ON i>'dl:M A'llllN.
6 Clintdii hliiish shales, witli iminerdiis tliin beds <d" ar;;illa( Cdii.; doldinites. scnic (d' w hieli are alsd very fiMrii^iiidiis. others are nidic areniieeiiiis. Many contain fossils. Portidus of tiie series are <dven'<i, but, beiiifi; ix|iOsed in niinierou.s pla'cs, show tlie rbiiracter of tlie wliole formation just deserilied. . . 77.,'",
5 Argillo-arcniu'Odiis dolomites, wiiicli may lie con-
sidiued as heds of p.-issiiire tci the Medina boneatli , 8.2
illl.
er, < at
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1.9
7
4 nillisl) Sllll<lKtun.-S ill twn l.„ils, spiitlill- ill slill.s... V't
3 Cnarsi-sfKidstoii.-— tlic fji;\v I! wn— VMiviii- iiiii. ji ii, tliirUiicss. This is si-piiiul.-.l iV, ,,i IliV hcls aLnv liy sl.jily partiri^^ -.,
2 Mnliiia sliuifs— -le.'ii, iv,|, nr vari.-al.d _ |,„itl v '•'•vir.'il Jicrc, liiit varioiH iiortiuns .'xiMc^nl in lu.iiiv
^ '''""■" ".Ml..!
I l'v<i, -iv,.|i.aii(| varir-ati'.l sjiairs (tu-asiiir.I in Arlc-
"'"" ^^''11) ;;;,.l,„
r.j5.o
T'ltal tliii Uiii'ss SoO.d
Skcikin II. (at i)iiMi|as), Tlii< .MTlinn ua> in.asiMv,! |,iitl,v ajoii- liir Sydculiaiu ,-,,;ui, un.l partly i:i tlu' -Ini jn.t w.si uf it TIh' lucasiiniiK-i.ts arc in • ifscciidiii:,' nnlcT, and tlic ihiihImts uf tlir licds rcfn- t<> tlic i-qui- valfiit Ip(m|,< in Smtinn I.
Nia';aiia Kiikmatimn.
I'iirrty dolomites, luiinin- iaow of cs, urinnunt along K'. Sy.lcidiani road. 'Vhr \\\^\>vv |.oition in the section
<fc r.|.r.>sented at tl i'eak." by inoie than looiret,
^- I'ein- reino\,.d |,y .|eiiiidatio"ii ;or some distaiiee
liai 1^ (i|' t||(> h|(,\v . . 1!) ii
1 1 I'oloinitie sjiales n o
111 Coinpait uiay dolomite, ni.i.v .,r l.vvs ar-illo-arenaee-
ollS ill heds iVom :.' (o J.r, frrt thi.k! 11,1,
U // SliHJy <|olomites , r
1» '/ IVdomiti<' shales ,, ,,
') . ')
S ('oiajiait -i-ay d.doinite in one I,,.,], hi-hly efystal-
liiie, with cavities lille<l witii minerals. ....,' ;,.(■,
V (i lay dolomite, more or less ar-illar s mj)
( I.INTO.S I' OIIMATION.
(> I 'liuioii >li, lies, with thin heds of ;iren..-ur-illae(«(.iis
A dolomites, s((metime-< I'errii-inoiis, .some .d' the heds
:> are hissilil'croiis. Alnnit jn feet from the top there
IS a hud of red I'ernininoii.s, eah areo-arenaeeotis
sandstone, rieh in e;isi> of lus.xils ^r, -
,, , HS.T
4 Hliiish .■<and.^tone si)iittin^ into thin -iahs 2.I
Shaly partin.i,' ' ' ' 0 8
3 Coarse t,M-ay .sandstone— tl (Jray n.md '— varyin-
in thiikness from •; 7 to '.1 feet .7 a I
See btdow,
2&1 Medina variegated sliales (as eah nlated) ,-j;i5.o
54G.0
Total thirkness 691 . 5
mm
SkCTIoN 111 (!!' ll.'IMlilt.iM)
Th.s K..cli..n Wis nuMHuml ai.-nuH..- Ln-w ..f il.o .■HrmTmciU at the nty Mf II.>nill..M, l.-tv-.n tin- ravin.- af ti..- luml ..f .huMts .troe.
,J .he Juily CM." r I. ul-... half u mil. to th. eastward.
Tho M-. lion IH ,n d... < mlinK ..nkr. The- nu.uhc.M.K cf t..e bed- .,„...., K .1>.. M.,.i..u wi.h .iM ,...ns,,..mllnK h.d. a. Dundan. (Sei! iii'l"' in Api'i'i'ili-'' )
/.V>/.<
A'... 12
10
SlAtlAKA KdKMAIION.
Thin guiv ,l.>i.'n.itos. ui.h an ahumianr.. nf rhnty
n,„|„|c.s. This hc-.l iK known aK .hr M hcrt [.'I
and forn.s ,h.> bn.vv ..f tli.- rsrarpuunt a. • a'"' <' '
and ..'astwani, h.-in- ::HH Uvi ah.'vo lak.,- a. head of
.lumuH str.M'l. At hf:.«l ol' (jiu-.-n Ktreet this suri.".^
its 19 f«.'f. thiilv
ArKillur.nn. .h.lun.it.N with >l"^ly .P"'-«>."f^^T"K portion knoNsn as tlu •• Uiu. niniaij.K lieds.' Ueds
T/iicknetn.
12.0
0 r.-l foo. thick. (Sim- analysis and los.silri.) Dark har.l doloniilir shalrs and dolomites weathering
to -ray-and lowr hods mo.st shaly. (See analysis.) 10 Thirk IhmI Kray .ry-stallliio dolomite (nearly pure).. . 4 Ar^rillo-a.cnareoiis .hdomite in heds from 1-1.5 feet
thick. (Sec analysis)
15.5
8.8
51.;]
Cl IN" '>N Kor.MATION
rt/; Earlhv dolomite, with shaly partini:H ^-'^
Go Chinu.n shales, all dolomilic, with thin hedji of harder rock, some of which arc arena( eons, and others to a thiikncssofal.oiit 7 feet, are areuu-ferrugiuous. ^ The upper 0 feet may be considered us paKsagc beds (0.9 5 i'a8.sai;e heds of argillaceous doh, mites. (Top project-
ing portion is glaciated, and is -M feet above lake) 8.8
93.7
Mi;i;iNA FoUM.vTioN.
4& 3 Coarse gray sandstone— CJ ray Baud." Thi-; bed ^ ^ varies in thickness *^-^
i& 1 Medina variegated rod and green shales. Thickness
from . alculalion of Dundas Artesian Well 538 . o
545.0
Total thickness 690.0
SkcTION FV. (Illoliu U.isscdllX Clerk)
TtiiH HOftion i\\i,un liosscuiix Civ.U, fxirmU iiuin AIMon FiiIIm (in Uirlnii TM\viiNl,i|,) to (';ii|i.iit,i's I,iiii(Uilii>, oi, till' H.irnilt.'ri iirid (' ..|,.(|,,riiii. mail. 'J"|iik line I'ullnws uciiily th.- stiikr df the I'Mriiialiuii 'I'll,, s,., tioii IN ill .|.s( ,.|i,Iiii^ i.nlir. Tin- iniiiil-i'rinK of Ihc 1m(|s ri'lcrii t«> lli. (•.)rrc>i|iciiiiliiii; sliata a( Haiiiiltoii and Diimias
Only thf NiiiKani {•"oiin.itii.n is iiiMostnUil
^"- r,,t.
Dark icray l>itiiniiii(.iis (lulnniitcs at Cariicntci's Liiiif- kiln, U. VI, lot 1,^, liait.iii. 'llic tn|p licl is iw.i iVct tliiik, with ^;lai i.itcil siiifarc 'l'i,js l,,.,] (.niitaiiis
niiuiidanic (if Stri>iiiat>i|Hiia 11,6
BccIk f'oiircalcij 42.7
Gri'j- l.itiiniiiKMis ii>i|uiiiit..'s (ilan;;.. VII. I<it 7. Hartoii) bi'ils ii,'.':,_l.M fool tliirk. t oiilaiiiiiiL; i avitic.-i liliiMi witli liariti'. calriti'.sclfiiiti'. lliiuritc. Kitlfnitc. s|ilia- It'iitf, ami other minerals in heaiitifiil rrystuls,
liL'sities liitniniuiioiis matter 15.1
Covered hed.s . , 57
Eurthy eoinpaet dolomite (Kanire VII, lot .''.). 6.2
(The following; jn down the (reek. li. Vil, lot.s 4-1.)
Fine KT'ii'ied dark dolomite, in one hed, with }:la( iated gurfaee 2.2
Areno-arj,'illaeeoiis (l(doinites. in thin hed-, witji shah- part in.us. o.'J-O. I foot tlii( k '. 12.3
Dark iirown liar's, areno-ar;.nlla(eous, ;vitii films of dolomite , 13
Shaly dolomite (with ahiindaii'e of Str>-fililayiivt) .. . 2.5 Blue arenaceous shale.s, hardened with erystalline
jiartieles of doionuti' 2.9
Arf^illaeeoiis (hdomitcs 3,2
Blue and red shaly rock 3.0
Dolomitie HaK'^(Avieula lied), dark brown arenftceous 5.4
C(>v(;red hed.s 3 0
Kartliy dolomites, forming bed of ireck 7.5
Covered beds 3 _ 7
Thin gray dolomites (areno-argillaceou.s), forming brow of e.scarpmunt, just west of Falls 4.0
132.2
'112
^ j2 Cherty dolomite.s, at Albion Falls 18.4
10 Argillaceou.s dolomites, in thin beds, with slialv part-
i"g« '. 22.6
9 riue hard dolomitic hhales, with bedt, of shaly do- lomites 12.0
8 Gray crystalline dolomite, in one bed 4.9
7 Argillo-arenaceoufi dolomites, in thin beds 7.7
65.6
Vol. X.
Total tbickuess of Niagara beda 197.8
I 2 No. 3.
mm
»Km»
10
IV.- -THE MEDINA FOUMATION.
Tn ronrrin..- .n tl,c r.oolo^.ic.-.l FuT-ts of tl.. St.te of Now York, .e Irarn that iW M.-dina lornntion n«sts on what is known a. '■ On-i-U Conulnn.r.to." whioL in OruMda County has onlv a thickness of ^f, f.T. thnu.h .W.wlu.vc it is as much n. l.)0 iVo. thick. whiU> in 11 . Stat, of l>onnsylvaM,a it ts aovc^ed t„th.>....a,tor7niM:vt. Thnv .pp.ars to have h-.n a p-^laal p.,.s:,.n. irnn. th. b n,] .>! .r:,y <MHls.nn.s t.rnunatnr^ the Iliid- Ln Itiv.r lnrn.a,inn in ( In- ich. .nd O^w,-. counti.^, to the ;.v.rlvln.. co..lou)or-.t<>. both of w!:ioh d. posits, how^vr are w.ntin -n tho ue^torn part of the Stat<., and .,v entirely absent ,•,„„„ th>. ^.rio. i-i C;,n-:da.;,sindicatrd at a short distance rast .,f (,d<v;n..nn tl>o nurlh-w..st.'rn sido of I.ako Ont.no, whore ,1, . u| per b.d^ b.4on. i"- to ,h- clos. of th. (-nnbro-Sihinan A^e ;,ro Mvn to r-st b nva'h tho^e at tli^' (.ounn.M.c^'Ui.MU ..f Medina
Tn tneiii- ti;e M-lina f.rin.ifion iV-ui < )<wouo County, N.Y.. it Is tound to iM«rH-.so in thi.k'uss uatil ir :.;t.d,H a dovolopn.ent ,,r.,.v,ral hundred n- t in tho ^^■■•<U'Vu parr of th. State, and at |),.,„p , at iho h> -d of Lak. Ontario, it is Hd:) lerl thick. A ain the .roup .rr.da ^lly di.> out lo iho .v.-tward. and is .u.ly rcprosonto.l In the St::t.' of Ohio by t. t. or twonty feet of red and blu" motthd sli;il"s.
Almost th" wl'ol'' -a-h-s i^ n.ivle up .,f nioro or less calcareous sird. s. some of which are a!s.» aren:ieeous (,Mid almost resemble thin Ha- of unpure sandstone). Tn color t!,c .-hah'S are red. „re. n, or varic-anMl. Th- seri- is capp. d by a coarse sand-tone, ^■idci: is irn-ularly deposited o,d has a thickness io tho ia-i(m „f Duod ..> and TIaniilton, v.ryin- irom sevm to t.a. feet. It is known bv the naui- (d' the "Gray Kand," and is a characteristic stratum from the Niagara l^iver to the Ge(M-i-n l^ay. Sorue- times, liowev.'r, it thins out to men- wcd;ies, bnt the hollows occasioned by the sudden thinnln- process is filled up with ( arthy calcareous sandstones. This structure is well illustr.ated by a section in the glen just west of the Sy.hnham road, Dundas— the Ibllowini: section would not be repren iited lon-itudinally by more than tidrty feet:
11
2.1 feet JUuisli siiiidstoiK; 2.1 feet.
0.8 " Sliiily piirtin.Lrs 0.8 "
TJiin slialy siindstdins |
I" 6.7 " '1.0 " S.ui'istoin- : Tiic •'(.Jrny Hiiiid."
1.3 " SiindstoiK- 0.9 "
Liy tlii> nir 111.- it will !»• mi n tii,;t ilic wlml" ^.'pies docs not uiatcri.illy niter in thicktir.'^s, but tlmt tliu utidulation.s of tlic S'..' "ac'o III' tlie ■"dray Bind" resulted frniu unequal deposits ol' sand alonj:; tlio ^cv. lU'iriiins, md it'tt-rwirds the inccjualitios were filled up by sodinionts (if sliirlitly different cliarieter. Sonietiniss the -'Oray IJ.iiid '" sliow.s rijijiU; luiivks on it> upper surl';ice, while tiio Dioro slialy D.irliuirs have tlu'ir ,-^urfaco characterised by wave action.
At Grinibsy. the lower pdition of thi.s band i.s of the u.sual gr;iy c(ih)r, but it parses into biiLrht red sandstoni-.s irregularly deposited, und conspicuously mottled by large sjiots of a <^ray tint. At this hicdity tin; Arthn^phjjcKs hdrlnni i.s very abun- dant, .aid tliou::h fouiul in both the uray .lud red sandstones, it is more cdunnon in the iVirmer.
At Diindas the cappiiit;' portion oi' th' • Gray H;iiid '" consists of a bluisji s;indst(Mie resemblinii' (juartzite, though this subdivision ill the character of the beds is not noticeable at Il.imilton.
All the thicker bids of Medina sandstone form excellent build in<i' material, tliouij;h difficult to wcn-k on acciumt of its compact ness and tou<ihness.
Along the runoit of the Ni;ii;ar.i Kiver more than 200 feet of the shales are exposed. So, also. tlnu'C are excellent exposures in many of the gorges about the liead of Ltike Ontario, Perhap.s the best section of the sliales is 10 be obtaii:od by following up the stream which flows into Burlington Bay after passing by the village of Waterdown. In ttie deep gorge of thi.s stream tin; upper 250 feet of Medina shale is more or less exjiosed, though in Home places covered by landslides. The base ol' the Medina is exposed at a short distance east of Oakville.
At Dundas, an Artesian well was sunk a few yoar.^ ago, and the following is the leg of the boring, as publi.slied in the Dundas Banner :
*:.»
1
^■p
■HI
12
Ilciildcr Till 20 feet.
Biu.'Cliiy 48 "
Clay and IJhuk Suiiil 5 "
Ucd Shales 341 "
Liinfst( mo and Grits fiSO "
Total I)ei)tli KOO "
The record of the eliar.ictor of the lower portions of the boring was not uivon. The "limestone and i^rits" represent rocks of the Hudson Hiver formation. The record ;i]so stated that at 290 feet from the surface there was a thin bed of sandstone with a flow of iris and water; at :}<l(l feet there was a flow of water risinjrciuht feet above the surfaee; at 1)70 feet there was a heavy flow of "-as. This imperl'eet record is unfortunately all that remains of much money that was expended in seeivinLi- for a supply of water for tlie town. Tiie secretaiy of the Well iJompany has since died, and the complete record is lost. IIow(;vor, it .serves a purpose, and by connectinix the levels of tlie mouth of the well (which is 1:^9 feet abo\e L.-ikc Ontario) witii the adjacent Medina beils, we are enableiJ to calculate \\h'. thickness of the whole formation.
Other wells Iiavo been sunk to a considerable d( pth, years ago, but unfortunately their lous are not in existence. One, at an oil r< finery, east of Hamilton, was sunk into the Medina shales, or perhaps just throuuh them, when a siiffieient supply of water was obtained, but which was strongly alkaline (see analysis below). At 40 feet from the surface (about 27;') from top of the Medina series) a thin bed of sandstone was found. Another thin bed of sandstone comes to an out-crop at Hurlin^ton, on the northern side of the bay of the same name. Tlie beils found at these two places are probably of the same horizon aithoaj;h their con- tinuity is broken by the cj'Uso which oriirinated Burlinuton Bay.
There was another important well sunk to a depth of 1009 feet, at the Royal Hotel, Hamilton, but tlioutrh some water wis procured by me and then analysed, the record of the boring was lost in a burning building. The east( rn part of Hamilton is situated almost directly on Medina clays; but the surface of the.se is covered to a considerable tliickness in the western part ( f the city by drift, which partly fills a Pliocene valley. (See a future paper on Surface Geoloiry.)
The character of the Medina shales is shown by the following chcniical analysis. The specimen chosen was typical of the
14^
13
j^reen indurated .shales which uii woatheriug becoinu red. It was obtiiiut'd from a freshly broken surf"cc at nn .-irtitical ditch ill Ainsley's Flollow, west of Ilauiilton.
Silicii r)0-2
Alnmiuii 12'0
Iron Piolcixidc 1-5
Linu; 17-7
MajLciiosia 5-8
Carbon Dioxido 11-6
988 A portion of the lime and magnesia was present as silicates, some of whieli was decomposed by acids. In varioi'.s aiialy.sis of the ^ledina shale, made by Dr. 8terry Hunt, less than one per cent, of fixed alkalis was found to be present. Uiuler the micro- scope, tlHS(> rocks exhibit small crystalline doloinifie particles scattered llimugli the mass, sometimes uniformly, and snuetimes in thin layers.
Fnuii the geological evidence adduced by the Ohio Geological Survey (as will be iii'ticed under the CMiiiton formation), the Hudson River formatioii was raised up into a sliore line be- fore the deposition of the members <if the Niagara group. In the St:ite dl' New York the Meiiina seas laved tlie shores of the ShawaMiiiuik Mountains, wheriee the pebbUs for tlie conglome- rate of tli<- Inwcr portion of the series were derived. The western m irLiin of the sea wa< b( unded by the " Cincinnati Arch," which has been an upland since the close of the Cambro-Silurian Aire. The arenaceous material of the Medina series was obtained largely from the adjacent highland.s to the eastward, althou<jh a portion of tht; sediments that form tiie " Gray band" was pro- bably derived from the denudation of the more siliceous portions of the Hudson River furmation of the Canadian shores.
The shaly beds ol' the Hudson Hiver stories, and particularly those of the Utica formation of the Canadian highhmds, formed an abundant source whence denudations could derive an ample supply of clay to produce tlie wide-spread oft-shore deposit of Medina shales in the northern portion of the ."-ca. The period was Lretierally one of subsidence until its close, when thc^ "Gray baud " was deposited, to be followed by the Clinton shallow seas, which were to be filled up witli impure limestones alternat- uvx with muddy sediments brought down from the adjacent shores.
14
Orgnnir Rrmdiiis.—Oxw i>r two fiM^^iiniits of obscure seu- wtds Inve been tioticcil by Col, dr.iht in the sbalt's. otbt'rwi.so tbcy apfx'.ir to he (livoi(j of" (l^;,^•^llislll^.
'J'lic "(ir.-i}' r.irid," iiowcvt!!'. rnnfaiiis a IVw fxxnly pri'^erved casts oi'sbulls, b(!si(if.s scviral species of sua-wueds. Tbu fossila ■ire usually lomid crowil <1 toL:' tin r on sonn; purtioiis of thi- stir- liico oltlit; satidstoiii s, overlaid by more or less eartliy partings, particul.irly at t\v junctim) with the nverlyinii Clinton, or tbose b,ds th.il mi^lit perli;!ps b< eonsiibrod bids oj' pHss;it;'e.
'J be sr,(-uet;ds ail' thf ni(i-i enmnion. Art/irnp/ij/cii.s hurLini IS ai)niid :nt at (i rim-by. Tbc br.ineln's ol' tbis orLranisiu is ifionu'tiines C'lniii oU'd witli idb. d iindules, bavins;- ibe appearance of fiiiit pods; bowever, sonir j)al{coiitolouist> consider J>Y/(ro- f)lij/'-iis ,is woini tiaek-s, and. il tiiis be tbe e isc. ibrso lobed ex- pansions are simply vxirm burrow.- :,t tbe end oi' tbe tracks.
A ennsideiabl" numlxT oC ntHloiibted worm tracks or Icbnites is also (bund. .\il the fi^-sils consist of notbini; more than casts in tin K.indslonc.
Tbe bdlowini; inea-n list of fo^,v;i|< has been obtained.
(\\TAI,C)(iUK OF .MEDI.N.V FCSSIf.S.
(i<'»pr(t mill s/i/'i-i'i-s IxPhmirf.
Art/iro/i/i!/cus harlain Hall, 1852, I'nl. X. Y., Vol. II.
!.<ir'ii/ii/ — Grimsby, Out.
" " Fruit (?)
f.OfdIitii — Ul'iinsliy.
PaUeoiifn/ciis sp
I.ociilii.ii — flauiiitdii and Urimsti\.
Z-iphrentis Lilatevaiis llnll, ISaU, Pal. N, V., Vt)l, II
J.ocalihj — Hamilton and Grinisliy.
Atrt/pa ohhit,< Hall. IS.'vj. Pal. N. Y., Vol. II.
l.oeaiih! — Hamilton and (iiimsliv.
V'.}Ji,>lop''is or//ioii»la ('(.luad. IS.'Jli, Ann. Kep. N. Y.
Liii'd iiii — Hamiltiin.
" Rp
Locoliii,' — Dnndas. Hamilton, and <irimsby.
.)lurch/.'<on>\r rn'miiia 'Jonrad, ]S4'J,Jour Aead. Nat. Sc.
LocaUtu — Handlton.
" ron<u,l,:t Hull, 18.^2. Pal, N. Y., Vol. II.
J.oc/i/iti/ — Hamilton and Grimsby,
Plnirotomaria litoro,i Hall. 185'_'. Pal. N. Y,, Vol. II.
Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby,
" i'ervetiisl,! Coniad, 18:i8, Auu, Rep. N. Y.
LocaiUi/ — Handlton and Grimsbv,
hhinten (several i^peeits)
Locaiiti/ — Hamilton and Grimsbv.
15
V . — CLINTON I'OK.MATION.
Tn •^outh'Ti) Hcrkiuur County, \. V., tlir M* Jiin foruiitioti
is wiiiitinir. aii'l tlic Clinton rcsis on lliin deposits of Oneida cont:l'Mnir;iti . whicli it^i'H'dies (lut iartliiT to tli(> i>;ist. In the more eiisrci-n p'lrtioiis of tho St itc of New York, wihtc the Clinton .-eii'- sueo'eds the .Medina, it [Mi'take^i ol'it> litliolo^ieul ciianieli ristio. However, as i!i' Clinton cxiiiids wi»t\vird its shales beconie iiitei'ealited with c ileal". 'oui di'[»f)sits th t I'oiin a oonspiciioHs leitiire. The etlcireous hid- incrcise in import inee as ihc i'oini itioiii extends wesiwird in the I'rovinee ot'Onlario. ami at llaniiiton tln'v so nearly re> nilile tIio.->e .ii' the overlying Xii'_:ai'-i. th t the line of .-epiritioii heeoims alnio-t ailiiti'.o-y. The N w V'lk * Jeoio-'ist.- pLci'd , L.rd i^vei" ol' ilo'i^mite, con- tainiiiu icm. ii:> e,l' I'l'iifmnt riiti. and kiinivn ..,- ;he •• IV nlamerua Rami." ..> tue up[).T h' d of the Clinton of New York, whilt; tie' Canadian ( IiMloLieal Survy considered it :'s th" hnve-t bed of" the Ni 1- ii'a Miie>, which in our I'lovine''. it nlo^t nearly re- s''ndjle>. 'I'lie 1 ttvir d':\isie;i. heiweii t!:'' Cdntoii ,ind Nii^'ai-a. T have ;idi.jt'd ill this jap r, il' indeed, a liivi-ion, exeept I'or convene in;!', .-lionid he tn, d.. In I'lct, tie,; upper nine i.'et of the Clinton dep()<n>, at II- niiltoti mi-ht will be ]iliced \vi;h the Ni;<<i'ara ;d)ivi-e. N'or Te t|ic;-e ;imv p d;C' 'nl't'ouie d LTn'it\ds of sejuratinii.
T.;. Clin;' 11 .iioup Ui.:y be described as dolomitic -ledes, with iiuni' iiui- ihin bids of •iruillo-avi ii;,(;eeu^ d(i|wmit>>, some ni'\vhich almost ie-anb!e impure s-mlslone. Tne i!i<lur..ted sh.ah-s arc j^eiiei-dly of blue or daik .^t :y, but in weatlierin^' tie y assume a red, brown or buti' eoloi\ -M Miy id' tlie more cilcireous b uids are i^liiy l'"--ilii'eri)us. About twenty I'eet u om ihe top of the sene tierr i- a red or brown le'i'rue'iieius caleareo areir.x'eous rock, thou! ' i;^ht l(>et tluek, holdiie.- -'n .abundance of ca.sts of fos.-ils, wliicii are mostly of the '^e^nera Mi/Jio'nji.n's aed Li'Kjiiht.
It may bv: here remarked that pom; of tiie L nmHihritiicliitte sholN vetiin any pMT of their oriii-ia.d tests, while tin' LiiignliP have their .>!iril.> well pri.'sjrvcd, aie! often of a blue color.
Thi> hi d of red lerru^'inou> rock is the iepre>cni,itive of that peeuliir bed of oolitic iron ore, called •' Fossil Ore," t'orminjj; u cl. r eterl-tic elejuent of the Clinton group, extendin.; frotu Wisconsin to New York, and thcnco along the A[)palachiau Chain rc/ Tenucssee and Alabama. Tn some places the "fossil
mm
16
(Hi: " is only vcprtiMMitiid by ll'iriiiiinous stains on tlif rock. This iron milder oiuii'' probably from tlie (loriudatinn of tlic vxtru nivc iron ore deposits, lluroni.in Aire, just nortli of tlio Clinton sea, in wliat is now Micliiiran.
Tlic lower nine I'eet of the ('linton beds ;nv coiiipo-ed ofaro-il- 1 iceniis dolomites with shnly p.irtinu^, wliieh are soiuetinios )»i!iiinirious. Sonif ol'tliesi' layers are so ^rannlar ;ind .ireiiace- (nis .-IS aininst to n'siinl)le s iiidstones. Kroni the lew fossils nbtained lirre. these reclcs may b^' oonsidere(l as beds of [.assai^e from the Mdliiia. Inchldinu the b(M],> that I hav*' placed as beds of pass it;r It the h ise and those at the summit of the L'lin- ti>n inniKitioii, tlic whole thickness at Hamilton is !>4 teet, and ,1 Diindas .SS I'd t.
In New Vork. on thi- (l-iiesee Hiver. the Clinton j^rniip has u tiiiekin',-s (if Sli fi'et, eousistin- of c ilcareous shales with thin beds ol shaly dolomite, toi^ether with the characteristic (hj/ifLC
1 roll ii/'i heil .
In Ohiii this foi'tiiitinn is rrprociittMl by s dmnn-colored doio- mitic linii'sloiie- which vary in thickness from !'> to 40 feet.
As has lieen nniiced. the Clinton deposit^ litholoii'ically re- semble thn.M' nf the Medina, in (astern New York, while in the wi>stern [lait nf the Slate, tln-y approximate to the overlying iNiatrai,,. This nH>mbiani-c is still ^-reater in Canada, where much (if the shaly matter is replaced by calcareous rocks, and ill Ohio. accordiiiLi' to the (leolouical Survey of that State the ar_'iilace(UH b als :irv. wholly replaced by limestones. Au''iin thosi! ditfereiiees in the i'os>ils which characterise th'' respective Cliiiton and Niagara formations in eastern New York lar«^elv disajipeir in the more western deposits. In Canada the paljeon- toiouical difference.- .seem t<. be due to the state of preserv.ition of or-anic remains in the shales and limestones respectively ; for the f-nms which occur in the Clintnn limestones are ,:;cnerally found n the culc ire(nis rocks of the overlyin- Niagara, whilst the prin- cijial differences are in those I'o.ssils preserved in the Clinton shales, which are not represented above by similar rocks. Id i'act there is no more v.iriation in tlie fo.ssils found in the Clinton and Niaoara formations at li imilton than there is between tho.se of the Niagara '■ Chert Bed " at Hauiilton and of the upper layers at Burton, five miles distant
Profes.sor Orton found that the Clinton of Ohio contains pebbles of the "Cincinnati (Hudson River) limestones." In
17
th(! south- western p.irt of th.it State tho deposits ufidi-r consider iitioti rest either ou rocks of the Ciuciniuiti j;roup, or on the thin development of Medina shales (which are from ten to twenty Ket thick). Tlie eonylomerates sliow that tJK; underlyini,' form- ations of the Cimbro-Silurian Ai:e had been iiardened and up lifted into cliffs and shore lines before tlie comnjeneement and deposition of the sediments in the sea^ of the Clinton epoch. At this time the Canadian Sea was one of shallow water. At Dun- da.s, Hamilton and elsewhere, v.irioiis thin hard beds from the hast! to the summit of the formation hav(! their .-url'aees covered A'ith ripple marks. As (lie muddy sediments, which lilled up the northern and north-ei.stern portion of tin; Medina Sea, were principally derived from tin dchris of the lltica .uid Hudson Itiver jzroups of the Canadian hij:;lilands, .><o also the (Jlinton .-h.des appear tn have been deriveu .. m the same snurce ; but these muds ;j;r "u.dly i^ave pi ,ee lo thr' organic liuicstone in the west(!rn portion of the Clinton se i^.
Orgiiiitr Jicni'iiiis in llif iHiiitdu Fitnnutlon. — Rt'centiy an interestiiii: !;roU[t of small fossil,^ wa.> discovered by (jleorij:;e J. Hinde, Exp, F.G.S., in (ilen Speneer. Dnndas. The.-^e orj^'un isms appear as black shining chitinnii,-^ objects on the -urface of the stone, usually about the twelfth of an inch in lenf:;th or less, and wore reco^'nized by Mr. Hinde a.^ the jaws of annelids or worms. They will be found de-scribed and fi::ured in the Auj'ust number of the -Quarterly .Journal of the Geolouical Society of ].,ondon," for l.sTD. Kxceptin-; the j iws. no portions of the heads of the animals were fouml. The followin<r is u cataloirue of Mr. Hiride's species:
KK().^[ TIIK CLINTO.N BEDS.
Ennirilc!< c/in/oucnsin. Fjunii-iti:>i oronalun. Euniciira chir'j7iior/ihu*. (Enoniles am/dus. (En oniteii tragil in . Ardltfl.lit.fn e.itijanx. JjWnbricoiLcrcili-s liitailis. Luin/iriroHi'riult's truiiigulartt. Iiumhricoiicrcitex armuLua. (jrlyceriten calceolus.
Besides these, he describes three species from the Niagara formation ; and as I have not the specimens in my collection, I will include them here with the Clinton species:
(Enonites ? infreqiiem. Arabellites .nrnilis. Slaurocephalites niagarentis. Vol. X. K No. 3-
1!
18
Till' In'lnu ill.: I- I i-iitiiinuMi' III' the (Miiilnii ln-sil> dltfiiiiicd at lliiiiiiltdii ml hMiiili-^. Tlii^ '•!it;iliiL:iit' iIih-s nut cniitiiin ;i|| llir spccii , 'li.it ;ii-.' iiicliKlril witli tln' Ni;i'j'.ir;i '.:r<tu|t proper, wliicli Cnj, (iniiit .iijil iiiv^cirinvr rmiii'l 111 ill'' -o called (.'lintou
lieiU. llllt niiiv file more .•mi-piciliMH -ilM eie-. Ml- llid^e iidt i'diuul lliulli I' ll]i it I lallliltiiii.
r.\l'.\l,li(J| K -^l- eiivi-i.V i.'dssll,^ MCiTiMMM; \r ll\MII.T(»V.
ci-Aia; \ \si. ,-i'::c II-.-, i;!-,ri-;::i.\ei;,
/l>l//i'.fl'ri,/,i^ :/rri,;7;' Hull. l':i|;in||t. N'.'i',. IS.".:',
" jiiil iiiiilil ■• •• •'
Units civ .uicill-, , I///,,' •• .. .1
Striiiiiii'i'/iiiiii s|'
('i>iii,/,/ii///iiiii iiiihiitii II < Ilal!. l':ila'iaii, .\.^.. l-^'."!'.'.
Miiiiiii iili'i'iir't .'vi''7" ■ '■!/' '^:i\'. ■• IS 17.
X,ij,l,r,i,lix l.;i.,l. rii!" ll:ill. r;i;;e(.|il. \ \ .. Is.")'.'.
(1 riiiiliil it liii.-< i-liiiiiiii, iisi.-'
h'llli.lil.x r,ri,iyiiy
J'lihi iisl( I- ';i\uili . . S|ii-iii .a'. Niau. I''ii>>. 1 >s-J.
F.iii'iillUti,,. ,,/>• .;,,•,,,■!! I'liilli).-. .Mii;-rii.. Si;, .-^v.-t.. |s:i;t.
Ih liifiinn :■ ujlhs |I:|||, !'.i!;i.(,u|. \.V.. \<y>.
Chi! I(i"yi,i I'mii li.y.i
/■', If yh //,! rri-,'., l.'aH|.,,l.'|l,.. ^|l|l■|■|| . Sil. Sv.-t.. ISIill.
/■'"•'■"'•■/""■' Hall. :''ali l;.|it.Mri;,"_;,.iits. N.V.. i.sTa
''I'll'-'- llall. l';i!;i'iii]l. .\.V.. iS.VJ.
■' 'iir, ,,„/.< '^|Miic, I-. 11. s. \iaL;ar:i Fnssils. ISS'J.
/'l. /://:.,,:■■ ,.„: 1,1.1 II;, 11. |';|l,.|.,,||t, X.V., j S ,-, J .
Jili'!i<<i'i'ni r. I, .■.-■! SjMii, i-i- U.S. N'i.'i-ara I'Vissils. ISS2.
Ji'rlr/.oni .nniuhUn |[;|||. i';| Ijr, ,nl . N'.\'.. IS.",'.'.
'/\/ imi/'i/iurii Infii irii/nsii •'
Mvrii'l'i i'i/lii>:lririi (.') •• .. ..
A//ii/r/s (M'-n's/, I'l',/) i,,ii-i/nn'ils. . . ■•
i>lr"iili',iih'ii.i r/in,ii/„. ,■,/„/,'.< WaliliailirrL:-. .\( i, So-. Sci, t'iisai, 1821
(hihi.s rlr,i,n,i,i!,i Ddliiiaii. |S':;7.
Liiiiiul'i 'I'lli'iiijii (.onniil. Aim. Il-p.. X.\'., is:!',i.
"'"'"''" Fliill. I'Mlaoiil. X.^'., |S.-,J.
J'n.viiiliirilil (.■■) (i/(i/j
J'li.io l,,ii,,iiii/., Q>y 1 1, mill,., i. If, I .... ■■ .1 ..
ih/fiiiiiii/a .>j). (.')
Moilioli>/'.'<i.'<.sy\'] midefiird spe's.
/'lil/l/os/oimi inil;j,trfli.'<i Hiill. l'il|;e,ait. X.V.. 1S;VJ.
^1»
Ortliin-i.niH r/nro/uni [(;i|l. I'ahnail. X. V.. \S:,'2.
Oi>ctjci'niii Kuhri'Ctiiiii •• .. ,,
Voiiuliiriu nidf/nrenyi.H. . . . u .i ,;
Tfnhiritlitc.'f /iy/n/i.y u .> „
RuKivlinifi'ii hUiihdtii.^
Ichnitox, I'oui- nud'.'tiamM spcc'K.
1
H)
i.sTr.
\ \. M \«. \l; A I'lilJ.M \ I |i»N.
Tiiiimjiiii'hji iiiiil /)isiii/'iih(ii, .-■{)\{'\-\\][\>_ tin Cliutiiii Inriii- ati'iii. til'' iii(>.>l iiii|inrt:iiit iiiiiiil.tri- I.I' ilif Miio- til'' NinL'ara
(pI'KjHT ; — is Illllcll Ihi'iT \s i'lf'i V (li'\ ilii|ii'il tli.ni tllf Inwcr |i(ir- tioil.- (<{' the '^inlij, wliicli itlT liirui'ly m lilr t||i ol' ll|i'cl\,llli(':ll (U'|in.»it.-. ()\vill'^ ti' illf li.ini liliH'st"IH'> 111 the Niill^ifil ('I'licll surmiMiiiliir^ >• vi ra! Iiiiinli.d l.ii ol m'Ii Mcdiii i and ('lintim sillily inclv's. it |(inii> :i cnii.-i.iiiiiiU- Ir.ituii- in llir rdiintry -till,' .-iiiiiiiiir 111' iln' Nia^iir.i (sc:ir)iiiii'iil • a- aluii:: it- nuitlicrii ami imrtli-i'Msti'Mi iiiaruiiis, (lir snl'tt r inaliiial rminiiiL: llic l>ii>i' of riil'ji' lia.« bi-t'ii ri'tiiovi'd liy > I'lsii'ii. '■ ivini: alMiipt dills.
The iiiii>l rasti'iti i'.\|Mi~nt <■- "I' thi- t'driiiatiipii in New Yurk afc near llic Inwii of Cat'^idll. im tlif lliid.-iiri Ivivcr. I'loiii this phit-r it rxtriid> wcstw.iiil thri'Uuli tln' I'ciitial and wrstcrn parts (•!' flic Srat'. liirininL; tin- Imid >l'ipr.-, a I'l'V. niilis south (if. and parallel In, Ijiikv. ()iitaiiii. Kntciinu Canada at tin- Niajfara liiviT. its dii'i'Ctidii i> wistward. nraily pai'alh'l with its «//•//.•(', its I'af as i>iii'das. at llir fxtrcnn' wistrni I'nd d' Lakr Ontario. Hi'i'i' the ranLic ot' liill> clianLii's it- onnrsr aii'l cvti'iids to (,'apc Ilurd. and ihrnci' tliinuL:li .^^.lllit(llllill and Cnckburn Islands. 'J'lu' lanur of liiils Miulh ' I ih.' hikt;. a.s \\r liuvc iiotieod. is about 400 Icct hiuh and ui'iicrally ii.'> an abrupt rata'. Howi'vi-r, (roui Duiidas to (iiorLiian l»av. altliou;^li tin- fount ly is of a hii:licr alti- tude, till' I'eatuics ale le,-> bioken on their eastern .side, as they reet'de tVoiii Jiake Ontaiio.
The southern portion ol' the b isin ol Jiuke Ontario is excavated in Medina shales, while it> northern side is .scooped out of the various rocks of the Hudson Uiver. and the shales of the Utica foriuation, which onci' foiiiicd the ni.Uirin ol the old s^' a in the Nia<iara period.
From the northern end of J^ake Huron the Niagara foriua- tion extemls into Hruiiiniond I.-i.ind. and thence aloiiL: the whole northerii and western >hores of li.ike Michigan. Auaiii. the liiar-^in of the se is in this period .abutted against thi' Appalacliian chain as far south as Tennessee, as is shown by the rem.aiiis of their old deposits. The large island of the ••Cincinnati Arch" ibrmed part of the b.irricr at the southern margin of the Medi- terranean Sea, which extended over a region of thirteen degree.* of longitude and eight of latitude, in the Niagara period, or, wc may say, in the Silurian age.
^i^
L'd
III Catiiiila iiKiny ^tl•.•atlls cut tlirmiu'li tlu- rockH of tlic rcL'ion iiiidi r ('(iii.siil'T.'itioii, Hiid -.rive fine fxposuri's nf tlicir iro'ilo^ical structiiri'. Till" -trciiiis invari;ibly cxcavattf iiictunsrmc <;lcns, at iIk' Ik id n{wlii<.li ire usually cuM-ado in iiiaLTiitudi- rmm the Kails (•!' Nia'_'!ir.i to (.iImts fnriniiiL' a iiicTc scries of r.ipids.
/>rr,/,,pw')if—Thi' licst cxpoMircs of 1 he Nla-rara fnrniatinn in til.' St It'' nf Nrw Vnik .•ire at Ldckjiort, IJncln stcr .'itid Nia- L'ara IJivcr. Ii all liiis :i tliickiii's>. of 'J(;4 lief in lliit State. In Caiiadu tlir iij.[irr tK.rtion of tlir snio is >n dctindcd in tin- nciLild'MMiJKKHl of I/ik- Ontario, tiiat it is iin|iossiliIi! to -jct a '•"'>il'''''" ■"cclinn; 'Hid - vi'fi many miles away uImt.. Ji i);isse,s into tlir nverlyiiiLT (liiclidi iMMuatioii. .IS near Kotdvwood tin linr of jiiiictioii is uvrierally oli.^ciired liv drift.
At Hamilton. Iiy level nieasiuenient-. a section of (|,,. lower t)'2 let (h. ill.; |.,.ds finiii 7 lo IL' of Section \\\) u US ur,i<U: by ^Ir. S. n, Mi;i> :,nd my-elf. (,ei\v<'en II, e ( .\|,(.-uiv al lie- lied oj' .lani.s stivot .-ind l!,e ■■Jolly Cm" ,„;,,). ,1 lidf mil,, ,o tl.o ''■'■"'• "'■"■ 'li" '^carpnieiit .-.ver.i'MS :i!M» f,vi m |„,io|,i jihove *'"■ "'"■'■ ''"''' '''icrty doll, miles (No. I_;,,f S,etioii>; |,,rm tlio •■appin^ >tr,tuin of li.o ••.Mountain.- Alon- the Sydenham
road (section I[), the MVlion. ConipOM'd of the si-n- I.eds.
niivisnivd tWi fert fM'.v.n feet :.T,rc of t!,,. ••('!!. ri he,l " i. .x-
posed Imt.- tinn t llnnilton . \:^,in, ,, tic j.mks io-, of ( ile,,
'V'"-"' ^^i'l' <;i'" Wel.^fer, ii„. -, „„. ■■ Ch Tt 'l. .1. •' ioru. .j,c
cappin- Hiatiiin of i;„. ,.ii|V,, .„,,] i,,,^,. ,i„. \i ,,,.,, i,,.,|, .,,.,,
a lltti • ibick-r tlni! e;.-vvv|i,.p'. I lowev<T. o.i ii„. ■a.-tern nde of
Ill's- i-vi;ies ih-Te is ,111 'I dd i t Iom ,, | cxpo>ureof KM i)hM iieir the
'■ I'e; k." which ]r.\< not }>. en romoNod hy d-nndnioii. thus ^iv-
i'l- a nnxinnnn thicknes.> oi iH!) i; .., at ' Dun. his. However, hv
lueasuvin- tl,.. s-ctioi, at Aihion F.dl., „nd the., i,:ve;ii„_ uj,
Jlo,-— :,nx ^\■r.k nvl :.|on- tl,.- strike oi li,,. fMnnalio,, lo (,!.-,r-
pcni.r'.^ Limekiln^, on |., , If,, ;,,„1 j; ,„.,, V|, IJ.rto,,. ,wo miles
H.nth of th.. hn.w ol tli.. - .>I.,unlaii,.' ,,r ll.mihon. I succeeded
in nie-isniin- a ><.ctio„ ,,r ]<),S p ,., ,,„,„ f|,<. ^.,^,. ,,,• ^,,^. M,^,;„-a
(proper). The hci-ht of the last station is 480 feet above tho
lake, and in addition the rock.s an^ covered with live fcot ..f soil,
.•it the Church, on the .same l<.t. Here the rocks have their
surfaces -roovcd with ice action. If may be remarked that the
cappm- bed in this place is almost wholly made up of tho
remains of Stromatopora.
21
This last section o.'irries us to a hiL'licr li(»riznr) tlinti Jiny othor mpu^^ur.ihli'. yet tlio liit'licst tiionibcrs of tlif s< rics is still beyonil our ri'.icli. iK'iii-,' covered hy tlic drift over the (gently s]o|)inK country. However, il' we I'nljow tlie lirir of strike westwird, md take tiie levels hen , md at the nearest exposures of the (lueli)h foruiatioii. at (Jalt (which is i I'.w miles north of the line el strike ol'tli,' i{;irtoii IJeds) and inalvc allowanc fur dip, it would apjiroxiliiat( ly he found Miat fhe unexposrd upper hed> <if the Niai^ara formation y<^tl:\\ to ;in addiliomd ^0 or KHI lect in tliieknos.
Aecordiji- to the n'p.,.rts of tlif (j.'olo-ieai Survey of Ohio, the foriiiatioii has a ihiekni'ss of 275 feet in Ili-hland county, and prohahly ."{jd fed in l\\r. nnrth'Te p u't oi' tli'' Stiti', The Cana- dian C'olo-ical Survey estimal-'il f.hr who].- thieku' ss at dyd feet in the ni'iijlilriiirdond of Cap.' Il'ird. ifihe dip were unifi.rui
Thus \\.: ,(■(• that I'roin the w^iorn [.;ni <d' New York lo Ohio thi re is no -reat variation in ih. tliicko' s.-, of the .\i ij:ara depo- sits, win re th- surf tee is not r'Miioved hyero-idti, md we uiay fairly place th- tceuuiulations in the (Jan iliaa portion ol' the NiaL'ara M'a at L':^() fr<t.
Not (inly is the drpo-iiioii of liir whoir series liter.dly uniform, but 'loTe ,ire iferi lin stiatM which ;tr.' r.eo.^oi/.(|)!c is (jonstant over ihr r>'2i"n under cotisid'T.iiion. ( »f ihesi-, ihe newt i-on- spieiuui- are il,- •• {ll.rn h,;:', " /N,,. \-2 of s-'ciinns ), uiid a tiiick oonipae! b>ii < i' iiuht jr ly dolomii, (vMyini: iVoiii four-and-a-h.iif to five and-a-l,alf feet iliick, '.nd nuinhered S in the sections). Tt w,is Iron, takii- th • h'v.'is .f ihis |a-t bed ;,( Albion Falls. Uainilloii ;;nd Dun. las. ihat I .>tii:iat-d ihe dip at i:")-.") fret in th<' mile, ill diitelion, aljoui iw nly de'^r'-c,- we.-t (d soufn. Loc- ally, howrvci, J ionnd liie oip -oiDciinic, imounlin-^ io liT feet. The distance of (ho .-idrs of iiio triaoiile forne d by the three stations above naund, were irdcn from ile- lai--?; county map. The calculation aiireed o!o.-cly with thai, m id-.' from the approxi- mate h( i-hr of the bai^e of the form ition at Liinrhouse. and that known at Dinxlas, and l ikin- tie' dir>ctiuii .,(' the dip to be that found by tlu' above mentioned Irianjjjle.
At Liniehouse the surfaces ol" snme oi' the strata are almost as irrcfruiar as those (d'thc Medina at Duuda.s. On the north side of the Dunda.s Valley the rocks in .M.tne places are almost hori- zontal, but airain they are found dipping; a few feet in the mile to the northward. This beini; the case, generally, would make
¥
ill" l>iiiii|i> \':iii.\ ati iiiiiicliu.il \;illcy. uitli llic j-lnpc in t aeli ."id 1. s> tliaii fine (Iru'rcc.
( '/I'lf ii'tf r !■/' t/n /i'of/>. - I II N( w Villi* till" liiwcr |t,(rt nC tlio NinL'.M!! liriiriiioii i- niiri'xnlid \)\ SO leer ii\' iluk ioscilifcr- nii- cak'nri.'ii-riiLiill.'H Miii.« .-lifili'.- , :it Tlinrnlil. ()iil;iri(i, tlirx; nro iiiucli iliiiiiMi'. :iiiil ill lliiiiiilt"ii ,'iii(i l>iiii(l.'i> tlii'V .'lie not rcprc- ^(•iitiil ]i\ iiiiii'i iImii Iihiii .-i\ ii> till li'cl nf iiiikMv sidiiiicritH (S('. 1' '•! X ilimi- /. wlii'M' ii|i|M I |i(iilinii> iiniiliKitc into iiioro rul('.iri'iiii> lirilv. 'I'Ih' ^'luriil (■Ininlcr id' tlic i^crii's ;it tlio Vi'st'l'ii 1 liil nl l,.ii\r Ihiliiriii lii;i\ If II pi'( >'iili'(l liv tllf follow- iiii: ."•('(.•lioii ill ill ,>ri'ii(liii^ order;
(.') 'I'liili i" i;.~ I'l (linK (nliili llhh >lii||r iiImI cilldiy) (loio-
liiilrs. \vitli sliiils |iiuliii.u- Si.iiif la>ii> arc tussililciiHis . . Kiliffct.
(A; 'liiiii 111 il> ni lif^lil-i iili'i nl linlniiiilir hhUs, coiitniniiij;
an iiliMiiilaiii 1 il . in ri> i.iiiliiirs: riissilit'cnnis IlifVi-t.
('■) |).iik liliir II' i;r,n slialv tlnldiiiilis ; (<issilirci"iiis K! foet.
( i ) l»iiliiiiiiii ( iini|ia(t >liai( s m f^ot.
(.) liiLrlil iliali I I y>iMlliiic (■(•iii)iiirt il.ili.initr. in dnc IkuI. 5 IVi't.
( /') hark ;:rav (din part (Inldniili , in iiindrratriv tliirk IhmIs.
till li.\\ r.^l ol wliil II ( M||tjiin> /'< ii.'.iiiii i-iis. . , , 10 t'cft.
At Jjiini'iiniiM'. only tin- lower Ik'i1> arr ('X(ins(.'(l mtar thuirjuiic limi with tiie ulllle(•lyill^ Clinlun mek.-. Here the deposits coii- si.»t ol' iinlit ciilon il iloloiniies.ormiiriiriii texture in tliick compact bed-, Imldin^ oii!\ ea.-t^ ol lo^siN
The reiu'esriil ilives (it this runiiatinii in C)liio coiisi«t of the Dayl.iii linii'sliine of live feet in thickness, succeeded by (KM'eet ul shale.-, over which there iire ISII feet of liincstoiies, and in Tliglilanil Oounly the series i> surmounted by ;{0 feet of saiid- stoiu'. In refeiriiii: tn tlie-e we.-teni beds, we liiid included the (*ed irville limestones, bods which are considered of the same hori/.'tii ;is the (Jiielph dolomites.
The color of the limestones becoujes lijihter on <roin<>' Westward. (Specially alter tiiriiiiiu a point at Dundas, which formed a ri-lit anj>led prominent cape in the sea of the Niajfani period. Even within a few miles, near Dundas, one can notice tlie liuditer color of the purei' calcareous deposits, and at Linic- house, to the north-west of the old cape, coiorinj; matter and shale arc alujost wantiui;',
(^>mpositiott and Chemlail Andli/als of the Li'nicsfoves. — The Niagara limestones, in Canada, consist almost entirely of the double carbonates of lime and magnesia, with a varying per-
■••1
«!i'ntii'_'<' '•!' cliiy, IV"'" -;iip1 iii'l ilii.Mti'1 "t' '.li,. itknliiu' ••irtli:^. Soiiii time-, liowi'vi'i'. tlicri' is itii ••xt'i'ss.il t'.nlHHi;itt.' nriiini' nvrr
wlial i- iii|iuiri| |mi- flic |irn<lllfti(i|l mI lli.' iliilllilr ,-;:rli(i||,itc. UlllItT til'' lniiTO-C(i|M' tllis i'X^'''>S nf C'jlli-itc i< -cc'll '|i'(Ml|ivill^ tin-
siiiiill s|iici>. Iictwi'i'ii till' iiiKir 'I'.itoriiilv frvst.illiiir p irtii'lc- ol' "li'loiiiitr. rill' <|ii;(ii'it_v 111' ir.Mi 'n .r«'iii",;illy -rnal!. "iil tprc-mr ill till' -r.iti' m|' I j-oinxiil.', tli(iii'_:li in -niii.- m|" tin li. •]< it i'i-ciir> us l)Vnii -. Ilituiiiiiiniis ciildiiiiu' miit'T is jirc.-t'iit in niinv "f the stiiitu. iii'l in ;i iniiiil>''i- nf lii'N it M •(•;i>i(jii;illy ti!i-> 'in ill t-avifirs. 'I Ik I'l' .n'l' hill I'l'W licd^ (•:i>i III' Pniicjii- whii'li li;i\.' imi n .•nu- ^iik'r.'iliji' i|ii:iiitity nl'cirtliv iintt' i i»i!>iiii
Tlic -liiiii'.- in tills I'l": inn (lifV> r tVniii iini' ,»tnnr- miiv in 'li<' l;ir:^'. i- (|ii;iiitit\ n\' cl.iy :iinl I'tlicr -iliciti'- piT»i ni in ]il-ii'.' "[' ijp. ,-..l,',;i. ri'Miis iiiitti r. I'lM' tlii'y ail ciitit.iin a 'ariT'' ii'icrhtn'^r nj' (MrliDii.ifc. Ill lat'l niaiiy nt'tjic lii"rl« arc ol' an int.'itiH <lial.' rhai ai-ti'i\ that
il is llifliclllt Id drcidc ulirtlhT '.n mH tliClll cailllV li lln'-ln|l. ■,- nV
ualeaifMn- , -hales. Of m'v. imI !h d- ■! I laiiiilt.iM. 1 made tin'
clltlliicai analyses. In'^clln l' With a lllic|M>c(i[)ir -Xa lllinal inn. .i lew 111' l!i.' results ai'i' Ii'Tc jiv i"i.
Aiii'/i/s,s I Till' -aiii|iii' UM- mI;. n iVmn niair tin' ha^' nt'
ih>' Miai-- I Nn. 7 "T sectiuii; Il il .I.'ii',' f'nt." ||a!nih..ii.
1 lid. r ; he iiiii-i n.ci!|.c nnly a ma--- mi" tr iti-]iar. m |iai'tii'li'-. id" dnimnii.'. separated hy dartv aineriih'ai- eartliv niatter. was visil/li'.
Caleiinii e;n Ik iiiite. |i; a;
Mairiicsiiiin (arlniuite la; ".
I''erriiiis earlioiiiite 1.7
L'aleiiim silit ate
Ma;4iifsiinii sili<iit- , '''
AlniiMiia 11
Mliia () 7
M<iisci|!a' nej
;ili-,S
Ait't/i/sis //.--This aitaly-is i-ej.re-.!)f.< the eemjie-itiMn nl" the fliii'k lied (if li-':it LiT V dolnmite I No. ^ nf .-i i;ti<iii j at the -Jellv Cut."' liaiuillon. .'ii.j rock is hi-ldy rrystalliiie. and .-hows crystalline plates ol' criuoids iind shells, hut sekloui <a)ntaiii.s complctt! casts of fossils. Ondcr tlie niicrn<co]ie it -how- a mass orcrystallhic sciiii-n-ai'-paftMit particles ..I' doloiniio. lull nl'.Miiall cavities, which arc often lined or tilled witli pine calcite. coiise- ((uoutly tJic oavboiiafo of iiuio is in excess, 'riii:- hed contaiii.s
m^mmm^
24
uiaoj large cavititis ul" scvoral inches extent filled with ibreign minerals, which will be noticed further on.
Calcium ca.-bonute 59-7
Ma>.^iiesium <;arhonate 38 2
Alumina and oxide of iron 1-5
Silica 0-4
99-8
Anah/sis III. — Tiie bed from which this sample was taken is about five feet nbove No, 8 of section, and is one of the liardet and more compact, layers (No. I) of section) of that por- tion of the ^'colouical horizDii whicii I have identified as the Niagara shales at ihc ••Jolly Cut." Hamilton. It is said to produce hydr.iulie cement, but if 8o it would be of inferior vjuality.
Calcium I'arbonate ;{3-8
Maf>nesium carbonate 2r)-2
Calcium .silicate 6-6
MagncKium Kilicate 21'
Alumina 5-1
Ferrous carbonate ] -8
Ferric oxide \ %
Ferrous disulphirie (Pyrites) 19
^i'ifa 200
98-7 Aiia/y.si's /r.— The s.impi.' for this analysis was obtained fron) the ■• Chert bed " (No. 12 of sections). The portion taken wns free I'rom eherty concntions. as these portions would be nearly made up of pure silicu. Under the microscope there was only the r ual crystulliiu. structure of the dolomitic particles separated by dark earthy matter.
Calcium carbonate 4fi.g
Magnesium carbonate 38-9
Calcium silicate
Mngncfiium silicate | -'^
Ferrous oxide , 08
Alumina 24
^"^'''^'«i 93
100-8
A large number of other specimens were examined under the microscope, but they were all of essenti'-Uy the same structure,
'P
25
»ud iijore or less ln>iiii)iroiiC()iis. except siinic of tlif more fl i<r,i:y beds whore tliu er^stulliiiu talc nettus matti r w.is deposited in »lterii;itiii;4 l;iyer;s with the more eaith} m tter.
As m;iriy itf the d;irk beds ;.re colored wiili bitiiniinous matter some of the calcariMtus rock.- burn to a white linn'.
iiy w.iy orcomp.iriiij; the >iia;:ur.i roeks in C.'ii.da, witli llio.se iu Oliio, 1 here quote seveial an dyscs of th»! lime-tones of thii» Ibrmation in that State, as made by I'roi'es,-or Woimley.
Oakiuiii carlxinale 85.50
Magnehiiuii larlionate 11. IG
(uileii- & niagiu'.-i( silicates.
Aliuiiina and iron 'J .00
Silii eiiiis niattei' 'J. 20
|
II. |
III. |
IV. |
V. |
|
r,4.45 |
50. yo |
55 . 50 |
54 . 20 |
|
42.2:} |
M . T 7 |
4;;. 28 |
44.80 |
|
7 07 |
|||
|
0.40 |
1.1.' |
0 . :io |
0.10 |
|
2.00 |
.70 |
0.(50 |
0.80 |
100.80 'JU.08 UJ.O.l 'J'J.OS 'J'J.'JO
Au't/i/sis of thv Slidlrs — As noticed belore. the Ni.i^ira «halci are analoj;ou> to the lim. floors where the c .lear ou.s m tier is partly replaced by ar^dlhiceous :iiiteriai.
Ani/i/ais V. — The sample hen e.ximined w,'S from one of the most shaly i.iyers (No !) of tl.e S' ctioi. - ) of the sh..ly porti.>ti of the formation a; the '-Jolly (ytit/" II itniltoii. Under the luicroseope th" e.rlhy m t ' r m', in d lo be held together by the cry^tilline p.irtich'S of dolmiri;'.
('ill iuni (■.".rhoii.ifo. 2:i 4
iMap,'nesium carlKin ite 2',i)
Ct'e iiin ::i i,;ate ........ %
M;-.fj;uosiuin t: lify.f.e | "'
Kerriiii , i x.d j u 'j
Kcrric oxidj i o
AiiiiUinii i ,, 0
S; iva I
■ J 1
rii- fnllowMiLT -11 A-: i ; ni' ; iL ■ N"a.:u-! s:, ;| ; of ;;iio was mado by I'ro.'c: •. ; W'l n. \ :
C leiiun n -l:. : t;5 ;, ; co
.M '..i.::ai.'siiiiii (■■■ri.iuiiue ',',"'M
ill ii i iiui !-.i ' ii s
Aiuiniiia ana irun h !o
Sii.ca. ! ;' :i I
^V^^l.•l• Ccnailiin'uh , 5.: ft
Voi,. X.
k2
No. 3.
2()
Soiinu: of fhr Merlin iiirit I Dcjx/xltf,. — -From the character of the rock> and tlioir distribution in the Niajjara [xniod, as seen by jrhuicintr ;it a in.ip ol' thu Palivuzoic (jeoirraphy of America, we see that, the meehanical se(iimeiits (shaly matter), of the Tiortlieni and north eastern margin o\' the ohl inland sea came prineipally from tlic Oariadian hi;ihhi?ids. Th'' Hudson River }£roup formed the shore; line of most plaees. from the bi'^inninsj of tlie Medina epoeh, both in New York and Canada as uel! as alotiL': the •' Cineinnati Areh." The eastern portion (if the Pro- vince of Oniariii was eovtred by the iimestoi;<>s of the Trtiitoji (jroiip ; the eeiiti il portiiMi, hy the iireat accumulation of dark Uficii .fJnilrs. and tiiese last by shales with intercalated limestones and .sandstones of rhi; j'/iii/sf,ii i-jkh-Ii. ext(!ndin^' aloni; their western margin, aiiil liirminii' the north-eastern shores of the sea, as de- veloped at the be^innin::' of the Silurian Aj;i; (proper), in the region iVom wh it i^ now tlie westi'rn end of Lake ()ntario to Georgian Bay.
It may be noticed that the limit of the Utica shales is not west ol' iIk' meridian of the Xiaiirara ItiviT. At the close of the (.Jambro-Siliirian Alk; the deposits belon_uin_ir to that period extended mueh farther southward than at present, [irobablv to a latitude not far north of the southern .-bores nC [^uke Ontario — at least, in its <'astern extension. It was in this ,^oft material that the l.dve basin wa> subsequently excavated, the erosion bavint^ estiiiiiled but a few mili.'s into tin; Niau'.ira limestones, and their underlyiiiLT .--h iles. and left the <'searpmen. in bold relief.
Now, on examinini:.' the scidiments south of tlie Canadian .sliores of tho.-<e days, we find only thin beds of shale in the more; eastern deposits, but thest^ .;radual!y ihieken in extendini; westward, until, in the neii:hbourhood of lloehester, they amount L(^ 80 feet (the place being south of the shores c(mipo.'^ed of Utica shale >. Again, the .shales be^in to thin out at Thorold, Ontario, where they amount to fifty I'eet, whih; thirty miles westward, as at Dundas, they are only a few feet thick, and almost intirely dis- appear after turning the ancient Cape and passing west of the line f'rom this town to Lake Huron, as the waters, there, were protected from the muddy eastern currents. The northern <'nd of the sea was not subjected to the influx of mud to any extent, a.s in tliat direction the shores were adjacent to the old cry.^tal- line Huronian and other mountains. How. ver. more shales make their appearance in the western area, having been derived
27
from tilt' somewhat sli.ily Hudson i:roup nf the 'Cincinnati Arch." or, perh.ips. from thv maririns of Mtdiiia shahvs tli.it may have existed on the south-western islaml coast. Of cinir^c in the eastern portion nf the dlil se i much shah) came from the disiri- tegrati((ns of the other Appahichim liijrlilands. Duritii; the Medina epoch, in this n-uion. live hundred leet of sliales wen; carried down into the eastern or iiorth-(! astern portion of the sea, whih' only twc^nty feet of sediments were deposited to tlie south- westward.
Airain, tht; turbid watei's in tlu; Clinton e[)och interrupted p'.;riudically tlie ^'rowth of impure org mic c dcareous beds, whih? the Western portion of the (dd sea was nearly free fVrMii the influx of mud.
('/Ktnirtrr 1)/ the Marine. I.i/i- mid Orl(j!n of the. Liiii.fstatifS. — ■ We liave observed that the y'reater portion oi' the upper bods of the Niajrira epoch in New York, almost all in Ontario, and the trroater jiortion in Ohio, together with a considerable portion of the Clinton epoch in Canada, and all of tint liorizon in the more south-western State, are Tnade up of dolomitic limestones of a ^'n-ater or les>< decree of fiurity. Let us examine into the condition of the sets and of the life that flourished at this time.
Durinu' the earlier days of the Mt'diterrane m se i in the Nia- gara epoch, in the eastern and south-western areas, the waters were of a turbid characier. tlnunh freer from earthy matter in its northern extension. Jiiter, however, and durinjr the L'rt'ater period of its existence, only a suuiU amount of slialy sediment was occasionally carried down, thus produciiiLi' favorable condi- tions for the LTiowth of marine life.
The limestones in Canada are of a hijihly crystalline texture, and con- ipiently most of the traces of the oruanisms that Cf)n- tributed to their original ibrmation are obliterated. Out of numerous specimens of rocks examined uiultr the microscope, none show any oruanic .structure, except some parts of tiiose beds containing sjxfiujrs or sfroni'ifitjxtni, with heic and there a place wheic a stray fossil has escaped obliteration, in the re jrystaliza- tioti oi" the calcareous mud. In fict, as legards both shells and corals, there is seldom anything left more than their casts pre- servi;d in the stone. Even when, by chance, a portion of the original bed has escaped obliteration, it has become highly crys- talline. Here and there is an exception to this statement, as in tlie jase of the phosphafic shells. Liiigii/a and Disciiui, in which
28
frquontly porfioris of flic oriirinil tost-* rein'iin. [ri tlif ri^irinn uiiilcr ciiii>lli>iMti()ti iMiarly 'JHH sp'cics of fo;-sils l),ivt' been obtiiiio'! ffiMii the 1km1< p|' flic Ni lu' ira irroiip. yet the collector may >piMi(l <! iv> ni'I ohtaio a iiiorr IimkK'uI of s[K'ciiniMis to re- ward him for liis (roiihlo.
If iiiiy li !! ifii; il here tliat tliop! is a bed near flie to[( of the Bcries af Diinda^-, vevcnil f et tliick. tliat appears to be made up of bri cei 1, tlie fra^iiu'iits bi'ini; derived from older portions of the adjicetit locks.
Diirinir the Ioult period required for thf deposition of the linie- Btone-^. the eh if ictcr of the oi'i; ini>-ins which inhabiteil the sea was sulijcet fo >oiii(' im[ioi'tuit chari;:es. One of these eotispicu- ous jieriods has Ic't its siamp in the " Chert beds." wliicli arc classed a^ No. 12 ol" the sections. The averaL;(^ fhiekiitiss of this series of thin beds of limestone, filled with muuerous concrefinns of elicrty material, is eiLihtcMMi or nineteen i'ooi. The lin;:'sfoiies are dolomit s. as is shown hy the iircvion.-- an- alysis. \\y far th(^ greater propurticMi of concretions show uo oriranic structure, but yet, such 1 irL'e numbers when broken, show the internal sCv-tions of sponjrcs. which mostly belong to the genera ni' Asf///i>sj)n)i(jiii and Aii/nrdjiina. that the orii^in of the siliceous no,lules is .it onee appircnt. On some portion> o,' tlie brow of the escirpment, both at llaniiltou and l)unila>. these beds form the summit, and as the surface soil of ihe rocks weather, just beneath wh it is oidy a f'W inches of .soil, the com- plete fo.ms of the sponiies become exposed by the action of the frost and of the jiloutih. The sponiiv life was very con.sider.ible, that it could h.ive aff(uded a sufficient source for so much soluble BJIica a.s to have produced iIm; enormous amount of chert found in these beds. We know also that the variety of species wiw considerable. Nor was the .spontre-life ;dl that ad(»rnid the sea at that time. These beds are by tar the ricliest itj variety of Bpecies, from the lowest radiates to tlu; hi-iher types of life that arc found in th<! Niau;ar.i series. It is also worthy of notice tliat it is in this small series that the trreiter portion of the rich Grnpfa/;f,'/aini,r, to be described in a succeediti<r paper, is found. Just beneath tiie.sc beds (No. 11 and 10; which are more Bhaiy in character (of which the upper strati are known as "blue buildin.-r beds"), wc find our greatest number of Triho- UteH to,i,'ethcr with die hiirh-type Crust. c-an. Ptrrngntus ,vf«a- deiisis (Daw.son), recently discovered by Col. Grant.
29
Ar.otlur (vmsiiicuous opocli in the liistiry of tlii.' ancient sea is m irkc.l by tlio j>n\-,t hc<l vi' ildlomite (No. 8 of srction). Al no titnt' w.is the s( a so IVcc f'louj the influx of luoch.iMieal seJi- mcnts. This hcJ with .-i thickiios of ahduf Qvc foot forms an endiiriiiir riiomiiii>iit lor the niyriads nf crinoids whose rcinair)S mo.-t lir-cly !i«l to it- foi;i).iti i i, ;i]t!iou;;li subsequently it liai absoihcil ni.i'jncsia. which in tlir rc-cnstiillizatioh of its niole- cuh's h;is (ihlitcratcd all but the fiM;zUj(.'nts of thr (.ri:jin..l scij- meiits of (h(!ir stems.
Another noticc-ible clian^jo in the rofk-ni.iking or-;inismH is found in a bed of doloniilio r<'ck two .ind a h:df Ikt thick, almost literally filled with the reni.iins of three or four species (A' Sfram- (ifti/xiru. This stiatuni is nciir the surf.ice bod ;it Carpenter's Limekilns. (H;ir)i:e VI. lot 1 ") r '' '' •♦on) .iliout three miles south of the centre of the city of Hamilton.
Besides the remains of lile, as shown in these fcv more con- Fpicnous beds, we find throujibout the whole \i.:i::;ira epdch that Tiryoznni.s wiTc nnmeious; Crin<iid> were ;ibundint (in places, as ;it Orim^hy, wlier<' some of the beds consist simply <d' njasscs of these stems). Corals wc.vo. dominant in some localities, and Moilusk^ of ovety cla.-s were l.iruvly ro|;resonted.
The Ni.i^ara limestones have been iariidv derived from broken phell-, cor.ds and other calc.iroou.^- orirMii^ms, but 8ubse(|uenlly the calcareous matter li;is combimul with, or a portion of it has been replaced by, ma^riosi.i which had been pn'cipit.ited !imon"-st the comminuted nrijanisms.
Henry C. Scuby, Ksr,.. F.R S., President of the (Jeolo-icul Society of J.ondon. (Q.d.d.S., M;,y, 1879.) has shown that the condition in winch c dcareous matter is pieseiit in the structure of shells, m of allied fornix of life, Iims njueh to do with \hc. sub- ecquent preservation of their rem lin.s in the rock, on tin ciy,-tal- lization of their particles into solid limestones.
The principal ccndition in which lime is pic-ent in eaicaroous or-ianisms is as the cirbouaie, eith. r in the !brni (d' c dcite or nrajronite. However, there are some structuiHS like tie- Liiiguh:, where the lime occurs, us the phosphate, the same 'is in bones. The pliospb.ite of linx! is loss ajit to chan.1,'0 its molocul ir condi- tion than the cnbonate, and, as ,. result, the shells of that niMterial, or parti dly of it, arc -en(;rally better preserved in the fossil condition th.,n those of the c irbonate. But these pho»- phatic shells have not contributed to any extent in the formatiou of the Niajjara liine&tODes.
mm
■ ii'r- m:';'aWW .■' -w i
[iHi]r"iifiiti»
30
The cry-stallinc form ol ar;i}.">nite may bo considered !it< ud jibnuruial lonn of carboiiutA; of liine, .irid Mr. Sorby shows that under viiriou.- circtiuistanct's. it is easily resolved into the more >;tal)lo form ol' ealcitc. wliilst \\\c carbonate, in the crystalline form of cileite. eaniiot U- ehanged by any known process iuto tliat ol" arauoiiitc. Tlii.-e two minerals form the principal con- .-litui.iit' of the tf.-'l.-' of .-hilL> — in some classes the ara<j;ooite beinj^- prt'seni. in olln'i.- the ealcite, and aj^ain in others the inner layer may he of .ir.i^unite and die outer ol' calcile, or vice
Ml. Sorby uives the followinji cla>sifieation of the mineral coui- positioii of th(! different orders of siiells ;
(a) ('rualaceu. — 'J'iic laitKMiil iiiutter of erustaeoans eousists uf ealcite hanleiied on the surface with piiosphate of lime.
(''/) Ci:/ihiilo}'<idii — Those shells are made up of aragonite togetbei* witli a small amount ol' pho. ,)hate of lime.
((•) Giisivrofjjiia. — In most of those genera the sliell is wholly made up (jf iiragonite, l)ut in si»me the outer layer eonsists of eaieite.
( /) J.umtih&r'iiic/iiala. — In many species of this group the tests are composed wholly of aragonite, in some entirtsiy of eaieite, whilst other shells have their iinier layer of one material and the outer of the other.
(r) JJrac/iiopodd, are compo.sed wholly of eaieite.
(J) Eclunodfrmaiu. — Here the mineral matter is eaieite.
(y) J'olijzon arc ( ini])()seil of various mixtures of both minerals.
(/() Iljidroida and true nora/s are nuide up of aragonite — the former class having a small (puintify of {t!iosi)hate of lime.
(i) roramin^/'era are prolnihiy composed of eaieite.
The removal of the organic matter holdinji the particles of the sin 11 together distuib^ the httbility of the structure, and not only c.iu.ses it to eruiiihle by the di.sintegration idong the lines between the diif' rent minute crystals, but also hasten.s a subsequetit re-arrangeiuent of the molecules into l.irij;cr and less constrained crystals. E.•^peei;dIy is this the case with frajrnients of aragonite which soon t.ike the form of Cidcite, as is shown bj the experiment of Mr. Soiby, where powdered coral (:ira«ronite) kept for ordy a few weeks in water began to ehan-ic into the con- dition of ealcite. Monovei, t! is is not only an experimental test under favorable eircumstances, but it is found tli;it the modi rn limestones now forming about f-onie of the West Indian Islands, have in places etdirely lost or are losing the natural forms of the org.nnic fr;ignjents of which they uro composed. Again, the
31
difiintfifrrated frjifrmoDts, wfiich .-irf nssuniinL' tho nmre orvstil- line condition have tlioir interspaces filled with cirbonntp of lime (iissolved in tlie water, which was j)rnbibly derived from the ori>:inal niatorijjl of the shells.
If the or-.'anic rornains be included in a matrix of the s;inic color, not only the form but ;dso tho cert.-iinty of its former pres- ence in :iny position is iipt to be lest. Especially is this tlie case with tho corals nnd sIkjUs which arc composed of arajj;onite. However, if the surfaces of the or;jani«in> were covered by thin layers of some foreiizn matter, as pyrites or mud. tlie former may still be firnserved, but the place occupied by the structure will be found to have a mor" liii;hly crystalline structure than the matrix itself, as the carbonate of lime of the sliells. not havintt a great surface exposed by beinir broken into fragments, has more time for LM-.idual re-arranirement of molecules, and, coiise(|uentlv. lar-rer and more perfect crystalline forms ire produced. This is found to be jtarticularly th(^ case with liamellibranchiate shells (arai^onite) in the rocks of the Niapira iiroup at Flamilton. whcr.- only the remains of casts, procured in the manner just described are to be found, althouirh some beds indicate that thev were orij,dnai!y made up of a mass of these shells. TIk; best pre- serv.'d fragments of orjranic structure in our rocks are stems of erinoids, but these are ij;enerilly re-erystal.ized. althouirh thev were even at first in the forms of small crystals of calcite.
The corals sxenerally have become silicifi<d but the forms are so far cli/ino-ed as to show that theorinjinal calcareous matter was re-crystallized before its replacement witli silica was accom- plished.
Some of the Grapt(»lites are well preserved ..winir to the iarire amount of corneous matter that may have arre.-ted molecular chantre. From obscure casts some of th.' beds of limestones appear to have been derived from Orthocerafa. iirachiopods are the commonest fo.ssiis retaining: any of their orii:inal appear- ance. Polyzoa are fairly preserved, especti, illy in the "Chert bed." where also a ft w Gasteropoda retain tjuir cilcareoui* structure. In fact nearly all the fo.-sils an- better preserved in- the "Chert bed" than elsewhere. This fact may ii some way be accounted for owing to the presence of soluble silica derived from the spon^r,.? haviu-r cemented tlie calear(^ous plates toaother at the time when the animal matter of the structures was beiuir jrradually removed, for many of the fossils seem-Mo be saturated with s-riiceous material.
'«*;• 4 '
32
Tilt' obliteration of the ori.in.il cilcirtdus or<:;inisiii,s \t;is cotii- plt'tcd b}' flif plii.'oicil cIliiiuiv^ ulilcli itMiltcd in the eoiiibinalion of tbo ciilcaK'ous iiiMtfcr, witli tlie ui.i^rin.siaii caiboii.itc and the •ubs-((|Utnt r('-C!ryf«t 'li'/ation in tb'- I'orni of tbo dnublo s.ilt. Aocordini.' to tbo cxpci ini( nts ni' Mr. Soiby tbiji \v;tH efTt eti d bj the ni.iLiriosi.i rcpliciii^^ .1 portion ol tbt- liin<'. I5ut Dr. Sterry Hunt, ni.iny years a<,'o, annonnci'd tli.t. a>^ iiniiealed by bis experiments, iill in.iirnesi ai i notoins :iro deiivid Iroui tbu pre- cipit;iti(in of botli omboiuti s sininlt.iiieously in .m inbind .'•alt •ea. At least as far us tin Nia,L;;ira (](»loijiii(s are ei'iieerned. tbe calcareous orj;;iiiisiiis bavc played a iiio«t iiiifiort mr part in fur nisbinjr e.iic.irt'oijs matt r, ,iltlinu;:li tbe m ii:nesi,iii s .It may b:iv«i been exclusively derived fmni tbe evaporilion of tbe w iters in tbe immense inland Niacin watt is. fnr ;it (Jrimb-ya bi'd of ibi» dolomite .>.bi'ws its derivatiiii .ilmosL ixelnsivijy Iioih erinoids, and «t ll'iiniltoti a similar bid in a more liijrblv eryst.illine statti, «nd filled witb j»ores from I be sbrinkaie. birms a marked feiturc of tbe peries.
Ill tbf moleeiilir clian<r(' a ooiid(ii>ni Ion in volume would neour, then by leaving' tbe mek poio'is and p rmittiii'.r the ea'boii itc of lime of the caleireoiis fiis-ils to be w.i^hcd out; as ilhistntnl in Uio proat bed of dclomil' (No, S ol sections) .-inii some other beds, where tb- cvities have not b; n subse)|Ueiilly tilled wilb «rgilh.c roiiH mud.
As a further illii-f ration of the siib^cqiifut removd f.f tbe. materi:! .>f the "-LelU by w '.t, v.e n ,{ o.ijy <rn n lirilc b.'vond Ibe pKMiit re-iion ul ^lll(]y k, ihe (mi i;.h dobeniics. whrre re iiumcrnus casts uf .^:, (•!;•- i,i \\,c pi,, us slone, wiili t,,,. u; ..'.■; •bell ;iiid !..-> C'ii;i.:; r'. iiioved, ihu.s havini: iiuiiiciiMis e .vities in the rock.
Dr. Hunt h >; e(>!;''iict >! ;i s, ;.. (,' ..\|„riiii iits »l.ieli i!ir<i\v lifi'h! (Ml ;;,(. .r':..;: ni' lir.liim:,, s. Ill i;il,, hisliiN wji r- tiierc 1.-, a t'oti-idr.aiilc ( \ ; (liitinii -o lu. tm. t.,,. w ,u.r> e iil iniii;^ liirar- boi.atf I'l >. ., , e I >■ ihii .-■ p r ,,; n oj ; ,, li,,. iiuic and ihe I'l: n; . !■ • of M-iui,: • b , ,:it.
•ubsi (pieiiiiy <'n rv |i(ir:,iiiiii. Tile > ..ts 111 .i_ ■ il r-;;''t ' e'- li <
to Inrm .loiili.v.' e ibon -e-. I'r. ;;. lis (ilsiiiu-i ;i i.ui i.t ird.-p rs and oiiicr nek-. , n aluiiul ih-;' nf eaiimi atcs 1 I' .mh) . linu; jind nia-M. ^i ,. .-.re cunit.nity b- i- :^ bi.iti 1; (h,,vii b >r :,m~ ii m1 «iu])ti>d iiitc U.j .ea b.sii.s. T.ivse ( he'iiieal prcci, itat s ini.x w^
eat iioiiji t".
"i' m ;:)!;• J \V! ii-;,, n till' h\ .il' iti'd liii ill. lie lid 111 at Will coin I line
witli (:i!m' •■'^|)l;i('iim' iicforilinj- t'l Sorby) n iinrtimi o\' tin; Cvil- oar{V)iis s.mhI dcrivrd Irnni tin' ni'j.';iiii{,' rciiiuin^ in this iclmoh, linvi' [ifdli.-ihly ill .■! mi'.it (l(u'"i (' uivcn lisi' (>> (Jiif Nii'j.ii'i liiiio- Ptniics, ;ill dl' wliicli iiic riioii' or m ss dl' tin' cl.nr .ctcr nl' true (loldiiiitcs. liiit wlit'l'i' soiiio (;i)i)t;iiii luoL'li.iiiiciil </r/n't'i-! :i^ silice- ous ;;im1 iii'Liilln'i nils uiiul.
From t hi > ex .1 mi nation of iho chirnitci' of tin' liiiu'.-lnni. s nl" tlio Ni.'i,i:.'n;i '^I'diiji, it ii not siii'i-ri-inu 'hat t'uic i> such .1 paiieity of fossils in this uic.it ih st'lopini'nl of rm-ks m» 1 niiiciv coinposcd of tlioir rtMiiaiii-^. In vcrv 111:. nv stiita 1 have ioiitid no fossils what- over, and even in tlms" where thiy are ni'>^t a.hiuelani , n'lc is rewaidid only ai'ler a I'Mii: iiuiieiit s<'aieii, Vrt, with all these dilfuMiliii's. the u(^oloLiisL may eolkn-t in the re-ion of oiir study a larui..' liumhip oi' speeies. of whicii iliere are citaloiuis tinder tliose ])arts of this )) 1]) r on the .M.'dini and Ciintnii epochs, and a stiii lar-cr li.-f at the riil of tlii.i poition ol' the ])a|M:r on tlio Ni.^ara epoch [iidjiei.
VI r. MINF.liAl.S OCCL'llltlNti IV THE NIA(iAl{A GlUtUl'.
Exccpliiiu.' the h'ds of slon ■ lit I'.iv Iniildiii',;- jturpuso- and I'or bnriiinu' to lime, there are no mint r /is about the wcstein I'lid of Lalu' Ontirio oi" ecmomie iinjioriaiicc. However, iniiiv vears a,ii'o s(um! I'ntile, atteiiqits w.'re in id.' south of tin.' \iil .^e of jJciius- ville In work a small •'tiad" of j,ilrna The only smd^toMs tit Ibr buildiiiL;- j)urpos(!s is the •• (Jr ly band '' nl'the .^^(l;nl ibriiia- tioti. liloeks ol' this stone ol' vny diiiieiisin!! tliat c .11 be Inndlcd ar(! obtdnable. This -toiP' has b lai cxteiisivily wcikial at Dundas, Hamilton, (iiimsby and liv' ims\ iile. A l; re. t draw- back in (|iian\ iiiL;' tlii> iintirid is that it can oiny j;c ])rocured aloiiji' the cdu'i' of tin; esc irpnimt. tind ri(|niii's a vast amount of the slialy locks of the Clieton form tion to l.n' reiiiovrd. and even then tin; supply is o|" a limited (jii mtity. The stone i- very touub and hard on tools. I ,1111 infoini.d that this laick was fortiuirly nnnuf ictured int./ L;rind-t<ui' s. The m j^ rit v oi" the beds of lini("-tonc a:e too thin, or ini' ri(U', Ibr aiivtl.inL; more tban the louuhcst buihliiiu' inateii.d. lln ,,>vcr, th, re is a suffi- cient number ol' layers to supply an abundance of buililinu niate- rial of wiiich tiie liandMimest iscditaiiied fioni tlicmcat (h)!oiiiite (No. 8) and tlie subjacent beds. In f .ct all tiie bed> belonging to the Niagara scries, tiiat will at all admit of use, are (jUariicd at Hamiltun, and the broken material of tlic " Cheit baud" and Vol. X. h No. 3.
S
wmiikM
otluT layers i> ii.^fil l<^r road niotul, .itMJ only tfi(! iiioro slialy linii'stoiH'rt arif rcjocteii. The •• Uliiu-IJuihliim bods," altlumgh somowliit lartliy. lorin fair hiiililiii.; material. At the old quarry aloiiu' Hossimhx Creek, and elsewliero, in tliu hit'lier portion nf tlie -cries, ■^'iMid, fairly tliick blocks of dnlomiUi can bo obtained
Tlioii','h the li'nestoiie.s are Lroni-rally ratlior dark, tliey burn to whit,(! lime, as ibe coluriii'j; is licrived I'roiu organic matter. The principal limekilns arc su(i[)lied IVom the liii;best beds of the Niairara seri(!S in tb'' re;^ion of Hamilton and Dniidas, while at liimehouse, on the (ir and Trunk llailway, the lower beds are ]i<_'ht eoloied. rather pure, and i'orm excellent lime — Toronto and many other j)l:ice> beini^ supplied witti imnnMise (juantities of the product of this'' kilns. Some of the beds ;ilso burn to liydraulic cement.
However, there are intere>lini;' minerals in this region, other than those which em be turned to use in the arts. The first of the.xe minerals that wi'will notice is ijjMii)iitt\ This mineral occurs on both .-idcs of (ih.'ii .Spencer. It is found as an efflorescence on the ('(litres of the Nia<rara shales which are [trotectcd by over- hantiini: thick bt'ds of dolomite. This salt has ari.sen i'rom the diHintej.;ration of tiie adjicent dolomitic beds and the action of deconiposiiii,' pyrites. In various other protected places this efflorescence is seen, but it docs not consist of pure ejtsumite beinic mixed with carbon ile of limi', carbonate of iron, sand aud
In th- five i'lot bed of dolomite (No. S) fine c.ibinet specimens oi' sclcui I' and ery.-tallini! Ijuritc. cm be obtained. Also massive gi/psitiu, handsome crystals of v.nbdt.r (variety (»f doLC-tooth spar), cctt.stifc, and quartz in small crystals, as well as iron pi/ rites are ibund. .Many of the cavities when broken opiai are found to be filled with alkaline waters. In one of the Clinton beds, east of ihe "Jolly Cut" road, I have Jbu:id line red and lireen crystals oi hiirite. Ilowiver, the handsomest specimens were obtained in Carpenter's Quarry, on lot 7, Kaiige Vll, of Barton, not now we ked. Fine spiicimens of crystallized dolomite (pearl spar) citlcite (in larj:;(! .scalene dodecaheilroiis, and in other modifica- tions of rhomboh;'dronsj, t>u)idi\ j>i/rit<'s, gulcito, purple, smoky and yellow y/Hor'7<! in fine cubes, and .seviiral i'ovius lA' bituminous matter, both liquid and solid (a variety of which was elastic) were found in con.iiderable quantities filling the cavities of the rock, aud often lining what were once crystallites. It was
1
The
:{5
in bi'fls ol" yitiiilir horizon it Hi'ainsvillo tint the i,';ih'ti!i wuh foiin(l Jiti'l woikril iii.iriy ywnrs u'jo. The hftriziri iif the beds is {'roiii l.'!(l to 1 IT) I'l't't ;4»«-^v \\\o lui'^c oC thi* Ni.it:;ir;i in the ni'iij;li- bourliood riC Uniiiltnii,
[ii inuiHTou- phiciis iiiiiii'iMl witt'i'-: .ii-i" t'ouiiii. Thcfi! .ire of two cl.i.sscs — :ilkuliiie .•itid sulpliurt'lt<'d waters. 01' the I'oriiitT chiss theii' !ti( iiuiutTous -[ii inu> :doiiir tlie sido nl tli(>0!*c.irpm(!nt. Hitiiii.ir wateis have iilso h. ■en obtained in various wells tiiat have been hortid to a eonsidei'^hje depth. One of the>e wells was boied ni'aily, or perhaps, r|nite throuirh the .Mciiina shales at tbi' Ontario Oil llelinery. oast nl' II miilton. The water of thiM place, I analysfii in IsTl .
Sodium ell Inridi! . l!-28
MagMfsiuni i iilcridc OGO
Calcium (Jiiloride I 07
I'utussiiirn clilniide a traee
(Jalciiim .siilpliaie 0'2()
KnsidiK! -10
WiitfT 94-!)n
99-75
Another al' those ininei'al waters wa.> obtained at a depth of 1009 feet in (.^nnbro-Silurian beds iVoni the Artesian well at the Royal Hotel. Flaniilton. The I'ollowinir analysis was made iu 1870:
Sodium cliioride ttS711
Magnesium cldoride 1-2723
Polassiuia ohloridi' traces
Calcium chloride .'')-2723
Calcium Sulphate -1 167
Silica, iron, cii^honie acid, ■>
iodine and bromine /
Water 80-9676
100-0000
Unfortunately the record of this well was burned, although a little of the saline water still remains in my possession.
Of the second class — 'aiphuretted waters — we (ind a few pprinirs, the principal beini;' at Mount Albion, and at Sulphur 8prin<r.s, Ancaster. One of the old springs near Mount Albion la now dried up. Fronj others in this p! ice the supply of gas has continued to be evolved for many years, and three jets of this gari, es.sentially sulphuretted hydrogen, are used to light Albion
:;t;
^li'l-; i!it |.ni|)riii"i- h iviii;;- Iiuilt .1 res -rviiir ol" livtlruulic rcrinirit ov r iIm' .-^iH : in'. \l '• Sul|'liiif *^|'riii'.:>," Ancioli r. ilic aiiidntit ol'';ii-< i^ 111! s(» l.ir-c, :iii'l III'' Mip|.!v is MMrci'ly iiinid tli.iiM'iiuti:;;!* to Mit'UMti- till! w.itiT, 111)111 wliifli till! .-ul|iliur is {)r< fi|iit:.ti;il uii cxpiisur.' t(» till! .ir. Ill Iidlli III' tln'M- l"f iliiics tlio ;; .m ;iris«!rt from ili'cuiii|(ii>lii.; pyi ill's in ili>' .«urr"iiii«rni,ii' rimks.
VIII. -r \T M.'i'in; il' M\ii\I!\ l"nsS||,S I'ltU.M CANAIHAN
i,(H' \i.n U.S.
Ill till' rulji'witi/ iMlil'iLiU'' I liiivi' I'liilra (MiV'''! |m '^ivc i full li>l i.r :i'l tlic rc-,-.ils llrit liiivi' lii'ci) ili-iMi, I iTil ill tin' r('::i(in uinl r I' iii-i(lii'iti"!i. As 110 i'\lrii-i\(' Cm 'vli n c it iln^uc h is li "cri |iul)lislii'il, I li;iv<' li' III .iiiiiiu'rii'il III il(|icii(l l.itLiilv I'll iii.V own c>l! iciioii, iiriiiv spii'i' s lit' wli. I'll I ivt' I'T'ii [iroiiilril to iii" l»y Ci'l. <lr;.iit. A liw of till' iiicliidrtl >iui.'lrs ,iri' iii't in my i-n Irc- tioii, Inviiiii Yi''|is lirCoii' I» 'I'li sent •iWiiy iVoiii till' I'l'^iuii hv tlio colli i'liir>, 'i| wliniii Col. (ii;iiit i-^ ih.' lun-t imlrl'iiliuiililr. The hc-l ('"'hiiinii (i[' Siiiiiifji s ami Strminiii'jiiir'i is tin* oi' Mr. A. J'). W 'kir. or til' t'liruii'i" izroiip m vnal ^[ii'cii's invc rriiiaiiicd illiili'.-ci ill' il, .'^niiir oj" I'll' sprcii ^, incluiliiu ni''^t of tlic diitp- tolltr j'.niiihi. \wo tlin I'^l't; ^I'lTiMKN.s, (Ir-crii'tioiis ol' whi(;li ari' ..iiiMil III li ' ] iilili -Im'iI Ihnl {'il. (ir.;iit ri t:iiiiril ;.ll liis own colh rtiiiii. lie umild liavc In ni . lilc, iin ilnilit. to Ikim' cuii- .siilcrahly swillnl my 'i~i.
Tlu' 1)1 >l lociliti.'^ al llauiilton lor (•oil' oiit;i;- t'n<-ils ••iri' .it tlio ''.Jolly t'nt," :'iiil in tin' :iiija''i'nt np-iiiiiL:'^ in llic (|U>ini!"> aloiij; flic sidi s i>l ill.' •• ^li'Uiitiin," hntli vwA anl W'-.-t ni tlii.'^ iilicc. Al.^o, in I: r iiorurs a' tin' ln'a'l> oi' .lanii.-. and (^^lU'i'ii strii ts; at, till' '■ i5!iiir." II'' .r tin; city ic.-tirviiir ; aloo'j tlii' I l.iiiiiU'in and NnrtliAVi sioiii Kaihvay lu tho -iniiuiit of tli.' MHs; in tin' ra- viius 111' r Mount Alliio, : on lots i .nul ."). llani:!' \' II . of Hartop. ainim- (!;o IIo-cmx ('reck; Mid mi lot 1 ."», jt'iiji' VI, of the s lino tnwii^lji]). At i)ntiilas, tlir v.ariou- Lilon^ fnriii tlio lust liciiiti.s, as ,•(11 i'^ Sydi'idiani ti'ad. At (iiimb-y tlio rich' :-t f.iuii I is fiiiind up {\\r " Havini'." wlnio tin' l'o~.'~iN aro in a bi'ttci' stato (d' pic'snvatiou than at wws o'hcr pi lo' in our Pro- vince. Other localiti'S aro .-it Thorold, liimchou-i' (on tli" C T. Kaiiway). and Uockwood.
3llf
37
CA . ALO(JlIi; OF NIAdAKA I'OSSII^S.
i!KNh:itA AM) ki'I-,(;ii:h. ^i;Tii('!:nv AMI ri:i ri;K\''K.
SlriipKifnprr't rnnrfnlrini (inliU'iiss, IS'jd, Oniii. I'l'tref.
Cdiiiiii/'nni ifinfri. Sp'TKcr. 1 HS !. Ni;i;,'ai'ii l''()s«ils,
" Tiiii'diiUi •• '•
Coni'iylomii <-nn^l<lliil}ini Hull, IS.".'.', I'al. N, Y.
" li()tii;i,il'iil Sliclicci, jKH'J, Nilljiliril KoKrtils.
Vir'jiitvldWd )■■ ! it'll fiit'i " "
Aafi/l'iyjoii'/iit I'lttrmunil (inl(iril>s, ISSO, I'rlicf. (rcrtn.
" .••;<.
Aufdcii/iii'ii i/i.hi/t Uiiliii.'^s. IMTTi, ('I'li. Nat.
IIYI>iU)Z(M.
'll'AITOiai'.-V.A.
j*/i>,'h>'ir'>/'luf- (/) JnlinK Spciirc',-, ISK'J, MiaLrarii Fussiis.
DciiJrii'/i'iipl'is riimnsuH •• •'
" nl.lllih'T. •• "
" dirif.-'oiii •• '•
" frcnlofiun ... •• '•
" iriii'iiriiciliK '• ■'
" /■■/iinofun •• '•
Cullofirii/iiyi iti hiiiri'iiais •• >•
'' ;iniit':i
'• (I ii'ii-Jrii^iiiifi'ii^-) vni!lir.auli.s. ■• "
'' ii'/it'i!iis •• ••
Ihchjourma n!i/'in.'i.'' Hail, iS'.'i", I'ai. N V
" (jrocdh ■•
" iccl'.<rri D.iw-^.ri, I S'.'H. Acml (iiol.
" Ir.iidLit.n SjiclH 'T, i '■'".S. (Jail. N'al.
Cuti//>tiyji(juia-i ciddulorr.iix ■•
" ^u'lir/rhniii.''
'' liU'Tiiiii-iJi/t'osli:.'-; •■ i .'-.SL', Ni;.;.;:ir;i l''i;ssils.
'• (..') ni.!„i''i^- •• •■ •• ••
R/i!Z",Tii/,iit.-< Int'.lms-tK •• l.-'TS. ('all ?\at
Aciinlh'ii;rii}'tnx .iriiati •• •• ■■
■' vnlr.hcr '• 1 sv'j,
hwcmilis jihniitilo^a . !lall. l.'-::"i'.:, I'a!. X. 'i',
'•• hd!,t.... 11 a'l .•; \V'!il'i-!<!, I.--?!. I'.il. Ohio.
•• icnl.ini Sfx'ti ,»:;•, I SSJ, Ni.i.u'.ira, l''n-;sils.
" f>roiiL:'ii.aUcii •• ! 878, (!an. Nat.
J;Jl'n-'a ■• i. S ■<■_'. N:;i;.',ai-a l''t:-:sil.i.
•' rtiiiuilnsa ■ ■ ■• '■
'• curvicornis
" fl/l//OVt.ljS
Thant'iD/nipia-i Ijrtonaiifi^ ■■ •• •• '•
' {.') tnu It 'formic •' '•
Plilti;p\riii iifi foUacjus ■• 1.S7S, C\n. Nat.
Cydo'jrajjLuti roiaJeritatux •■ 'S.-i'^. NiaL-uru i-'tissils.
fiJ*". !■■«>«/>,>>,
:5H
ACTINOZOA.
TAl!i:i,ATA.
Favoaifex nia>/ar,-nyis Hali, i,S52, Pai. N.Y., Vol II.
" /"WM'/.v Goldfuss, 182G, Germ. Pctruf.
Amrnccriinn (/']n;j'<;./es) con.urir/um. .Hull, 1852, Pal. y.Y., Vol, II.
Syringolihs /,,>n„„n.n.s ... Ilindo, 1879, Gi-ol. Ma^r.
Cladoimnt nmllipn.ii H;,ll. i8.f-,2. Pal. N.Y., Vol. II.
Sirinlojmrd Jl.-xi(ii^:i. '• a a a
IIa/i/.i//('s (uttriKilnliiK Liiininiis, 1 7(>7, Syst. Nat.
Syri)vjoi„>r„ r.rlir.iJIaia (?) Goldfu.s.s. 182G, Germ. Pelrof.
KL'CO.SA.
Ciiallm,,!,,,!!,,,,, raUmhua Jlornin.trtT, 1 870, Fos. Corals in Geol
Mich., Vol. III.
Oru,,h„mn .ioh:, M ihu'-Edwards, 187(;, I'os. Corals
ill Gcol. Midi., Vol. III.
.Prtrniii Slrrpirla^nvi cUiicoln Hall, 1852, l*al. N.Y., Vol. II.
ECiriNODEIlMATA.
ASri:H0lliKA.
Peuninr hcllulu. Hilli„,tr,s, I8(;5, Pal Fo.ss., Vol 1.
CUINOIDKA A.M) i; V.STOIDKA.
Lyriocrinn^ dv-iyh,, n.,i|^ j^.-.j^ ^'aX. N. Y., Vol. II.
TkymnocriiiM!^ I ilii formic a \Hr>'l " a
Ear.aly,,lnrnnm drrorns Phillips, 1820, Mmvh. .Sil. Sy.st
St,,,hanor.rinm anynlalus Conrad, 1842, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc
Caryocrium ornalw Say, 182,-), « <.
I'OI.VZOA.
Crrnmopom foliacea ^.^^ is.G^, Pal. N. Y , Vol II
CUithropora (^ yraciU. Spencer, 1882, Niai,^ara Fossils
FemMMa rh'yan. u.^, 1852, Pal. N. Y,, Vol II
Polypora{l.,nn,i.:m :') ,,/6/a«.«,.,V;.. .Spencer, 1880, Niagara Fossils
Licnrnalm mnr'ntrln Hall, 1852, Pai, N.Y., Vol. II.
Trematopord osi.-imiid .. ;, _,
I5UA0HIOPODA.
SIMIilMOIlA.
•^^''■■f '" 'T''^'" Hisin^er, 182G,Ac.. Acad. Nat. So
' ""V'"-'"s" Conrad, 1812, Jo.ir
'■ '■"*"'" HisinL^er, 1857, Petref Suecica
; '";:''"" ^owerhy, 1825, Min. Concl,
Atnn>n / / '''"■"''"'"■■•' '^^^^^^ ' ^07, 2oth Kc^enfs lieport. At>ypa u'Icr.lan. Linnan.s, 1 7.i7, Syst. Nat
Atl,yn.iM.rhtin,,)mliJo ijall, 1852. Pal. NY., Vol. II.
iiriv.\co\ioi,r,iiMK. Rynco.Ma nryl.ria „,^„^ ,,,.^ j,^^, ^_^. ^^^^ ^^
ohlusiplirata u «
" Ik
^''■' '• " I! (.
" "'!m<i u „ ,. ^^
„ . ., ,. , '^ ' Vanu.vem, ]84.>, Geol. ,S DiU NY
-(inunams Iiillinj,'.s, 1859, Can. Nut.
II.
39
STIMU'IIOMKNIIME.
Slroplnmni,, pr'ifun.la Flail, 185'J, I'ul. N.Y , Vol. II.
'• rliDinhoiddlis Wiiliciiiltci-f^, 1.S21, \rX. S<)(\ Sci.
IJpSillil.
Slrophodonta ■•o'mijasciat.a llall, IHOli, 'j'l.vns, All). Inst.
Slrefitor/ii/)irun tenuis •• 1 858,
Leji/ciKi /r'iiisr('r:.i/./i.s Diilin.'in, 1827, Koiii;!. Vvt. Aiad.
Ihuiiil. OtOiih rlrr/iin/iila Diilniiin, '• '• ••
'• jhihrllelum Elilll, I84;i.
" />orrii//i Mc(^<)y, 18UJ. Sil. l''oss. of Ireland.
Cli.WlAliyK.
('ruiiia (inift Sjioiiccr, 1882, Niagiini Ko.ssils.
rlSOl.NIIiAK.
DUcina U'liiiilumfllala Hall, 1802, Tal. NY., Vol. II
cLiirn Spt'iu'cr, 1882, Ni.'luara KoshIIk.
I.ISi;i'I,l!>KA.
LinguUi idilatiiin Conrad, 18:!',), .\nii. licp. N.Y.
Inmrllata Hall, 1852, I'al. N.Y., Vol. II.
" in'/f:n^ Spencer, 1880, Niagara Fo.ssHh.
LAMKLI.II'.RANCHIATA.
Avicula I'liiiicr.nita Conrad, 1842, Jour. Acad. Nat. So.
Plcrima hrivi Hall, 18(17, 2(l11i Uegeiit s Hep. NY.
Posodimomi/a rho,:ihoid,^n '• 1852, I'al. NY., Vol. II.
Modiulofisit: mt/iulu/a •' "
«' sp '• '• " ••
(.ASTKKOl'OUA.
Plali/o.it(t/nii ii/.(i</(irrnsi.s Hall, 1852, Pal. N.Y., Vol. II.
Lmioxniia Irdu " 18G7, 2()tli Regents Rep., N.Y.
Plfurotamirrui r/iin'i/hrmi.i ...Speneer, 1882. N'iagara KohsIIh.
i''ri':i!oi'()i)A.
Conuliina ninf/nrrrtsis. Hall, 1852, I'al. NY . Vol. 11.
iii<i:/nij/rii Speneer. I87ii, Can. Nat.
•■ rui/ofii . •• 1882, Niagara KossIIh.
CKPll.ALCl'ODA.
Orthoccnif rir;/iit/un • • ■ -Sowerby, 18:1;), Min'cli. Sil. SyHt.
" ~innul(thun " 1 8 1 8, M in. (Jonel.
■■<imi(tal()r . llall, i87i;, 28tli lieg. Rep. NY.
rrilii'-scenx 'J) " I8ti7, 20(1)
/'iiiirtirjinc. Speneer, 1882, Niagara FoKriils.
(i/rtoiUT'i-- rctwrn.iim " •• "
Liluite!' 'ii(t./(ir(iisis. ...... '■ '• '•
.\NNi;hIDA
CorniUi!/'.'' ifrxiio.'ius Miill, 1852, I'al. N Y., Vol. I J.
mm
40
CRTjS'rAf:KA.
Ti:il.(i;:ITA.
niomus barrim.,. ^''"-'^l'- 1 ^'•'^^ "i'" ^y^*'
Ennnmru. orr,.>n, H >11, 18,V2. (vid Cybflc pnnrtata).
SphacrcTirhu. rominq.ri " 1 «« ' , '^"f' ^'^•-'- ''^''P' ^'•"^•
Calumau. h!au.'nh.<-Un llroiiKiui.rt. 1822, Hist. Nal. Cmst.
••^ Foss.
IlnmnJnaotuA di'l/i/iiiioc /i/ni.'u" Groi'n, I.S:',2.
Dabiiaiiifr.s li.mu.'unis
Lichm ho/lorn: Iii^''^'"y, 1«'-^''' •T'^'"- A''"'l- N.'.t. Sc,
.4«ri«./«. /^.///i Spcnrcr, 1 8S0, N li.gani FohsUs.
KUUVl'TKlill!,!:.
riRTijgo'us CanaJcndi^ Dawson, 1879, <Jati. Nat.
AI'I'KNDIX.
Beside!- tho provinus citalo-uc; nl" Cossils fdund in the dilTorcnt formations t-f l ) Nia-iia (Jruup in C.ma>la, .Mii.ssr.s. Nicljolsci and Hinde; iiavd (iblaiiR;il tlic lo.lnwiug species:
CLINTON.
ttcolif/na; >:,'rii.fali.s at Duiidas.
Arc/iocouU-i sji!ir.''i/s . "
J'hiiiijlil'JS VHi;J''rii.'' "
SlruiifUojiorit Inn Hi at Ow(;n S;;iind.
Zai'hn'Hiis M'>U,i (.') " "
Ch;ii,:h:><jUr.i'erl at Diiiidus.
Phaiiiijiijrd <: !^i/onni;i "
PtiUi ii-Aijii (•/(/■'•■•^J ■ "
'• (.') idiij/'Jia "
" i'i(i)i:!'i! t "
Ti(']itorij''i I pLiiiiininvxa "
Oii/iis C!i!'i;inninaa "
Lc/ilacna neitc'ia "
Timlncuii/f'.s 7i(i;)l('.clus '•
Gli//>loniiiin'i jilunionuf: "
NIAGARA.
Slromalo/.or.r liinhu. at Owen Scniud.
IlrHoliti'.H iiitiimlincta " "
Fovoaitra venunln " "
" (;.') midlipom " "
« diihia " "
CofJiiles {/.iiiKiiiii) lumiiiala . , , . '• "
" liiiinla " "
Alveolites jhclicn " "
" niiijarensis at Ricliraond.
St.
c,
nt
[■a
1
41
Astrxophyllum grarile at Owen Sound.
Cnunnpora annul aln " "
Syringopora reli/ormis " "
Zaphrentis Rocmeri •' "
Cystiphi/llum vesiculosum at Thorold.
Petraia pygmira , "
Diphiphyllum ctespitosum "
Clathoporafondosa "
" intermedia "
Relepora axperato-Mriata "
Trematopora oMeolaia at Niagara River.
FenesleV '■ tenuiceps " "
Athyris intermedia " "
Slrophomena mbplana at Thorold.
Orthis biforata "
Id the cataloi^uo abovc-iianicd we find at species of Clinton and 49 of Niagara fossils, (•o'.leclcd by Me.«sr.s. Nicholson and Hlnde, of which the above 39 specii's have not been obtained by me, or in so poorly preserved condition as to be rejected from nay cabinet. In the catalo.,'ue the nrmes of fossils are not usually phiced in two formations, but only in that where they more
generally occur.
In the catalogue of the fossils of the Medina. Clinton and Niagara, given here, there will be found 121 species of Niagara and 53 of Clinton and Medinti, of which only a few species are repeated in the lists. The principal omissions in uiy cabinet are in the poorly preserved specimens of the Clinton, at Dundas, and in the species found at Thorold and Owen Sound. Neither of the lists includes 13 species of annelid jaws, recently described by G. J. Hinde, Esq.
APPENDIX .\.
Catalogue of Fossils of the Hudson Rlvn- Format Ion, found in
the Old Beaches at the wcstn-n end of Lake Ontario.
The study of the occurrence of these fossils belongs, strictly speaking, to the Drift, which will be described in a subse- quent paper. From the Pulajontolo-ic d point of view, they are more interesting in connection with this portion of the study of the Geology of the Region about the Western End of Lake Ontario than in that of the Surface Geology.
The following is a list of the fo.ssils which I luive obtained in considerable quantities from t!ie ibssiliferous pebbles of both the ancient and modern beaches in the region of Hamilton : V07..X. ^i ^''•^-
42
Stenopont fibrom, Goldfnss. Columiuiria flur.nlata, r.illiiiRH. Alln/ris /audi, Billin^'w. Stropliomrna nltirndtn, ('oiirad. Sirophor.icni) .'Jloi.Jr,!., dnmid. /,,'l,l;r.na K,:ric:ii, Sowcrby. Or!hi.-i Ir.Hhidiniiriii. Dili man. (JiiliiH nccideiit'ili.^, Hall. ()rllii< l>/!iJ-> Eitliwald. Oholclla crasaa, lliiH. Moilinlopxin modwlanx., Conrad.
Modh.inpsi. (s.>v.Tal undormined spec.e«).
C'liio.lonlji hiirri'.lt'r, Uilliugs.
Orlhonoln —
Ctanodont'i.
Jjjrolcsma jiosl^lriala, Emmons.
A»ibo)ii;chin radialii, Hall.
Anicnla dfmisya, Conrad.
Murchisonin ijracUh^ Hall.
Cyrtoliles or»<ihi.% Conrad.
OrlhocA'ra.'i lamMo.viin, Hall
Ormoccras crehisefilum, Hall.
Leperditiu canadeims, .Joncf.
APPENDIX li.
Since ^vriti,.o• tl.o V.^u-t on tho Pala3ozoic fioolojry of the Remon ubout the Wostern End ..f J.akc Ontnvio, I have observed th-il Dr IlmU. in hi.. Hcport on the Canadian Petroleum Regions of Canada (18(i;]-«;<;), givos tl.o !o,^ of a well sunk on theeleventh lot of the soventh ran-o of Barton, which is ms follows:
Limestones with a little shale 250 foot
White sandstone ^
Red shales with bluish hands 595 "
Bluisli and grayish shale J^
87:5 ''•
The loc.ition of tliis well is about two iu.d a half milecs south- ward of tho brow of the ' Mountain " at Hamilton. The upper 250 feet include both the Niagara and Clinton formations, which measurement is almost precisely the same as the thick- tie«s of these strata a^cert:dned by measurement at Dundas. Consequently, we may consider the summit beds in bcth places as nearly identical, whilst the beds at Carpenter's Limekilns, not much more than a mile distant from the Barton well, are
43
it its mouth, but
to b'' 5'.).') <'(Ma.
ccolocically and ^'cographically higher than
geographically lowor thaa the inlerior beds at Duridas, ou account
of the dip of the strata. ^
The live feet of sandstone constitute th.' prevailing "bray
Band" of the iMedina formation.
The thickncw of the Medina shales .ippiars I have placed the thickness of the Medina shales at 5:35 feet ; this being derived from the record of the well at Duadas, where they are "underlaid by "limestones and grits," whilst in tlu> Bar- ton well the red shdes are underlaid by "bluish and grayish shale- " which probably belong to the Hudson River group
It must be remarked that the Dundas well is not far beyond the turn in the bend of the Niagara escarpment, which I have desiirt.atcd by the name of ancietU, Ca,.e Dunda«. Tn the pre- vious Report attention has been frequently called to the fact that all the shaly deposits decrease, and those which are calcareous increase the moment that we pass around the provisionally called Cape Dundas. In proceeding northward the Medina shales thm out atjd are last seen at Cabot's Head, and, according to Dr. Bell, are entirely absent from the series in the Manitoulin Island. The' elbre this difference of about tJO feet is one of thickness and not of error. It was also noticed that in proceeding south-west- ward towards Ohio, that the Medina shales almost entirely dis- appear. .
Had I known of the existence of the well in Barton at the time that I took the levels over the adjacent localities, it would havo given an additional point for correcting the estimato of the dip The altitude of the place, about a quarter of a mih< north- oMst of the well, is 435 feet above Lake Ontario, while at a quar.er of a mile to the eastward, it is 424 foot, on a surface of rocks. Calculating from these data, the dip would be between .. and 27 feet in a mile, but as the well is between these two points, we can retain our old estimate of 2.^.4 feet in a mil-. h:-v,ng a dircctimi of 20 degrees west of south.
are
'W
o
^O^ OTTAWA. ^-^^
y
,-4 . m i .
^'■^
\'JHAL
■ it'
simvACE GEOLOGY oi-rnKUK;;u)NAm^^^^
WESTERN END OE LAKE ON TAKIO.
I5v 1 W SfK.N.K.ii. r..A,S.., M.A.. I'll I).. l-.<i>. Vioe-l'rosidont of the University -r Kin^'. CHo^e. Win i... Nov. S.-.i..
X.. No. :•-.)
].__iNTi«ti>r(THtN.
lay nny be made out ol' ,1,- .•x,,,.,u,vs .,r .1- old n.-k-lun,..
Zi\ha&„-/J (;.W„J, i t .,.„l.v <.!■ local u,U.,es., lor 1,™,, a
„; e atlft -any .bi's^ eoneen,in. ,be veU. ,ubj.,e> o d.euu
!:; V ;-»bout .be ori,i .be U™e,.G,v,,, Lake, .be un.. .
™d t tra„.poiU,liol, power ol' ,a„ o, Hoe ,ee. be.ule,- ,b
t^^^. cau.es wb,cb eo„,bi 1 .o .or,,, ,b,. r.r, |„e, ,„v.|„.
rcion of Caiiaua. . . ,,,.(■.,,,,.
I„ Par. I, o„ tbe Pubeozoie .JcoU.,y, .. l-r.,"" "1 .',■>> f„, „.e, „er described wi.b .e.ereuce .o tbe exposures I 1 aU-
„rc'.or„„mo„s. Tbe prese,,, desc-ip-ioos of topo.rapby 1 :
rclcrrace only .o .be Surface Geology.
o,..ler to .„o,-e .uUy explab, .b- ca„s,s wb,eb eo„.p„e o .,H„- about tbe present feature,, ,. is necessary .o waud .-o,u.
Tbedei.i,.i..,sof.bc.op^r,^.a,eap,rn™.t,^^ the origin oftlie Lower Great l.akL> n.ae ^ .
■T»Oiso,v..yonl.i'.e..a.a,0..,....n...;;-u tl-ton.UM.ntano; vvithN......>t J- ;...-; ^^^^^
Windsor, N.S. U.ad i-ofor.. th.^ -V'"" „ ■ '„. S.,. i,.tv. Tl,--
s.uue papor was re-puUished ,u ^ ^l-'^- ;\ j;;,; ..^o,,.,,,.. A logical Survey, with Notes Ly 1 ..'t- 'Z " ,^,.; •„„.,,•,,,, .pu.u iu> Aion of the pap^ on t . On^ Paperouthesubjeit, road l..'l.... AAA- _ ^.^^^
Vo... X.
»l
46
but will hero be ii^printcil witi tion marks.
I -niiii' ,'i
ItL'nitioiis without (juota-
II. — TOINKJHAI'IIY ol TIIK UKOION AHOl'T THE WESTERN
KN'I» OK LAKE ONTAIIM.''"
Tlu Xi'iyiirii h'uriir/niini/. — This raD^'f ol' iiills cominonces its foui'jsc in Ccutnil Now York, ain] cxtcmls wostwanl, at n<i i,'reut 'listaiico .south ot Luku Ontario. It t;ntors Canada at Quocn.stot Fici^'ht>, and tluMicr its trend i^ to the wcstorn ind of tlu; lake, where, iie.ii' Hamilton, it turns noilliwurd .and extt.'nds to (Jabot's he.id and .Manitoulin island. Kverywhere in Cai. -da. south of li.ike Ontario, it has an .ibrupl lall lookiriL; towards the north- ward; hut .It Thorold in.l other jtlaces to the t.'astward its brow is nion; broken than at (Jrinisby, and westward. At Hamilton the brow of tlie escarpment varies from I5SS to iV.Ml feet above Ijako Ontario. About five miles ea.»t ul ll.imilton the escarpment makes an abrupt bond enclosinii a triani:ular valley, down which llosseaux creek and other stre.ims flow. This valley i.s about two miles wide ;it its njouth, and lias ;i leiiLith of .ibout the same distance.
About five miles we.^tward of Hamilton the Niagara oscar^ ment beconjes covered with the drift deposits ol' a broken country, or rather ends abruptly in the drift of the reuion. Above the ranjj;o, tlie country i^radu.illy rise,"' to the divide between Lake (}ntaiio and the Grand river, or Lake Erie, without any coii- sipicuous features. South ea.^tward of ILimilton, at a point .about five miles from the brow of the i-scarpment, wh^Tt the Hamilton aud North-Western Hallway reaches the summit, the altitude above Lake Ontario is 4!)3 feet. At Carpenter's (juarry, two miles southward of tlie "mountain" brow, .at the head of Jameai ."Street, the altitude reaches 485 feet; and near Aucaster the sum- mit is 510 feet above J^ake Ont.irio. From eastward of Grimsby (for twenty miles) to near Ancaster, the escarpment presents an abrupt face from 150 to 250 feet below the summit (having a moderate amount of talus at the base), thence it extends by a more or less steep series of .slopes to the plane, which irradually
1 4
* The top().i,aai)hy is partly represented on map aeeompanying Pala'ozoie Geology. IJurlington Heiglits is tlie spur of land between the Marsh and Burlington Bay.
.J
S.i^l:i'>i-n,>lA
47
inclino.s (somotitnos by ii succi-ssion of torrac-H. to tl„- Ink..
luarL'in.
U» the northorn side of the town of Dundas. thr abrupt lac- of the oi^carpm.'nt looks souihward. and cxteiids four or live luilc.* westward, until tlie exposure beo.>uus covered by the drifi deposits near Copetown station, similar to the u^rmination at Ancast<r on the south side of the Uumlas valley, but not by an abrupt endin- as at the latter locality. About two mile, east ol the G VV. Railway station, at Dundas, the trend ot the ruu-. bends more to the northward, and from this point there is h marked difference in the conti-uration of the country below the 8un.nnt The ranuo, after ext^ndin- beyond Waterdown. turn, still more to the northward and passes near Milton and J.ime- house station (on the G. T. Railway), and the.iee extend>_ to Georgian bay. The height of Cop'towr, above the lak.. is oU- feet On the west side of Glen Speneer it is 4(»!l feet, and east- ward of the same iior-o. the highest point is 520 feet (Nia-arH limestone comin-z to within four feet ol" the surface ). At Water- down the altitude is over 5(H> feet (?) and at Limehouse the brow of the ran.e (though only the lower beds of the N.auar,* limestones occur) is SIO feet. Farther to the northwanl the country rises until it reaches an altitude of 1402 feet above l.ake Ontario or 1700 feet above the ,.ea. near Dundalk station, on the W G. k B. Railway. The features ol' the surface ot the country abov<. the hi^d.lands north of Dundas are mueh more varied than south of Dundas valley. As the trend of the esoarp- nient turns northward around the end ol' the lake, the face ot th. slope looks towards the eastward.
Bnsm nf Lahe Ontario -^-X^ is well known. Lake Ontario consists of a broad shallow (considerin-. it< si/e) basin, excavated
• The vaiiuus Canadian railways an.l < ai.als. wh-.s. dovatiens a,. ,eferml to s.a levH. take Lake St. PH-r a. .1.. datum. Tins ropre- L-nts ,n.l. tld.. in the St. Lawn.n-.. Uiv... Th. e.evat.nn a....o. o I,.k. Ontario is 235 i^^et (by the Uran.l Trunk ' -'-;>);":^ ^ ; ' aeeordiug to difforrnt Cana.lian authnr.t.es. (ah<.v,- Lak. St. Ut. > The U. ^ Lake Survey plae.s Lake ...dario a, .-U;.! ..et and Lak.- Erie at 57;;-C(. feet above n.ean tide. Th. W.ik.nd «:anal idae.s Lako 0 L' at .20.7. feet beh.w Lake Kri. (whi..Ms no. .^^^^^^^
aeknowled,ed to be 57. feet above n.ean oeean eve , ^ - * - all future references to elevation ab<,ve nnan t.de. I hav taken Lak^ Ontario at '247 feet.
48
.'.'?
oil tlu! south, rii DKir-iti out of tlu' Mediua shales, and havintr its f-outliiTu shores tVoiii one to suvoral miles from the foot of the Niagara . scari)inei)t. Tlu: Medina shales form the western uiar- jiin (wlKrc not covered with drift) to a point near Oakville. From tliis town to a point some distance eastward of Toronto, the hard rocks are made up of the different beds of Hudson River epoch ; wliiUi the sol't Utica shales occupy the middle portion, and tin- Trctitot. limestone tlu' portion of the Province towards the east(>ri. end ol" the lake.
The couiitrv at the western end of the lake consists of slopes '^ently risin<r to the foot of the Nia<_'ara escarpment, noticed before. .Sometimes this elevation is by terraces, and again by inclines so gentle, as between Lake Ontario and the foot of the escarpment at Limehouse (on the G. T. Railway) where the difference of altitude abovo the water is more than 700 fe(>t, witliout any very eonspicyous features.
At the western end of tlie lake, the two shores converge at an acute angle. At about five miles from the apex of this angle is the low Burlington beach, thrown across the waters in a slightly curved line, which fmnis the western end of the open lake. Burlington bay, thus formed, is eoniieeted with the open lake by a canal of the same name. This beach is mide up of sand and pebbles (mostly of Hudson River age), and is more than four miles long, but uowlien! is it hal. a mile wide.
No mean depth of Lake Ontario can be fiirly stated. For geological purposes it has no mean depth, because it is simply a long chani\el with the adj.icent low lands covered by back- water.
Wes: of the meridian of the Niagara river the lake is evidently filled with more silt than eastward, as we find that the bottom slopes more irradually towards the centre, where the mean depth (iu' easing from the westward) of the channel may be fiirly placed at fOO feet below the present surfice of the waters. In this section of the lake, the average slope from both shores may be stated at 'M^ feet in a mile. At a short distance east of the 78th meridian, the character of the lake bottom changes in a most conspicuous manner. Here we find a deeper channel which ex- tends for more than ninety miles, having an average depth of about 90 fathoms or 5K» feet, with, in some places, a trough about tiOO feet deep, generally near the southern margin of the
Ui
1
r
90-fathom channel. Here :md tlicro is a deeper isoundin^— the deepci^t bein- 12:! ti.tlionis cr 738 feet. The long chaDncl, sur- rounded by the 90- fathom contour line, is situated at a mean distance of not less than twenty miles from the Canadian shcre, whilst its southern side approaches in some places to within six miles of the American shore, witli which it is parallel. This 90- fathom channel varies from three to twelve miles in width. Its broadest u.id deepest portion is s(.uth of the Canadian peninsula of Prince Edward's County.
The mean slope of the lake bottom, fron. the Canadian shore to this deep channel just pointed out, may be placed at less than twenty-five feet in a mile, with variations from twenty to thirty feet in that distance. The mean slope from the New York shore line to the 90-fathom channel may be placed at sixty feet in a mile, but varying irenerally from fifty vo ninety feet. On examin- ation we find that the -reater portion of this slope belon-s to a belt which descends much more rapidly than the off-shore
depression.
That the southern side of Lake Ontario has a submerged series of escarpments or one moderately steep and of great dimen- sions, is manifest when we come to study the soundin-s. In fact, if the bed of Lake Ontario were lifted out of the water, this sub- merged escarpment would be more conspicuous than the greater portion nf the present one. known by the name of the Niagara. In many plaoes the descent from the table-land above the Niagara escarpment is no more precipitous than the slopes ol the sub- merged Cambro-Silurian (Hudson River, in part, if not through- out "the entire length) rocks, with its sloping summit, in part crnwned by a -ently sloping surface of Medina shales. Nearly north of the month of the Genesee river, we find that withui a sin-le mile the soundin-s vary from f.n-ty-three to suv.Mity- ei-ht^fathoms (between contour lines). This gives a sudden do^cent in one mile of 210 frot. As the sou.uUn-s are not taken continuously t-. show to the contrary, n,ost of the change ot levels may be within a few hundred yards.
In the re-ion of these soundin-s the deepest water outside ot the 7is-fathmn line is 84 fathoms, whilst from the shore to the 48-fathotn sounding the least distance is four and a half miles, thus givinu the greatest mean slope of the lake bottom at sixty feet in a mile, before the escarpment is reached.
¥i^
r.
•^-
•» (
50
An excellent series of soundiuos can be studied in a line nearlj northward from Putneyville, N. Y.:
Distanti- from Putney
Vilh'.
0.5 mill's. 1.0 " 1.75 " 4.125 "
Depth ol Soundiuii-.
4'J tffl.
72 12G 240 '•
Slope from previous Soi nding.
tJO feet per mile.
5.0 '• ■» Face of the f :'>T2 6.0 " je.^c'pment. \ 582
I
7.0 10.0 12.0
021 642
7:18
Ftn.l.
( 50
14-1 210
42
0
41S
a II
Section orLakeOntario from Poinl IvWrUcfht. OnUmo, toPntneyviUe,iai
From this table it will be soon that in a distance otloss than two miles the slope of the oscarpn.ent is the difference between 5R2 and 24(1 feet, or :i3(i feet as actually recorded. At Hamilton, the Niagara escarpment is only :iSS feet above the lake, which is two miles distant, whilst the present slope at Thorold is spread over nearly twice that distance. That this esearpment is not local is easily seen. For a distance of over forty miles, from near Oswe-o westward, it plunu■e^ down :U)(I feet or more in a breadth varyinii' from less than two to three miles. Eastward and westward of this portion of the lake this snbmerged escarp- ment can be traced for nearly one hundred miles, but with the portion deeper than the 70-fathom contour liavin- more gradual soundings, as the base of the hills either originally had a more gruduarslope, or the lake in its western extension has subse- quently been tilled with more silt.
Although we have not soundings made very clo.se together, yet tlie admirable work of the United States Lake Survey is more than sufficient to prove the existence of a continuous escarpment which has an important bearing on the I'reglucial geography of the
51
1
region, and on the explanation of the ori;.nn of the Great Lakes
themselves.
The soundings do not show a conspicuous escarpment after passing westward of the meridian of Niagara river, partly on account of the sedimfnts filling this portion of the lake, and partly because the lake in all probability never had its channel excavated to so great a depth as farther eastward.
Attention must bo called to the fact that the depth of the Niagara river is VI fathoms near its mouth, but that the lake around t' - outlet of the river has a depth not exceeding four fathoms witli a rocky bottom.
Another escarpment at the level of ]^ake Ontario, now buried, was discovered by the engineers of the enlargement of the Wel- land canal, according to Prof. Claypole (Can. Nat. Vol. ix. No. 4). When constructing No. 1 lock, at Port Dalhousie, it was found that at its northern end, there was an absence of hard rock which formed the foundation of its southern end. Rods more than 40 feet long were pushed into the slimy earth without meeting any hard rock bottom. This discovery will be noticed
in the sequel/'^
Basin of Lake Er!e.—Tho exceedingly shallow basin of Lake Erie has its bottom as near a level plane as any terrestrial tract can be. Its mean depth, or even maxima and minima depths from its western end for more than 150 miles, scarcely varies from 12 or 13 fathoms for the grrater portion of its width. The eastern 20 miles has also a bed no deeper than the western por- tion. Between these two portions of th(> lake the hydrography shows an area with twice this deptli (the deepest sounding being 35 fathoms). This deepest portion skirts Long Point (t'n- ex- tremity, a modern peninsula of lacustrine origin), and has a somewhat transverse course. An area of less than 40 miles long has a depth of more than 20 latlioms. The deeper cha.mel seems to turn around Long Point, and take a course towards Haldimand county, in our Canadian Province, somewhere w.^t of Maitland. The outlet of the lake, in tlie direction of the Niai-ara river, has a rocky bottom (Corniferous limestone.)
The Diindas V<ill<'!/ ""<^ aJJaccnf Canons.— \\c may con- sider that the Dundas'valley begins at the "bluff" east of the Hamilton reservoir, and extends westward, including the loca-
• See lleport (4'Cliicf EiiKineur of Canadian Caniils, 1880.
»'
tion of the city of Hamilton and the Burlington Uy, at least its western portion. With this dotinitiou. the width at the "Bur- lington heights" (an old lake terrace 108 feet above present level of the water) would be less than tivo miles. At a mile and half westward of the heights, the v.illey suddenly becomes narrowed (equally on both sides of its axis of direction, by the Niagara escarpment making two equal concave bends, on each side of the valley, whence the straight upper portion extends, the whole resembling the outline of a thistle and its stem), from which place it extends six miles westward to Copetown. on the northern side; and three and a hall t<. Ancaster. on its southern side. The breadth between the limestone walls of this valley varies .•somewhat from two to two and a hall miles. Thr summit angles of the limestone walls on both sides are decidedly sharp.
Dundas town is situated in this valley, its centre having a height of about 7(1 feet above Lake Ontario, but its sides rise in terraces or abrupt hills — many rounded and resembling roches montnuuees. On ascending the valley we find Jiat between the escarpment.s are great ranges of pai'allel liills .-ei)Mr;ited by deep irorges or glens, excavated in the drift by intL^rglaeial and modern streams. This rugged character contiiuu'S until the summit ol' the Post Pliocene ridges li;i\c a ii^'ight e(|ual to that of the escarpment. As the gorges asceiul toward^ the westward, they become smaller, until at some distance southwest of Copetown and Ancaster, the divide of the present system of drainage is reached. Some of these streams ha\(t cut thrmigh tlie drift, so that they have only an altitude above the lake (which is seven miles distant) of 240 feet, while the tojis of the ridges imme- diately in the neighborhood are not much k'ss than 400 feet high, though they themselves have been removed to a depth of about another hundred feet, for tlu' drift has tilU'd the upper portion of the valley to the height of 500 feet above Lake On- tario. Even to the very sources of the streams, the country resembles the rivers of our great Nttrtli Western Territories (or those of the Western States), cutting their way tlirough a deep drift at high altitudes, which is not \uiderlaid by harder rocks, showing deep valleys rapidly increasing in sizi' and depth, as they are cleaning out the soft material, and hurrying down to lower levels — a strong contrast to the features in most other por- tions of our Province.
On the .southern side of the Diuidas valley, a lew unimportant
}
)■
streams, mostly dry in sumruiT. Inivc won. l>.ifk thf liiiiist'in"! escarpment, ovor which tlicy flow, to distance s vary in j; (Voni •. low yards to a few hundred, makin<_' izlcris it whosr head in sprinsi' time f-oiiie picturesque cascades ciui be sen. At Moun' Albion, six mili's east of IJainiltoii. there, arc two ni" tlusc lar^rer !Xorj!;os, whose waters, after passin;: over picturesiiue {'all«;. 70 fert high, and throu.^li jzlens several liundred yard- in !''ii.:tb. empty into tlio triangular valley noticed belnre. On tiic nortlierii side of the Duhdas valley, besides small <;oi_t.'s with their str(Mm< com parable to those on the south, side, there are several >>{' mucl larger dimensions; for example that at Waferdown. six miles northof [I.imilton. .Still larjrer is(Jlrii Sjn'ocer which has a <v/ttn>i half a mile loll,u^ :><)() feet, deep and between 20(1 and iJdU yard^ wide at its mouth. At the hi ad of this is Spencer t ills, i;!:* feet high, and joining it laterally iher'' is another r"Hnii. with a. considerable stream flowing from W hsier's fail-, whieh. h'.w ever, is of less height than the other, 'fhe waters I'cdiii- the>-e. streams comi' IVom northward of tin e-carpmeiit, and belmi- to a system of drainage different frnm tho-^" stream.- which H<<\v dowi; through the drift of the Dundas valley, and arc ol' much -reater length. At the foot of Spcticer fall-, ih. wat.-r- <trike th. upper portion of the Clinton shaly b( «1-, Tie Falls are tw . f-et deeper than twenty years ago. Vet the stram \^ <uvi]\. and makes ;i. pond below In the soft .^hale-. IIiM i( is difler(!ncc in height doe^ not represent the rate of wearing <e recession oi' the precipice, bur only the rom(»val of a little ({el.ris at the has.-. That the stream is much smaller than formerly is jdaiidy to h'' ^em. I'-r :it present, it has cut a narrow channel, fnim ten to lifteen yard> in width, above the i'alls, and from four to hx feel deep on one .^ide of the more ancient valley, which is about f)0 yards wid" and :;ii feet deep, excavated in the Niagara dolotaite>^,
Th(! surface of the escarpment on both sidct< of Glens Spentc^r and Webster presents a peculiar aspect. That on the north eastern side has a maximum height id* 'i20 fe( t above the lake On the same side, a section, made longitudinally, shmss ^^cveral broad .shallow glens nearly a hundred feet deep crossing it and entering Gh .» Spencer. The surface of the rocks is glaciated, but uot parallel with the direction of the channels. On the. south-western side of the same camm, we find that a portion of the thin beds of Upper Niagara limestone have been removed. This absence is not general for it soon regains its average height, of about 500 feet. <> '-'
54
< *
l)nn<l"s .)//Ar.s/i. — The fastc-ru i-nd ol" the Duridus valley con- tains a lari^ro swamp, nearly ihvw inil(>s lon.i,', with a breadth oi" about, throi -fourths of a niilo, known in the early scttlcnu-nt of the country by tlu; iianic of (!ooto's Paradise.
This ii.irsl) was rornicrly connected by a small rivulet with Burlin-t.' a bay, but this was yubsoquciitly closed by the G. W. llaihvay. wh-n tlio cult in- of lA-sjardin's canal throu.iih BurlinL,'- ton lui-li s was comiileteil. Into this mar.-h all the drainajre of the DnvA IS vall'v is deposited, catisin"- it to lill up at the rate of one-trntli >!' a loot jxt ainutin.
I],irl!ihtnv /f.'l(j/i/s.--\v,v()^^ the eastern end of the Dundas vwanip and -^onie of its braiielu's, are the liurlinii'ton hei.uhts, varyinii- IVun. a f-w hundrrd yanis to nearly a ((uarter of a mile in widtli, ant ov; r 100 f'et in ln'i-ht, which have been an old beach, it a tiur- wIkd tli" lake level was at tlie same elevaticm, lor wo liiid iliat a lake heich •. xtonds aloni;' t!ie fl niks of the est-arpinei't. I^>t,li eastward and lanthward lor a C(niMderable dist- ance at th" -^aint! level. This is luentioned here as lorminpj a most eiin-piciiiiti-. teirure, mid as ehanijing the physical character of the we>t,ern extremity ol' P>urlini;Lon biy, and the outlet of the Dundas valh^y. Vaiion^ terraces and beaches avr. i'ound, both at lower li-vls, and also IV eminent s at hii;lier altitudes .donii the .-.ide of tl.e •■ mountain,'" unlil -oinc^ attain a heii2,ht of 500 feet above Jiake Ontario.
Th,' drund Rir>r r./ZAy/.- -Tin; (irand river of Ontario rises in the (;ounty of <Irey, not more I ban twenty-live miles fnmi Georiiian bay, Thence it Hows ,-outliward, ami at Elora the river assumes a (amspicuous leature. Here it cuts through the Guelph dolomites to a depth of about S.O feet and forms a cunDu aliout 100 fei't in width wiili vertical walls. At this |)1 ice it is joined by a rivulet from the west, which has Ibruied a tributary ainoii similar to th.at of the Cjraml river itself.
Th<.' country in this rei;ion is so flat tiiat it appears as a level plain. Farther southward the river winds over a broader bed, and at Gait the present river valley occujdes a portion of a broad depression in a country indicatinij; a ibrnier and much more exten- sive valley. In fict, the old river valley existed 'in Pre<2;lacial times, for the present stream has re-excavated only a part of its old bed at Gait, Icavini; on the flanks of one of its banks (both of which are) composed of Guelph doloudtes, a deposit of Po.st Tertiary drift, in the form of a bed of lirj>;o rounded boulders
r
).
lit'
mostly of Laurcntian gncisso. 'riiiMiduntiy for I'uur iiiilt:> .•-uutli of Gait is of similar ciiaractcr, IWrininL!, a broad valley, in wliicli the present river flows. At this distance I'roni Gait the river takes a turn to the south-westward ; but at the s^aine place, the old valley appears to pass in a niNirly direct line with the eourse of the present bed (before tiie inudrrn turn is made to the west ward). As this portion of th(! v.ilii y now entered has not to any extent been cleaned out hy modern i^trcjams. it liirms a bruad shallow depression in tin country extending I'ln :i ll;w miles in width. Yet, it is oi'teii occupiid with hills coni|tost!d oi' stratitied coarse trravel belon^iii'i to that belt, which extends IVom Owei) Sound to the county ol' lirant. and ciilli'd by the Canadian Geo loj^ical Survey '' Artemesia izr.ivel."
It is tlirouii'h a portion ol' tiiis v;illi-_\ that tlie Fairchild's creek flows. Many streams derive their supplies (.1' water from tlu; Beverly swamps, and iei.'d the liindsay creek, which empties over Webster I'alls and flows <h<\\n Glen Spencei tliroii^h the Dundas valley to l^ake Ontarie.
The G. \V. Kaihvay at lour miles south oCGalt enters the (jlraiid river valley and continues in it or its branches as I'ar as llarrisburj:, thoujih the deeper depressicn '- near St. (Jeorue (a short distanet! west of riarrisburu). After leavini; what. 1 consider its more ancient bed, south of Gait (imlos the country between the pres ont bed and Fairchild's creek was an island), the Grand river flows southward to l*aris and IJiantfnid. liavini: a deep broad valley. At Paris, Nith's creek ••nttirs the Giand river from tin: west, and has a valley almost coni|iarable in size with that ot' the latter at this town. At Paris, the Gruml river cuts through the plaster bearing Onondaira ibrmation. Similar rocks appear at various places along the river, where the stream has cleanecj out a portion of one side or other of its ancient valley.
Between the elevated plateau (ol' nearly 1 00 feet close te Lake Ontario) south of Brantford and that rolling Cduntry of equal height near Harrisburg, the alluvial-covered plain of from 400 to 4G0 feet above lakt: Ontario, more than ten miles wide, may be considered as a portion (»f an ancient etdargement of the great river basin.
At the Great Western Ivailway crossing east ol' l^aris, the bed of the river has an altitude oi' 495 i'ect above Lake Ontario, whilst at Brantford it is 898 feet above the same datum. FroiD Brantford the river winds through a broad valley, with a general
.")()
, «
iMsu.'il> (lir<T,tit.ii to iSciK'CM, \\\uAv. tlio imiiiodi ito bod is about ;i <|u:ii!(inr I mile wide, flowin- near ihc southiTM siilo of a valley, iiion; than t\Vi> iniK's w'uh:.
Al Si'iireii lli»; bed ol" tlic jinMut river course is IJOS IVet above Lakr Ontario, or only ".7 feet above Lake Eric;. Eastward of Snirci. ijir iivor continues to have its broad valley as tar as C i- yn-a. uli. r. the hard lied ..1" the river is below the surface of
liakc Kx'w.
Kvdiii Srn-'<;a In Ciyui:!) the iHroetioM of the river is nearly •suuth, l)ut .11 tin: latt( r j.laec it abruptly turns nearly to the cast- A-ard, Mid in a >hort dislanc it pass's to a flatter eountiy and flow,- ••v.i Corniferous linn'slniK . After a slu.-ii;i>^h flow, it enters l/>k.' Kiif (pas-iri^ thMii-h a inarsliy eountry) at Port M ait I ind. ninrc than iificcn miles in a direct line from Cayuu'a.
Tin' (Jiaiid rivi'r val!-y (75 ilvi d ■(<p) is more than two miles ill v\idtli and h-iundcd by literal Ivations of Idd fe(>t above Lakf (li.tiri's or 11:5 !'.'<•( ;ihov,- Lake Erie; and farther by bound 'ri(s; on both .sides, of MO feet above tin- latter lak<'.
At Duiiville, a few i.j^les iVoiu thi; mouth ..f tlu; river, piles Acre drivt'ii to a r'Misidi i\;bl •. firptii "'.sithoat rcaehimr hard rock. The luar-ins ol' th,' valley are .-mall, eoniposed of eitluT the more <.r le.s- >h-.ly ( )ni)iida;_r a liick,-, or ('.ii-iiferotis Hmesfine. In tlie mcanderin-> i>f tlie riv( i- iVnm mir si !e oi' the v.dley to the other, it 'tccasioiKilly crosses .-{(urs ol earthy OnondaLia limestones, but the ehai-.aeter is not such as to pn elude the possibility of an adja- lUMit buiied rivev ehannel. .\t tiiosr, .11 the. wafers that could o.ni" down ife (Ji-.nd river. .■v< ti vtith .m iner.'e.;ed piteh of the contiliy. tid a hir,;-er preeijpit iiioii <>1' uioi-ture would scarcely be able I'l more than exeav.t' its present bed. The eoiuitry on .itlier oiu' -ide ol the river i>r dth'-r i-- remark ably i)i'okeu witiiiu the limit.- i.f the valley, but beyniid it is ((jually n-m irkable ibr its level surfaee. This broad iK'culi.ir v.illey bears .i strong; contrast to that of the upi)er p.irtion nfit« course (is, at Elora) where the i'lfinit could have easily becai .xeav.at.'d b) iIm! present strcnn if t-uflicient time were iiiven.
ruturnin-' to the valley ol" Faireliild's creek, we find the stre.im princip.dly flowint; in the iormer be'd oi' \h<:. Grand river, aban- doned a few miles below Calt since the Tee A^e. This cv.' .'k crosses the (Jreat Western Uuihvay at a level of fifteen feet below the crossing' of the Grand river, at a few miles to the westward. Au;:uii. the Faircbild's creek crosse.« th.; IJruUtfoid and llarri.s-
iH
bur^' Kailwiiy at ;ui iiUitudr, olil^tT IVtl .ibovc Lake Ontirio, <.r a liUl.- b'>lt)W tli;it of the r.nunl river at Br iiitford, ;ilthon,i,'h it cmi-tics int.) it ;i iV.w miliv-^ ...t, nf die city just i.iim.id. Fair child's .;rr.>k is now of ni-Mlcratc siz<; nioimd.Min- tl.rou-h tli.- drii't I'or r. \vl(Uli o1" two luilcs. Tliis dril't is strilifi.'d clay.
Cmmtni l»-l,r.,iH tlir (><••',!, I /ilvr oml Diinilns Villn/s.- Tlic wat.Mshcd hotWf.Mi t'nosr, two i.rusnit draini-o systems is at only a short di.-tanc: s..uth-w.;.>l of Copctown, and the distance in a dincti.n. IVuui tl^e K.iichild's to the Dun. las side of tlii« divide is le^- ilian >c\'/!! mih-s, \sith .m awra-c altitude ol" h!s>, than 1><I Teet. The hi-ln >: point that I iiavo levelled is 41)2 \hil above Laki! Ontario. On rec-din- -veslward iVoni th.. divide, the country -r . lu.iily d. scends to the F.iirchild's creek. The re-ion between the divide and ihe Grand riv.;r Is traversed from novth-wesl to ••oMtlMaM by a considerable number oC streams. ,dl with r !:;tively lar/e v.ileys. cut in the drd't, sincr the pivMia system -f drnn;.-e w;,. inaugurated ia ii.ter-lacial
or modern times.
The .'.Muutry tVoi;i .Ier>'yville (about W') W'.'- ..hove lake, slopes ,::radu;iily to the Gro.d riv.r. from six te ei-ht mile.'^ distant to liie <outhw.ird
On e.^aminalion. it may be m e!> that the eountry is too hi-ii to permit the r.;i:ehil]V -n , k or Or:nl river, as tley ir.; at present situ te 1. lo tlow nver the hr]^h\ oi' land ie.to t ,e up].er portion of the Duudas v.il.y. A- ndV. re<i to befor <, ihr, Nia- >ra limestone lerminu lie- .M.mmil ..I'ti.e escarpmeni at Anci.ster and eastward h.s a !,ei;^ht of .bout o<M) le.t. These buds dip at onlv about 2.") re.:t in a mile, (t- ■ l-ut "JO decrees west of south) and aie not '^-av r.lly eover.'d by :. ::re:,t M.iekness of urKt, but H,:my plie^'sarcexpiis'd r ir ar (he surl'.e- We-Lwird
m n
oj Anast.r the,-<e lime-tone^ '.re nowhere to be t'.un.l, but th.,' countrv i^ or.ly eONend witli dri!'., \t ' short di-^unee we<t of this village, we lind .tnvm^ Ho^viu;i; north-e .-terly and .NstM'ly with ver^ deep v.di 'ys in the drilt, indieatin- th • ab<eu -o of »!.<• floor ofbm^.a.e to . depth ofnver I'^ti f-et belnw Che -ar[\ee o!' the ..K-irpment. On .oin- we^lwiil we Ib.dth .t the stre un< have tiot cut to an equal d-pth, but -n: still runn.n ■• deeply
through dri!t. ->,.,.
On reKdun- the divide weM of Anc.ster vdla-e, wo i.nd th.t th. vdl-ys c.xc.vated out of the drift beh.n-in-i- to both the Dun au« v.lhy ' t»d Gr.nd river draina.^e, Jnoscui 'te .t an elevatu)a
nam
of about, 400 {hv.l Jibovo Lakf (Jritarii;, thus .sliowinj< the formor coiinccliou of th(! [);isins iiiuit; than 100 I'cct below the rocky flows which surround theiu. Even in tliis tlcpn^M'd area wells are known to rc.ich 00 feet in thr tlril't without meeting with solid rock.
On the iiortlu rri sidi; o\' the Durnhis v.illt'y the escarpment after reuuhiii<i: Copitown i>^ hiiricd by thi tlrift. Althou<'h the line of buried clills n.'cedi- >-oiin!wliat to the northward of the dreat Woslern i!uilway, ye* thi're are oee-ii-ional exposures, as at Troy and f)tln!r pluecs in iJeverly and Flamboi'o, wh(!r(! the under- lyinu limestones como to t\n- surfiiec At IItrrisbur<; the lime- stones are known to be ab.-eni fcir a il( [illt of more than 72 feet as shown in a d(!ep well in the drill.
In the town of I'aris on*- wtl! eitne ujntn hard rook at 10 feet below tiie surface, whilst anoilnr ;it lOO hu-x in depth, reached no fartiiiM- than boulder clay. Tliis i.ist well niu-t have been in a huriecl cjianiiel el" Nilh's creek, i.- outcrops of i;yp>um bearin" beds of the ()iion(laL''a foiniatinu fre(juently occur near the summit of tlK! iiills. it'iom what has jii,-L bi\ n writt<'e. it is easily (seen that the Niagara limestones are abxiit from -i more or less horizontal floor (which is over 50(1 h ct abovi lln; lake, on botii the northern and soulheiii sides (»f tin; l)unda> valleyj which continues from Dundas westward to near liarrisburu. wh< le it meets a portioa of the Grand river valky. P.nt almost immediately west of An- caster wc find streams running tiortiiward at right ant^lcs to the escarpment, and cutting throu<;h drifr to tln^ depth f>f almost hundreds of feet. In f;iel. if \\i: draw a lini; from Dundas to northward of Ilarrisburi: (,i mile or twoj, and another from Ancastcr simthward to the Giund rivei. we iiave two limits of a region where the limestone fl-ioi- lias been cut away i'rom an otherwise geneialiy level re-iion. The .-oulln;rn sid(! of this area is the southern margin of the (Jrand river valley, between Seneca and Llraiitford, and the we>t rii boundary is composed o* Onondaga rocks east of I'ari.- t whieii p. rb:i|..s fnrms an island of rocks buried more, or h>s in driit;.
Additional prool's may b; eiied. About .i mih; >outh of Cope- town a well was sunk to the depth of 100 leet before water was obtained. At two miles south-east of the same village there is a small pon'd oidy 240 feet above Lake Ontario, or more than 260 feet below the neighboring escarpment. This is in drift. Again, at a mile north of Jersey ville, the country has a height of 4ti5 feet,
: ■^s^j.ft-jWfjMi. iiwTfMiBffjIIIIWWIpllj
■ ifiafmm
with ii well in dn' siiri'aco soil Id a depth of '10 tool. A small rivullit flows in ii valley a fi'w huTidr''! yjirdn south of the last named well vhieh has -i bod lit') feet, ahovi! tli(! like. At about a mile wt.'st orjersciyvillc^, tluj altitude is 4i»S I'eet with a wi;ll 52 feet deep. Aj^iiin, at about two miles west of tin; sauiu villa'^e, near the county line, the altitude is KK) I'ecit, with a well 57 feet deep. About a mile nortli oi" th(^ last n lined stition is a ravine 4I5G feet with till! .Kljacent hills forty feet hii'Iier, and rising' in a mile or two to about 500 leet. All these wells ave in the drift. From exposuriN near Ancaster, it .appears that the unslratilied drill has not an altitmhj of 400 feet. And as we know that some of these sup(!rtiei.il beds are stratified olay, and over most of tiie country ju^t described not a boulder is to be- sei!n, iKiillier on tin- surf lee nor in the materi.il t.iken from the ;;iri'ater porti'/us of the wells, it is probabh; that the water is only obtained on nearin;^; the more ponnis boulder clay below. It lias al'-o been noticed that two wells, .it letst, are 100 feet deep b(;f<ire reichin;^' water, therelbre we may fairly place this as about liio infei'lor limit of stratified sup(.'rlioial -;lays. It will b; nmi that westward of the mi;ri(li.!n of Ancaster there is an .in';i of over 100 ^(juire miles, where (he Nia;.cara floor is known to hi- remov(Ml everywiieri; to a de| til of KM) i'eet, and in its eastern portion to more tli.in 'i^'A) feet, and siill nearer Jj.ikc Ontario to .. measured depth of more than 200 feet, below its waters.
III. ruK i5(JUIF,t> KlVEIl CH.WNCI. iN liiK IHJ.XOA.S VM.l.KY
.\NI) IT.S KXTKNsld.NS.
That the Duiidas valley is ihat oi' an anci.Mil river valley now buiied to a LM-e.it 'leiith with \\\i; ifehrh produced in tlie lee Ai^e, becomes apparent on a c.arciul study of the rc'ion. However, until a key was discovered the mystery of its origin was foiiiul to be very obseun;. My own libers .at studyin.,' tins re-ion may fairly be .-.t;/.ted as the first .sysr< ■mat i(! atteiin)ts ,it tiu; Milutiou of the present cnnfiiiuratiou of the western end of iiaki; Oatirio and the adjacent valley. A.ssertions h, '.e been made fiiat it was scoope'i out by a ulacier, but this wild hypolhe.sis was only a .■^taten ent joade without any leijard to iacts.
From the description of the topo;j;rapliy, .i,'tveri ai section ll. of this paper, it will be Mim that the apparent len-th <d' the rock-bound valley is six miles with a widtli i»f over two mile.s; tlsen it wido;iH suddenly to ibiir mil:- (with concave
'i<mms>^<iKMaSiir,^i:.i_^^
4)0
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«;ur\(\N (»ii botli sides) alter wliicli it ,;i-inhi ill}' inoro.ixes in widtli as it ()p(!iis into Liik-' Ontiirio 'I'lie direction of tim ixis of tli<' Viiiley is abnut N. 70" K. Tlu snmniit edjxcs il tlie roek-walls on both side> ;ire sli:tr|>Iy auj^ulir and not rounded or truii(!;tt( d. This aiiunl-nity is nt)t due to frost aciion since the Ice A;;<', to any extent, us i- shown hy the character of 'he tains. The ni(;k-i of the siuomit are rreijuently eovtsred with ice markings, but 1 am not aw:iif ni' unv h i;ality where they liavo been observed i.s briiij; piriill''! with tie i iiii; direution nf tho s'alley, but on all >id'S one e.io uhs'i'v lie rn 'MMietinie-! at only • niall aii'^les of le-;s thiiii .")<• di_r;is) inakinj »Miis|tieuous aiii^lcs with its axis. Onv ex('e|itioii ijiay [)<■ ihmIi fo this •^tate.ment. ()n a piojeciini; ledi^e ol' ('linl(ni liiuest(»he, .it llussi'l's quirry, ntar iritniltoii, at a iieiixht of Jf) I Wri above tin hike, and liM- i'eet bi lew the sunimit ol' tie' ludiiMlaiii. " d'ler ilie removal of ■JOIiio t ilus, I observed that tie surl'ae.' was I'l-lished. but with 'Cratcdies s^) faint that tluy eouitl si-nei'ly \h- compared with tbose (if fine .^ iiiil|)a|ier on wood; and ih • direition. il' determiti- ible, wispaiiilKI with the nvi rhaiiLLin.L: r-e ir|inieiit. Th''ro aro ui.inv tributary er/i./i.s', wliiidi tii' I'vitleiilly or'.:reati'r anti(|uity than the fee A;^e. wiiicli eould noi iiaS' > .xeavaU'd by the present streams, and are at all sort- "l' dir 'i-rii'n- cuiiipared wiih the -triated purl'ace of tlu; count r\.
Till" topoAr.iphy (d' tht Iowit lik.' M-.ie'i- |irii-iud.> tho idea of a jrhicier flowiiej; down the v.ille\ tc ilir iioiih-iMsf ward. Aijiin, as the direelion of tie' ice wa- Niwafd- tin- s.)iithwesr, tlie waters t'rom the melting jilaciers could ^e I'l;, How up an e-cirpmeut Tiiany hundreds ol' I'eet in iiei^iii. Kvv.n il the iNia^vira e.scarp- 'jiei't did nor exi.->t eisewle re, tie- n<in-parallelisin of the strife, and cdj^Cf; of the escirpnunt with their .Mimiiar summits, is suffi- iieiit to prove the nim-ulacial (iriiiin td' tin' valley in tb(! hard limestone nicks. .Nforeover, at ilie c i-tern end of tin; narrower uorlion <d the valuy, tin re :ir( i\\<< e(>!ieivc curves ficlnjj; th(! ake, which (d' uecrs^itv unnld lii\c lin'ii niuoved if .such a .ri;j;aiitic iiriiidin^ auent had been imtvini; up the valley.
This glacier-origin of the vall'-y brmg ,ui abxdutely untenable 'aypothesis, I sought for sonie lliiviatile ;i.:'iil capable of effecting the present configuration of tlie region. At the time, no idea occurred that even the great valley of tho present is oidy a miser- able remnant of one of gigantic proportions obscured by hundreds of feet of drift. The question arose, could Lake Krie have ever
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ouifitiod by tlii^ valley'.' 'I'liis ^ll<Il^(^stiutl did not lidld its -.'rouiiti for any length of tiiuf, b*!cause tlu) pri'.^'tJt lnvi'ls ari' all tmt liiuli Near Gait, the truces of the true origin iirst prcsciiited tlitiiisolvo. A branch ol' tin; (ireat Wc.>luni l(ail\va\ txlnids frniii (iali southward for about lour niih's in the valley nf tin- (liaiid rivei, after whieli. without inakiim any im|iortaMt aseeiit. it |ms-;is iiitc the broad older valley, described abnvi a> tliat in whieh Fair cliild's creek now flow*. Alter a raieful examination of tin rcyion, and of the railway livels. I eanie to the eonelu^ii'ii thai this W!is an old burii'd valley. ll thru heeauie api-aront that it the Grand river had oeeupied the .»ite ol tlu' Kairehilds',- creek, that the latter probal)ly Howi d dt^wn the Diuida.s valley and that tho Grand river, beiim one (d'the liirji«'.st of tlu' rivers of Ontario, iniiiht have been a suffieient eaii-e for the ureat exeavation at tin- western end of Lake Ontario. Having proeiired ;dl the levels that bore on the snbjeet which were available it became iieces- :^ary to connect .several jilaco mysell' by instrument.al measure- ments, whieli work wa.- aeeomiilished with the aid of I'rof. Wilkins. As th(> whole floor of Ni,i-ara lime>tone.« i,- ab.^ent, as has previously been shown, the proof that th(> ancient Grand river flowed down the Punda* valley was comjileted, and of this discovery there was published ;i local notice in Aul'Usi, ISSO. Siti;nilicant and iiiterestini; a> this fact w.is. rel itive to the chan^'c of systems in our Canadian draina-e, a still more important i.ssue was involved. When takin- the I'veU betw<'en the Dund.as val- ley (modern) and the Grand river, il was found that the whole calcareous floor wa> removt'd from a ba.-in sever.d n)ilesin width, and that all the wells W(!re .-^unk to a considerable depth in the drift before water could be obtained. On ^lancin.n at the map it will be seiMi that the Grand liver from Hrantford to Seneca meanders tlironj^h a broad course, which in its aiudont basin is .several miles in width, but that from Seneca the valley is nar- rower, and the course of the stream more direct, a> far as Cayui^a. At Seneca the valhiy is two miles wide, and seventy-live feet deep. Al.-^o the bed of the Gr.and river at Seneca is in drift which is only P>7 feet above the lake into which it now empties, as ha.s been pointed out in tlu' section.
Having observed tho connection between the Dundas valley, Grand river and Lake Erie, it dawned on me th.it I had estab- lished the knowledge of a channel having a very important bearing on the surface geology of the lake region. It now be-
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•".10 iipparuiit rliiil Lake l']nv had Howod tlir(ju>;h the Grand river valley reversed, to a point west or north-west of Seneca, and thence by the Dunda.s valley into Lake Ontario; also that the upper waters ol' th'; (jrand river, previously discovered as pass- in<i' down the Duiidas valley, were really tributary to the outlet >)[' Jjake Lrie, and joined it somewhere south oi' llarrisbur"^ ; and that the basin between tli.. Brantlbrd (and the (irand river of to- day) and tlie (Jreat Western ilailway, at Copetown, tbruied an evjianded lakelet aloni;' the course of the ancient outlet of Lake i^jrie, scooped out of the softi'r rocks of the C)iionda<ia formation b"li)re noticed. As the watt'rs excavated a bed in a deeper channel, ■■){' t-ourse this lakelet WduKl bi'come an I'xpanded and depressed valley, >ucli as we nften sec ainoni^st the hills of drift,
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I'Mu. 'J — 1. Iliulsdn Iiivfv tnrniiitioii : 2. Medina slialcs ; :!. Niagara .UKl 'Mintoii (Inlumitt's with sonte siiaifs. A, ('. D, 1'.. modern valley at ini'iidiai) ol ]>urliii,i;h>ii iiei^hts: r, (', D. li, modern valley at meri- dian of I)iiiiilas: a, c, d. e, li, sertions across, deeply excavated in beds ol' streams in wistein part of the Dundas valley ; •!. i'.onkler clay liilinn' aiK ient viiliey : ,"). Erie clay: C. 'I'lilns from sides ot cscari)- ment : 7. did heaeli. los feet abov<- lake ,, I r,urlin,i:ton Heights : (J, Desjardins canal leadin;< iVom Idiiidas marsh to Ihirlingtou hay; \V. W, well at lit)yal Hotel, Hamilton ; W, another well at Dundas ; L, O, level of F.ake Ontario; [,, FO, lov(d of Luki- Krii'. Hori/ontal m.iiie, 'J miles t" an inch ; vertical si ale, |(.)() feet to an im h.
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at a short distinct wostwanl ol' l)uii(l;i>. I'ossibly tlio Grand river divided and flowed iiround .in islnnd. the wostorn side of which is occupied now by the town of I'aris. At any rate. Noitli's creek at that town, litrnied a larjze trihntary to the river then flowing doMn to Lake Ontario.
From a careful study itl' tlie hroad valley oi' the lower portion of the Grand river, it becomes appii'ent that it was a jiortion dl' the outlet of Jjaki- Erie, whieh passin;.:' to the reu;io!i of Seneea villau'o, turned towards the Dunda^ valley, altiiouuli the present river exposes shaly ()nondai.;a roek->. (H'casionally a- it ai']»ro:iohes tlie marjiins of the old valhy.
Again Mr. (\irll lias shown that the .\ll(!i:hany drainage' passed near Dunkirk into thi^ Kri(> basin at a place just opposite tf> it> outlet, as indicated by the ])resiiU writer.
Much oi' the I)undas valley is nii'lerlaid by stratified FiTie clay, which is known to extend to a (U'lith of (iO l'ee.t below the surface ol Laki' Ontario, aeoordint: to Dr. li(d)ert Hell. In the upper part of tlu' valley, sire ims havi exposed »onie deposits of unstratified elav iilleil with aniiulir shinule. derived iVoin the thin beds of limotone I'orniiiej- the uppei' portion ol' the Niaiiara formation. In the I'asteni ]iortion fif the valley, the I']rie elay is overlaid uneonlorniably by brown Saiiiicen elay or loam (stratilied;. Fn tlu- upper portions of the v.illevthe hilN an' eapjted by brown clays or sand-^. But alone some of the iiillsides excavated so deeply in the drift, we liiKi ohl i)e;i('lie.~ resting; uneonlorniably on boulder clav.
Near tlie centre if tlieeilv of Ilaniillon. in the wider portion of tlu; Dundas valley, a well wa< sunk to the ilepth of ov<'r KlOO fcctt. 'IMiis well revealed a most interest iiio; lict. Tliouuh known to nic several years a^o, F did not a])ply it until recently to its true boarintz', since diseovei'inu tlie oiiuin of the Dundas valley. Mr. J. M. Williams sunk this well, at the {{oy.il Hotel, in Ilani- illon. He told me .several veais aee that he had to sink tliidUiih l!00 i'eet of boulders, before e(nniim to hard roek, thus e iu>in'_i tlic outlay of a lar_'-e sum ol money in e.\ce«s of hi- ealculations. Unfortunately this well-record has been lo-t by lire. .\t that time the fact was so fresh in hi- nn'inory (improved by the extraordi- nary cost of the well) that his statement could he relie(l on. bein<r experienced in well-borin<fs. The mouth of this well is \\'.i feet above J^ake Ontario, and tlierefore the hard nu^ks are absent for a depth of 227 feet below the lake surface 8ee ,«cction. V'v^. 2,
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As tlic valley is five iiiilcs wide at this place, and as the well !s (inly about one mih; distant from its southern side, it becomes apparent that the valley in tlie centre must liave been much deeper. ^Moreover, il' we produce tlu! southern side of that jiortinn ol' (he valley, which is over two miles wide, we find that the well is less than a (piarter of a mile away from it. Now if we connect the t'.p o\' the Me(lina .<liales (240 feet above l^akc 'v)ntario) with the base of the drift in the, well, and produce it to "lie centre of the valley, it wnnld indicate a central depth of over '(00 feet. At tlu! basi.' <i!' the drift there are nearly fifty feet oi' Mf(liiia shal's. tirlow which arc the Hudson River rocks (more iir K':^s calearedus and arenaceous, mixed with the shalch). This hai'der fni'ination aldiin tin' bed nf a river wovild be less 'Xt(■ll^ivelv renidved by aiiueou.^ action than the overlviu"- Medina shales, especially as the pitch of the wat.'i's would be much lessened. This L:rapliic iiii'thod of calculitiun seems ,is perfectly admissible liere as it 'loi's in detci-miiiiiiu nther constants of nature, llow- '.'ver, 1 have placed the cstiniatiMl depth in t!ie section at about 711 fathoms below the lake surface, which depth is perfectly com- patible with the soundinus of the lake ;it no very ureat distance to the eastward. Mven this depth uive- onlv very ticntle slopes irom the sides oi' the I'iver valley. It should be remarked that Burlington bay is excavnted from stratified clays in places to a depth of 7S feet. Hut this water is siltin-' up comparatively (juickly.
Now we !i:iV(! seen that the deep excavation in the l)unda.s valley and westward ise'Ut thron-h more than 2')(l leet of Ni:iL;ai'a .ind ('linton rocks, mostly limestone, nnd to a depth in the Medina .-hales, so that thetntal known depth ofthero/7V;» is 74:{ i'eet. but with a calculated depth in the' niiddle of the channel of about lIKMI feet. This depth i'or a co/)*/,/ is not extraordinary for lOasti'rn America. [ii Ti^nnosee there ai'e river valleys exca- vated to ade'pth ot liilMI fe,.t. And in ."ennsylvania Mr. Carll rejiorts others to be eipiallv <leep.
Ai:-ain. this I'reiilacial i-iver explains the cause of the present topioiiraphy of the wi stern end of Lake Ontario. The draina-e hy this river swept )>ast llu' loot oi' the submerii'ed escarpment of Lake Ontario describeil in preceding' jniue^. until it ri'acdu'il the iueridian of < ^sweuo.
With such an outlet, and with the ancient (ii'and river valley burie I by 2'reater or b'ss deptli, we have an easy soluti"ii
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to the problem o\' tlie (Iruinntre <^t' Lake Erie. Moreover the present barrier between the lakes may have quite probably been increased by local elevation of the land as we tiiid the indications pointing to the Dundas valley bcinu: along the axis ol' uji anticlinal of less than one degree of dip.
Attention ha.s been called in this paper to the deepest portion of Lake Erie being southward of Haldimand county, and about the end oi' Long Point, and extending transversely towards the Pennsylvania shore.
Ho I'ar, our remarks have been ajiplied to (.'anada. 1 1' we turn towards the American shore, we will see that tlie observations made tlicre go very strongly in support of what has Vjeen written. Several years since Dr. Newberry, Mr. (Gilbert, and others, called attention to the deeply buried valleys of the Guyahoga, Cliauriu. Grand, >Liuinee and other rivers in Ohio, which emptiel into Lake Erie much ])elow their presiMU levels. The Cuyahoga has its channel buried to a depth of 22S I'ect below the surfice of Lake Erie of our time, whilst the deepest water in tlie neigh- boring portion of the ^ake i< less than a hundred feet.
In Report III, oi" the Pennsylvania (Jeological Survey, issued in November, 1S80, Mr. John F. (Virll published excellent maps of the Preglacial drainage of that State and the ni^iizhborinLi portions of the adjoining States. This report on the PrcLiiacial river> is the lesult of tive years' labois in the oil reuiLMi<. and many of Mr. Carlfs results have been ileri\ed from the facts madi' known by the borings lor the mineral oil.
Besides (tailing attention to llie very dee'ji valleys n\' erosion amongst the mountaiii-. Mr. ("aril has -liown ihat in the oil region,- the river valK'y> are Ireipiently tilled with drift to a depth of iVom ■_'<•>» to 4r)0 le( t. Tn I'act nearly all the present rivers flow over e'ds deeply liiled with 'Irift. The map of the Pre- glacial draii ije shows that the u]ipt'r waters of the .Slleghany emptied by Oie Cas>adaga river. reviT.-'d. intn L;ike Erie, near Dunkirk, and had lor tributaries many ofhei' stream- now flowing southward , for example the Conewaniio. These stream- drained an ai'ea of -HHKI mile-, which now -ends its surplu- water- to the Ohio river. The French and other river- now emptying southward from the Conneaut basin, emptied in Preglacial times into Lake Erie, westward of Iv'ie city. Again, the Chenango, Conno(|Uenessing, Mahoning and other tributaries of the Beaver rivt'r (it.-elf now emptying into ihe Ohio) tldwed northward, by
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the M.'ihonini: rivi'r. ivvorsod. into tlic state of Ohio, to near the sources of the (J rand ami Cuyahoira river?. Hence Mr. Carll (lid not continue its eounse, on tlie map. hut from the study of the levels and character of the country, as dcscrihed by the (ieolou'ical Survey of Ohio, I hive connected it with the Grand livfT of Ohio as rc[)reseMle(I on jny map. In addition to this drainage T liave pointed out the prohability=- that the Mahoninir ;.nd upper Ohio, with the Beaver (reserved), Mahoninji' (reserved) and (irand (olOhio) rivers fornu'd ,i nearly straight valley, from the western side of the mountains of A'irtiinia to Lake Krie.
Thus we lind three lartic areas lunv flowinj;- southward formerly ciwptyiim into L;ik<! Erie hasiii.
The ileepe-t ]'0rtion f.f Liikc Krir i^ hftween these ancient river niouth> and the ancient (1^li(,iirh, mritf ol" the Erie drainage hy the (Jrand river of Ontario. a> de-eribed in these pat,'es.
Thus we have shown a consecutive system oi' drainage of the lUrmer waters of the burie-l channels into Lake Ontario, and tiience runnin:^' ah.ri-' the fi.i.t of the submertred escarpment of tic. latter lake to its eastern imhI, reeeivi!i<; the (Jeiies<e .and other lariic rivers alon^- its (iourse.
Not (,nly is the Dundas valley a ileeply buried channel, but nearly all the -tre.iins that enter l.ake Ontario are flowing- over more ^r le.-v deeply buried elianro'U,
Oi'.KiiN OF Till-: Ldwi.i: (Jiiioat Jj.akks.
AH oi' thv eliain of tJre.a Lakes f.f North America are excava- ted principally out of the more or le^s siialy almost horizontal rocks ci' the various basins. 'J'iiey are all valliys of erosion (exeeptiriii- perhaps, a portion of L;,ke Superior.) The erosive action of the atmospheric agencies wnuld tend to wear the coun- try into tindulatintr basins, — ior only sueh are the bottoms of the uie-it J;akes. It i.^ true that sli-ht ueoloi^ncai undulations may h.ive determined the position of tiie ] ike-basins. Tiie basins of liakes .Nlicliiuan, Huron and Ot)t:iiio. especially, are traversed Ity lonii- sub-lacustrine valleys !<'seinblino hose (»f l,ir<re rivers, and bounded by (iscarpnuMits. which rise abruptly several hundred feet high. The deserij^tion of the hike beds— the probibh; Pre- ulacial outlets of Lakes Superior and Michi^ran (di.scliariiing their wat'.rs tothcMissi.s.^ippi valley ; the outlet of Lake Huron
* Se(; I'roe. Aai. J'iiil. Soe. XIX, 10,s.
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(at loast during- ;i jjortioii ul' its Iiisttiry) across tlu' southwestern counties of the Province oi' Ontario, and enterini;- the tlrio basin somewhere between Vienna and Port Stanky ; as well as a ibriner outlet ol' Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, have been dis- cussed somewhat fully in my i)aper publislied in th(! Transac- tions of tlie American Philosophical Society, already referred to. In order to keep nearer to the present subject oi study, I will confine my remarks on tht; •• Origin of tlie J^akes,' to that of Jjake Ontario, for the other Idces ^ive correspondiujjj testimony.
Dr. Newberry prophesied that an outlet for Lake Erie into Lake Ontario would be discovered near the Wcjland canal. This outlet in an unexpected p(tsitioii T liave diyeovered. and in a position which explains more perfectly the (;ausi of the topography of Lake Ontario than any that could have been di.-covered forty miles to the eastward.
When was the advent of such a drainage system for this con- tinent ? Homeof our American friends, who have advocated the sub-airial and fiuviatile origin of the lakes, have jjlaced it back t(» the Devonian A<io. About the commencement we know uothinir. It would be safer to place it after the Pahxjozoie time, for probably some jiortions of the Province of Ontario were covered with carboniferous deposits, as well as Michigan and Ohio, which have subsequently been removed by denudation.
ExauHitinn iif Ijiihr /j((s{n!<. Having seen tlie course of the Pri!glacial drainage, let us ask how the broad lake troughs could be excavated, lict us look at J^ake Ontario.
The river coming down the Dunilas valley Howed originally near tlie out-crop ol'the Niagara limestones, elevated by geological causes long ago. The direction ol' the stream was parallel lo its triTid. On the one side were the soft Cambro-8ilurian shales, geographically higlier. geologically lower ; on the other (soutlieru) side, the Niagara limestones, beneath which were the soft Me- dina shales until these were worn away in part. As tlie slialy rocks were removed and the limestones were u!nlermine<l, the Niagara kscarpment was produced. liow far these lime- stones have receded towards the present face and summit of the slope, is a question yet to be decided. As the wati-rs sunk to a lower h^vel a second escarpment was produced ^ the one noticed at Poit Dalhousie, at tlie present lake level). Afterwards the Hudson River shales (with some har<l rocks) wert." pierced whilst yet there were capping Medina shales, forming the surface of the country between the river and the limestone escarpment.
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All this pro?up{tOso< tlie continent at a liij^her level (at least ♦iOO foot). Durini; yonu; portion of the tertiary times, at least the oastorn portion of the continent must have stood a thousand or twelve liundrod foot hij^her than at present, as indicated by the soundiniis in the St. Lawrence viver (near the mouth of the Su'zuonay), in tlu' Now Voric Harbour and off the mouth of the Cliesapeake Bay.
The rate at which tiio upper lakes was excavated would depend partly upon tlu- rate oi' tlie excavation of the Dundas valley and its extensiuns through the limestone at tirst by a slow abrasion, and the solution of the carbonate ol' lime by the carbonic acid held in the water, and afterwards by tho undermining of the hard rocks on the removal of tlu' .Medina shales.
At the time when tlu' ■• Preulacial outlet of t!i(! Basin of Lake Krle, \e.'' was written (Feb. ISSb 1 felt confident that the Preirlacial outlet of Lake Ontario would be more or less easily revealed, and therefon- neglected to give due consideration to the orosion that would be effected by the action of the rain and rain- water. Thi may well be summed up by(|UOting from a criticism (HI my above mentioned paper, by Prr.f. J. P. Lesley, the Direc- tor of the Geological Survey df IV'Hnsylvauia-'- ■' For a number "of years T have been urgiuu upon geoloiiists. especially those ■• addicted to tiie glacial hypotheses of erosion, the strict analogy '• existing between tin- submerged valleys oi" Lakes Michigan, •• [luron and Erie, and the wiioK' series of dry Appalachian 'Valley- of VIII,' streiehing from the Hudson river to '•Alabama; also of Green Bay. Lake Ontario and Lake Cham- " plaiji, with all the dry 'Valleys nf [[ and IIP' One single '• la\v i>f topography governs the erosion of them all, without '■ exception, whether at present traversed by small .streams or '• great rivers or occupied by sheets of water ; the only agency '• or method of erosion conauon to them all being that of rain '• water ; not in the ibrm ol' a great river, because many of them '• neither are now nor ever have been great water-ways. As a '■ consequence of their abs(tlute similarity of geological position, " general form and common genesis, their age nmst be one and '• the same. The sea has had nothing to do with the production '• for it has permanently invaded some of them, or oven '• temporarily others. [c(; has had nothing to do with their
Sec lleport Qi of that Survey, 1881.
" production, lor those in iim ulaciul ri;«:iori> viiff« r in no ii>j)ect, " fron» those nearest the Gulf of Mexico. I also loim aj:it ur<:ed •' on theorists the necessity of taking into aeeounl as ,i priuif. •' factor the imdcrground nohitiun <if Ibmxtinn strnta. and thti " subsequent aqueous removal of the fallen dehrls u\ ov«rlyini^ *• strata, the rootinj-s of eav»!rns and the steeps of clift'^. . . '• A curious illustration is offered b^ tlif peninsula ol Vin-ataij, •on the surface of wliicli arc no >treanis o( \vat(;r. tJH.- drainayv •'of the whole country bcinu undt'ru:rounil. It is useless to " repeat the oft-told demonstration ; but it is well now that Dr. "Spencer has disembarrassed u.> of the chief difficulty of oui •'last pre-receut water-system of the ntwlli. to remind tht; •• admirers of his j^nat discoM-iy that his m.w found ancient. '• Grand river did its work not, otdy with the constant assistant; "from the be-inning to the end, of millions of smaller rivers, "creeks, runs, rills, but also in such .-subordination to them as ;. '•general acknowledges to his troop.-, or a contractor to iiis arniy ■of navvies. . . . Our (Jreat Lake basins although travtr>eJ " by a great river, were n(»t excav.ited by it. l)ut bv a nniv.r.^.d
• vertical descent of rain-water upon the areas, lowering theii ■•■ surfaces gradually and nearly equally at all point> while ut tin- •' same time mining it througiiout the whole e-xtent of it.> lime •• .stone underfloor; the ujaterial being removed in the ordinary
• way, by rills, rivulets, and the great i Ivors to tin- .sea."
On former pages an attempt ha^ hw.u made to give th<'. phy.sical configuration of the bed ol' Lake Ontario, and but liitl.; was said about the former outlet of the ba>in heeiui.M- little i,* •ibsolutely known.
Before considering the glacial theory of tlie e.\eavalion oi' th" lake, let us examine where there could have been an outlet to' the waters of this great river .■system.
Posnhilities of av outkt hif th< St. Ldmnno. The north eastern portion of Lake Ontario is very shallow. Althouirh th.' country surrounding it is low. yet it is underlaid by hard rock-, which arc so frequently exposed, through the moderate thickne.«s of drift as to preclude the idea of a great buried eliannel existing adjacent to the St, Lawrence, which a short distance below the ▼ol. X. H 2 So 5
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wiitlct ul' till L'ikc flows ovtT liimniitian rocks. HoW(5V(:r. in northern New Ynrk, but (southward of'tln'St. Lawrence, there .'irv ■-.iiiH' iiiiimpuriant buricl cViuiiiiols connected with the Ontario h.isiii. Th" St. li.iwreiiee river itsolf is modern from Lake Ont.irio to tin; juin^tion nf tlie Ottiiw;i river, though the lowest jiortioii of the liver i< eiiiispicuously of nrieient diite. witli pot- linle> indic;itirr_' a deptli of rii'.irly 1200 feet. Without a con- siihirahle eliaiiLre of level, sueh us either tluit which would be yirodiKn'd by :i loc il -iibsidenee of iiortiie.'istern Ont.irio and the upper >'t. liawreiKv, or m very Lir(;it northern subsidence durinjr ;i period of southern ehivitioii iny possibilities of the pregiacial "Utlet of Ontario basin by tlie St. Lawrence seems impossible. However, tlic oscillation iiypotlusi.>« >-('euis to be more and more ■supported by ol)serv,itioii.
/*()ssihi/llii's of •III until t ii> tlir xoHth-t'Hsti'r)! fud of the lake. Hetwtien the eastern shor(!s of liuke Ontario and the foot of the Adirondacks. the broad plane appears to mark the former lake bottom bel'ore the, hike contracted to within the present limits.
This remark holds ^■ol»d for tin- •• (Jreat Level " between the southern mriririn of tlie lake and the escarpment to the south, although ir»'i feet above it. TIk! level country south-east of the lake is uu(h'riai<l by almost iiorizonta' ^'alajozoic rocks, which are exposed alontr many ot' the strcjams, and are covered i^euerally with no irreat thickness of drift. Thcsi! rock exposures occur as tar south as a short distance north of Onuida lake. They artr also seen alon;^ the Osweijo river, and the lowtir portion of the Seneca. ILtwever. there is a deeply buried basin in the reirion of Onondaija lake. Oiie.ida lake is only titl feet dcM^p. and 127 ti.'et above hike Ontario, and is situated in a basin of drift.
(Jnondaiiu lake is 119 feet above Lake; Ontario, and is about t)5 fet'.t in the derpi si soundin::. It is a modern lake situated in a threat drift rilled basin. The shallower portion of this basin is toward the norlliern end of the lake, ii increases in depth on approaching Syracuse, but ai;ain becomes .somewhat shallower on passinu- southward of this city. The drift-tilled basin reaches to ;» depth ot about 2!H» feet below tlic surface ol' Lake Ontario. Southward of Syracuse the country ri.ses to the escarpment form- inji,' the southern boundary of the Ontario valley.
71
Fnr many ycirs, .«uj;^i:sti(tii> li,.vi Ixm-u uvidv tinit lUv I'r.- ;^'luciiil outlet ol'LiikLi Ontirid was 1)^ tin' l»uii>il l)a.Mii jii>t ti.- ^cribod, fniptyiiiu its water.-, by tlic Mdliawk and llnd.-un riv.-r.. iuto tlic Atl.iiitio. Ilowovc'i. tlii- ."uiiui .sled dutlct is mt \n» .siblf, witlidtii coiisiderrblr idcjil i-ii ui'^r d| clrv.itidii. ;i> .-Imivmi by Mr. Cirll, fur tln' Mdlnwk ri\t r pus.sc.-. nvoi inciaiiidi plm: rocks at liittlc Kall.i. Ih-rkiintM- (Iduniy, ai an eh vatidii abd\' fjiikc Ontirid dl' abdut 12.') t'ti-t. withdui tii>' [idssibiiitv i.l' ai. adjaciiit buried (diannrl tbionuii ilic ran^- d|' hills, tlimui;!. ■which the Mdhawk valley is cut The Oudnd.i-a basin, then, appears to have be' ii originated hy .i rivei exlendiiiL: IVom th.'. Adirondack mountains westward, and « ni|itviii_u intd the Ontario basin northward ol" the I'auiua l,.ke. I'drniin- aidn- l\ir edur>'-
the basin, now deeupiod by drill maleiial <nil (M: ia^a lake.
and perhap- that id.->o <d' Oneida l.ik' .
Mdstol'tiie other lakes id' wiitrai .New Verk. especially thu.^i; havin<j,' a more dr less meridldnai dii. ctidri. lie in ^reat v.dh y.s, and are only cld.sed u\, aneii nl ri\. r valleys. .Vil of these hikes, rXCept tW(», Seiioc.i and Cayn-.i. are ,ii a oonsiibMabK; eh'V.ii inn , One of the dee[>est d|' tluvv elevated lakes is Skeneatehs (III:] feet above Lake Oiitarid, and ;;2ll leet deep;. Thi.- lake, ami Owasco lake, have ndrthern modetn outlets over rucky hanier^. They lie in vallc^ys .-ever.d hundred feet d :ep (;;i»() feet ei' innie; and evidently emptied into the Sus,|Urliann.i rivi;r in sunie for iiier jieid(.uit'al times. The vadey-- df tin si' lakes as weli ;,.-, .-several river valleys in Me- reuidn now havlni: nntliurn outlet.-, rsueh as those of OnoiuLe^a. .Mid IJiituaniii creeks^ all radiate; I'rom adjacent er eomnidii pdints as tiny ext aid eoithward, evidently shewing a former sonthirn di.-chai>^'. However, it is exceedin,i;ly difficult t<t de1(M-miue In.w much of the valleys .are of Preglacial, and liow much of Interuiieiai or Tostiriaciai d,it ■. for then- are evidently three perioiis of erosion -the valK)- pnuhu;eu in Inteijihicial and Modern epdch.- coinciding;.
Thus far no apparent oullei el' lln iinat. .mcient Oiitaiiu ba.-in has presented itsidf. (.)ne otlier rout<- at lirsi, appe.ired pe.ssible —fj,i/ the. Scncat Ijdlce. Chcininu/ ■'hi/ JSnsqi/i/ifnimi liinrs. The feature.'' favoring this suLi-e.slidn are ; the -leatcst liepthd!' Ji.ike Ontario north of Seneca lake; the depth nf Senec.i lake, wliich is 012 leet (42;> feet below ihe level of Jiako Ontarioj . the
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'linet ciiifiimify ol' Sni.Tii litkr viillcy with that of the Cheniun*^. at Klmirii, ami of tlit; latter valley with that of the Stisquehanna, iit S-iyii'. Thf \ alley of Clieintmu above Eliniru is much smuller Mian the [Mtrtjitii Iclow. wliicii joiii> it at ii eonsiderabh* aiifi;lc, Ituf this portion of tlie river just above Khuira is more modern than tilt; l*rei;lafial eouoe nf the (Mu!iuuii;j;, which from Corning jiasseJ direetly to Seneei valley at Horse; Heads. One thing is I 'Ttaiii. the Ontiirio hasin as it was emer^inj; from the last sub- ""ideucf ol' till' iee aye, Mowed by the route indicated and liii'^ered stitfieieiitly loiiu at th*' leve] .if tlu' upper part of Seneca valley, *•» produce beaches -it the -aiiie level alonii' various portions ol tlie niaruin of the basin.
I'm1«'«'> there was i ^reat relative (tliaii^e of continental level. Oif route just, described eeuld not have beieu the Preglacial outlet if tlir li;i»iti i»f Ijiike Ontario, a- ;i considerable portion of the < ihnii ot' till' Siis(|Ue|ianiia for -everal miles below Towanda (7HS )<'et abovi' the sea i • lia> a rocky bottom."' Oayuga valley would tot afford any better outlet. a< its .-ummit is 2<K> feet higher lliaii that III' the valley of Seneca likr oid connects with the Sus(|iieli.iniia by diminished v.dleys.
A pot-hole at the mouth of ('hesupeake Bay indicates an aucieut dejtfh of the Su<(juelianiia Kiver to at least 1170 feet ix'low M.'M ]i \cl. Many of the streams in northern Pennsylvania, now tributaries ol the Susipielianna, indicate an r)riginal nortli- A-ird flow t(i S<'neea lake.
i)s<ill(iti>iiis Iff tin ConliiKiit ill flic /jii/:t iKjioii. — Until re- '■t'utly my investigatiotis bearing on the :jrigin of the great lakes have l»een mainly based on the hypothesis tiiat the closing of the hasin>« was not occasione(l by the elevation of the lake margins, by means of the local elevation of the t-arth's crust. This hypo- thesis then necessitates the (existence of buried channels being outlets of tlu; lake basins, which, if their contained drift were ex- eavaled. would reston; the Hri;iilacial drainage. My recent ob- -■-ervatioiis in New York and elsi.'where have failed to obtain any proot> ot' the (;xistenee of >uch channels.
t>utside of the ni^ion of the lakes, in the iled river valley, vhere are known, at hast, two deep bore-holes far apart where the <irift exrend> to a level below that of hakt; Winnipeg, and iudi
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catos that it' tlit 'irit't wui-f r<;ii)»jveil IVoiii tli<: Rcd-MiuucMota valley tliu (Iruiuu-o of -luiue ul' the ^rcut lakes ami rivers of the Canadiau North Wtsst lerritorie.- would flow to the Mexican Gulf (as first poiuted out by Giueral WarrciiJ without the ueces- sity of a loeal ehaiige of level. This fact extended to the lake rcgious strengthened my opinions as to the eorreefness of the above hypothesis.
Whilst the tiuvialile oiij:,iu nf Lake Ontario is apparent, yet the failurt; of demonstratin;.^ a drift-filled outlet for the basin (which is uUO Icet below tlif lev.l of tliu .sea) has forced me pro visionuUy to aeecpt I lie hypothesis tiiat the basin was partly elosed by oscillations of the rt'^iou. as stroujily set forth in an able letter from .Mr. (J. K. Gilbert.
A> in «;vidence of local uscillaiion. Mr. (Jiihert has poiuted out that the Irondetjuoit Bay. near lloeliester, was excavated to the depth of more than T" leci. and two miles wide, by stream> of Posl-ghieial (or lnt,er-u;laeial ) date, :ii;d subsecjuently submer ged to tlie above depth. From this, his conclusion is that at the time of the excavation of this tiord valley, the relative altitudes of the locality and tiie rock >ill over wliicli ]>ake Ontario dis charges difiertid IVom their present status by more than 7(1 feet. Corresponding:; perfectly with lronde(|Uoit Bay i- Burlington Bay at Hamilton, with a depth ol 7S feet, with a elosed beach across it> mouth. From this and other local feature-, the surface t:;eol- <i'^y uf the Dunda.- valley wouM indicite a L;reater elevation, to the extent of more than 7S llet at the he id than at the present outlet ol the lake.
lict lis consider for a moment the physical effect that would bo produced upon the .■>iralilication by the sabsidenee of the north- i'astern [lortion ol' liuke Ontario ;ind the upper St. Lawrence. Tlie dip of ihe rocks at tiie western end of l^ake Ontario is about 2.") feet, in a mile, westward of south. At the eastern end of the lake. 1 bitlieve, it is snuuwliat greater. The deeper por- tions ol' the lake are more than lH mile> from it> present outlet. Any local depression gradually exteuding not th-eastward from the deepest soundings of the lake, to even the extent of 2') feet in the mile, would lower the ciutlet by the St. Lawrence to an ex tent fir greater than would be necessary to drain tin; lake, pro- vided this ehan'.;e took jdace .it a time of high eoutinenfal elev.i-
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ticuj, lliu- pntdiioiii)^ ii brniil ilr()riv>i li villi^) \N\' ktn»w that the valley of tlu' lower St. Ij.iwrenei i> .»ubun.'ru<Ml to the depth ol'at lea.st lu arl} I'JOIt ll-ct. TKi roek) boundaries of the roi^ion could >c;iret;ly more tli'ni iiidicilf tlii> eliurim; ol' iitvcl as the dip ill the roeks would p is^ IVoiu iIk (">iiilitinii nT ll,') Hu't in the mllo or le.sh to almost ahsulule hoii/oni.lit}, and we have no means of eompiirisoii II", liowser, tl, 'I'Mitinii', took plaue to the north ward to .1 greater exletit then (in si/iK h vsurd. siicli us uji^ht be ueeasioned by a ehaii::i' ofilir <'i'iiti' ol' iiravity of tiif earth, then the ii'^ion to the southward ol' ih* iaki > nii^hl be relatively suffici(!ntly lowend is to p. rmii i portion ol tin drainatre to puiss I'Ut by ( ither tlic >I(»Iiawk or S( nic.i hakr valleys, which I videiitl} durin;_ suuie poiti.m ol tie' l(;i A'^r disehar^tMJ walcirs from the exp.mth'd basin ol tlir |ak''. Tin' loeal o.MMlhitions would also be in(!essary in the i-xplan.:lioii nf tin- eoniph'te closing of till' outhus of the lake by tluM' laniti-s (a- al.-u those of tin; upper lakes). I'riil'. Ijcsley sri m- tc lav or th^' hyputhi'.oj^ ol" the former nutlet of the (Jntarii. '".(.■.in by the Mohawk onl liudson ri\ers, but points out that thi v Ih^y i.» underlaid by .-olid roeks at Little Kails (ILrkitner County j at an I'lcvation ol' ilfjO feet above tide. Therefon.' the deejjiist porlii»n ol thr lakf would \n\ 850 feet below this barrier in the i^rrat valley. In elosini: flu^ para- graph, till' above named distin^uishi <1 ;.,'eido^ist s.iys that if the above route be correct, then I lie country about Jjitth; Kails must have been cliivated ((juery : by the Mohawk uplifts, atJ iteujs of a more p iieral [lud.<on liv i uplift.-, nmri' than OIH) fm-'t. And this may possibly ;j;iv(' us i ruile ieolo^ie.il dafi for the elevation nf the Catskill ' njoiint'iiti plat.':u, ^lopin- w^'.-tward into Penn- >ylvania."
It is by IK' iiie.uis muM .-.-ary ti' :i--unir th it the loe d elevation which cut off any outht to the ,^ea, by ■ illi< r ili. St. Lawrence o" Mohawk-lludson ri\(;r.-, took plae- duriiiLi' or at the close of the Ice Al'C for the pt;rlod of tin riv^'r-v,dl(;y.<^ ju.->t dtwcribed dates far back in yeoloiiieal tine;. Il tin- expl mations brounht forward be wholly correct, then thi; dat. of the e-unmcneeinent of the val- leys should be placed after the elo.-.(; of the Ptiljtozoic time, as the valley of the Susrjueiianna, and Mune of the ancit'Ut rivers entering the lake basins are partly excavated out <d earboidferoua rocks, which had been previously elevit d. 'rhi> would .iij;ree with the
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older portion,'- ol' Uv Mi'«si>^ippi ri\(T. Ilnvvi^vor. tin- (Jroit River A'j^o did nut culiiiiiiiit'' until the middle Tertiary timop. ;»> nhown by the iributnrics nl' tlir miolt'nt MiHsinsippi.
In thi> Ice \'^v the outlit> ni' flu l;ik('« wen' close<l by drift>. in Jiddition to ihr ;i;^'etiey of Ine.il o-,(;ill;itioti. Wliether the fill- in<;H of the v.rlley- W(!ri' produced by L;,liu;ier ictinu. by the .imMicy of iccbi'ri^s. or by tlmt of floutin',' \y,in ire, ;i ritionul expiiiiiiitiitn ini^rht ho ;>iveri ; but a)" fhi> depend* upon unsi'ttled irhiciiil j^oolo<j,y, I will not h'Te df^lay by entcrin..' into discussion How over, th<To .ippcMi-s to be every evidenee of :in Iriter-i:;] leiul eprtch, when the ijreater portion of the present Duiida^ vtilley. the Ni.iij'ira river, by the old hurii •! ehaiinel ol' St. I).ivids. ;ind niJiny other v.illey*. iverywheif iti thi' l;ik<' region, were either re-exoavjfted in ihv. drift, ^r t.ri,i:;inally opened; and thiit tlie second elosinfr or filliii.; of these v;illey.>,i \v,i> not .lecoinplished throu;;h ;my jrlacier iietion, bu! )triiieipally throUL'h tli<' e^ijncy of pan>ic"' ,in<l currents.
J/i/f)ijt/i*'tiriil (ilarirr Oriijiii uj ihi. Litkv.s. The bypulhe.sis that the lakes were excavated by •jrlaciers will now be briefly ex- amined. One cannot <1() betti-r then uive a suiniuary of what Frot' Whitney (in Climatic Changes) says with regard to the erosive power ol' ice. •' Ice fur ■•« li;i.- no erosive power. " (ilaciers an; not frozen to their bed- Ice pttrmeatcd with water acts as a flexible body and can flow aeeordiiis;ly. In neitlu'.r the iilaeier rejrions of California nor in tlie shrunken glaciers of the Alj)s will it be found thai ic' ,-eoops out channels with vertical sides as water does.
•• N.o chanue of I'oriu can be observed at the former liiir ot' ice. Aside from the morainic accumulations. Here, is nothiiiLr to prove the fornusr existence of the lilaiiier, except the si;iootli. polish<;d or rounded surfaces of the rock,-, which h.ive no more to d(> with tilt! licneral out line of the cro,-s-sectioii of the valley than the mark.- of the eabinot-miker s sandpa[»er have to lio with the shape and size of the article of furrjiture vvlmse face lie lias iione over with that material. "
The most imjtortant work ni a tilaeieT is the scratchinf; and ^foovinu of surfaces. This ui;'y iiowtvtr. be done by dry rub- bini!, .itid therefore isolated -eratidied stones (u patches are uo
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evidencf. Thf utidrrlyiiit: rook snrlaiTs ni;iy losr their sharp- De!=s, owing to cnnt!iin("«l (lotritns in tho !(',(>. ;tn(i hocomc- rounded. The ground moraine is neither clinr.ioteristic nor important. There is hut little detriuil material lieneath Alpine glaciers, and this is the result of water more th;tn ice. Tlu; only characteristica (if ice action are striation .md polishini;. All floating ice shod with stones frozen in them will sorfiteh surfaces ovtir which they rub. The only ghici.il lakes th;it are fftrmed an; those where the pre-existing valleys have b''en closed hy mor.iinie matter, but the waters will soon re-open these dams hy running over them.
Such are the deductions of the late OiriY^'or of the Geological Survey of Californi.i, a in.'in who li-i.- had opportunities for study- in" the action of "laciers Ix^tter than nicst aeolo^ists in America. So far Prof. Whitney's inve.stig;ttinii« ari' :i]n)lie;ihle to our great lakes.
Mr. George J. Hinde. F.G.S.. (mw n\' the few neolofjists who has written from a Caividlan stan<lpoint i.-- :in uncompromising glaciiilist. On the uncertain <videnep of ice scrntches iti the north eastern (nd of Lake Ontario, and .ilsd on those of others in a similar direction at th(> W'\'st> rn end of tlu; hike, he a.sserts that Lake Ontario was exe;ivat( «1 hy a glacier. I)r Newberry accepts his statement, but eonsiih is th it ;i Pre-glacial valley de- termined the direction of th(^ continental glaci(!r.
Mr. Hinde also asserts his h(>lief that the buried valley of the Niagara river (by the way of St. na\id'si a-; also tlie valleys at Dundas and Owen Sound, inof nl.ioie.p ruioji, We have proved incontrovertibly that Dundas valley is i buried river channel ; ;ilso Owen Sound and th(^ St. David'- valley .ir' hoth beds of ]*re-";la(!ial or Inter-'dacial rivers.
Let us analvzo the dinctind nf ih,- icr scratches in the neighborhood of the western end of Like Ontario. I have not >een any (out of very many sets,) which parallel with the axis of either the Dundas valley (except pr»isi'hfj/ nu(.' polished surface in the valley), or the axis of the lake, but always at considerable angles. In the region of Kingston, the prevailing scratches are S. 4r)<^ W. (Bell) and ."-ome other.- at S. "^f)^^ \V. neither of which directions are piirellel with the 3xi> of the lake. Granted that Mr. Hinde observed scratches that were parallel with the axis of the lake, they of necessity vvinild liave been at an angle with the
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thu lake, tlie> of necessity would iuivu liueii at an aii-lu with the submero-ea escarpmeut. If any ^lacier could have; seoopod out the basins of Lake Ontario, it left the suuiniit edyes of th •• Niagara escarpment as sharp tis possible and not planed off. Also if it excavated the deep trough of the lake, it leit a suiumit of soi't Medina shales over tiie iiarder Hudson Kiver rocks oi' the escarpment, beneath which are lltica shales. Fmni Duudas t the Georgian b.iy the f.ice of tiie e.^cari.nieut (Xiauara) is 1 abrupt, but even h.ri'. there h is not been lel't more than .')(i I'c.i of drift at its foot, and this mostly, if nut altoiiether. str.ititied (exceptiu,i: in channels ik.w buried, j
The observathms of Profc-t.r II. V. llinde. on the coast o! Labradore. ;ire here interesting. \lc i,,is >hown th;it />.n,-;<; , at the present time, is polishino the sides of cliffs, and ha> hrei; eoutinuin- its action whilst the coast has been rising several hun- dred feet. Even under th(; led-es of ov'erhau-inu roek> the actioi. 1-^ now ptiii-' on (a phenomenon which, il' in ihe \Ac reuiou. would be attributed to -1 leiers). Also, he ha,> seen houlder-ela\ bein>i' formed at the pre>ent time by the action n[/„i,,.;,r (frozen sea water;. This, with a thicknos of eiu'ht ur ten feet uets pile.l up by the action of wave.v ruui wind, arid eousequeutly in the bays of the coa.-t of Ji.ibradoi it [oli^hes rock bottom.^ to a demh of fifteen feet or more, below the >urfac,> of the water, and minds off rou-ii surfices. I have fie.iuently >ee-:. myM.il, i,, norilu'n, reyhms, high boulder.- tran.-pMi-ted by the le- to which they were I'rozeii in the margin or>Hiill hik. >.
From what ha-« l)e,.n writt 'n. it -'em- t . the writer that tin -lacial origin of l^ake Ontario does not rest on a single ba>i> further than that ice scratehings (|»roducible by eitiier glacier.- or iceberL:>, neither of which need be great erosive auents) are -een at various places about Lake Ontario, both above and below the water level. The remark- applied to Lake ()ntari(. hold good for the other lakes. The de.-Ltription .,f their tu[iography strergthens the [iroofs that their ori-in cannot be accounted tin by glaciers, because ue tind the i>luids at the western end o! Lake Erie, or northern cud of J.ake Huron, polished and stri ated.
One thing is certain, the valley of Lake Ontario is one of erosioi. -pot of giacier-erosiou — in operation, during much of the time
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iliat ha> clap.-iud -iiur. at lea^t, tlio cIum.' uI' the Palxo/.oic timo?«. vioscd partly )iy driit, but al:<() appiUi'Mtly liy uieat L!;eoloiiic-al up- lifts, (.'itlui' alouu thv .Mowhawk-iluilsDii valley, ov else the inft)nsiiiL-uuu^ broad valley nl' tlu' up})er ]iortlon of tho St. ^jUW- iciK-c river, lorined a cuiitiimatioii ni' tlie. Uiiitavio plane, whieb in it- inn'lb-ea>teru arc;.' bee.iiiie elevated, and now ooiistitutt's *be sli-lliiw floor ol the lake and tbe adjaeenl low uplands.
.\<ji r,;' Xniri'ir'i III r, r . 'V\\M tlie Niai;ara riv^'i' is Vost-iilaeial. :;r li'a<f I'roni thi> Wliitlpii il to (^uecnston. is apparent. It is '<uo\vn thtit the Niagara riv(>r loruerlv left its rivtiseiit uourse
i''ar tile Whirlpool and flowed down tbe valley of St. David, •vhieh is now tilled with diift. This \alK!y (throuub the lime- stone e-eai'pment) is not so 'ji'eat a- 'be presiMit ciruui. This biirie<I vaiiey of St. DaviU eould only have been ])rodue.ed al'ter ■)ie eli^iii- ot the Duitda- valby outler of tbe !']rie basin, for
mfil tleai rlie water- flowed a; a very Hiueb lower level. There- '<ire. it '^eeins lu'ee^sary lo regard this eiianm'l (not ot very lireat ■iiaunituiU') as an inter-.ilaeial outlet i'oi' liake Erie.
Tbe -eoloojvts of tbe Western States point 1' tbe Forrest bed a- a period of hiub elevation. ]preeed(;d by the Krie elay (strati- fied) and suceei'<led by the yellow stratifie'l olays or loam, cor- respondini: to the l^rown Saui^een elay of Canada, which is
nieonfiH tnabie to the underlyinLi' Krie I'fiys (or Boulder clays in 'be upper piMtion of tbe Dunday valley). So, fir tbe present. ivc fjok upim tile <i\(\ rour>e of tlu; NiaLi'ara river as the channel "Xeavatrd dui-inu' this ,varni inte'riilaeial period.
.by n/' /In. Xi'hjiii" /\s,;ir/)ii(' lit. -'V\,[< is manifestly of Pv' - ..:iacial ilate. and owes it>o)'i^iii lo \diiuri d und fiuviatible aetioti 'n'forr the advent, of the ler Al;''.
\'. — (1eNK1!\I- <;|,.\i lATMi.V OK I'llK ror.NTRV.
Tbe ;^laeiation <<[' ib'' ea-teru part of tbe I'rovinee of Ontario i- lieuerally south-eastward in the liasin of the Ottawa river, but iu the norlbein sitle nf iiaki' Ontario it i- generally south-west- ward until we pa-> tbe re'.:iori of the Dunda.- valley.
The count ry nnrtb of J.ake- Siiperii.r and Huron, a< wt.'ll as uioiiL: the' '■a.-tern portion oi' tl>>' latter lake, have the ice mark ItiLis al>o in a Liemra! Miiitbwe'-l iliri ction. Hur iVotii tbe hei'j'ht
mMMIMIiUMglMWm
of land betwoon th. three um.t l.kr. (llun.,, ( )nt.-ino aud Krie), \\\o striation,^ are more (Vo(,ueiitly towards tli.^ south-.-ast. Tbi^ direction contimio to tlu- Townshiiw ,,1' H^vrrlev and tlv ij,)rtb .vu portion of West FlanilM.ro. It also eontU.uos aloou the. (irand river vaHey, in the Nia-ara i:rninsula, as is shown at Yovt (ii short distaneo east of Seneea ), B,u ah.n- th(> Niagara iv^carj, uicnt. on the nnrtherr. side of Dundas (in thr township of Wes^ Klaniboro) w,. find several >et-. ..f striation>. the piwailin. dirw- tion hein- westward, or a frw dc-rees south ol' wc^t. On th.^ escarpment south .,f Aneastrr ,-,nd llamiiton there are several sets of icc--r(^oves, but these vary Generally frouj 8 10- W to 8 60- W— bein- more to the southward than those on the north sid-. of Dundas. The same ivmark appiir- to th^' eountry ti.rthe' eastward, even to the .\ianara riv^r. [n manv places two r.p .■von four or five different s,.t> of iee-m.irkin-s are se,.,i.
The following table represenl> x.nu- of the principal -lacial markiu-s, adjacent to the western end of J.uke Ontario.
lilsT OK [cK (i|{(i(>\ !•;>.
^""' _ I.oeAI.ITV. hi.R,T,„.N.
VVi'st Fhimlior.i ('I'nw ii>lii|, ;
Nfar •• Prak.' at (iiiihI;i>, |.i cv.ii li,,- ) ... ,uruo\'es 1
Neai' ••['..•Ilk," at J'iiii(l,i>. utin r -lOdve- . .\. ;:;- w.
(( ,( ■' -^- '''■'• ,»• ■ > >-uuif ;ui'
„ ., '[ " ^- ^~" ^V. '. I'nive.l ill
^- '^"^ W. J same sot. About ■: m. s. .siiai,;ni.-(i;,.ll; s, ejo jr.
IS. of Flauil-ere villa-.,. / 1>,^.|| , 1^- '' ^ ^V. rwitli etJe-i -
{ ^. •;;.' w.)
" i< .1
" •• S. 21'' W.
Ueverky : — Near Slietiield (Dell) S. 72° Iv
" '■ ^ m. soutli-\v<->t (Drll;. ..s. -iijo j;;
*■ •• 2 111. south (jjcll; s. ,s<jo !■;
Near Troy (Bd 1 ) s. Ti';^ K
1 m. S. oCShefiirhl and '.'..■,, mm (r.,-ll;..S. 7;to \i
Aneaster : — At AueaKter village (IJell; s. ,Vjo \v.
2 m. east of Aie^aster vilia.-r (f!cll ) . . , ..s, rp w.
"'■SFiS
z-^'rA-^'V/ fTrT:wi .p uniiiw n .m' .v .Jtj>i « mmimv,9mwmm
nmmmmamF.mm'ymm
■ i; •
so
A I lldss.itiiN (.)iian\. lilt- :; mimI I. ll. \'l l.s. in-- \V.
■■ t'liriu'Ht.TS •• Int7.1!,\]| Oliirr set S. lo" W.
N.n.T s,;t, S. 57'' VV.
,.,,,., I s. riT' \V.((loui)ly jir'vfil •■ l-n.Mluln. In, !.,. liM. {,,„ns,„„ian.lst.iat.Ml.,
,, ., I S.i;,") W.((lt:'ci) unnoN'^s
Nr.ll .\v> lUin, nil llinlllit;ii|i.;it 1 1 aiii I I (nli, -, ,| .-_■) j,, widi' )
At Kiiss.'l > i,»ii;iny. lirad ul .hull-'- JSt.. |
lliuuiltdii. nil ii ird-c ni Mc.liiiii sand- I
stniii'. on side (ll cscnilillii'lll. 2") I I'l'i't ^ S. ^0 \\ .
mIhivc l;iki' and 1 :: I l''i't liidnw -.iini- |
iiiit )
At Vnrk. nil llii' <;i-atid livci- ( lldl ). . . . S. ds" K. At \\'liirl|inn|. Niaizarii river (din-<finn "( ^^ mMV
nl ri\(:I' almin S. 7."i v.. I'l N. T") \\'.).. J
At Nia-afa Fall- (I'.rll) s. L's" W.
At ll.i.kw nnd (i'.rll) S. ;'.s'' K.
Ill -niuc ra-(> till' nK:k> jiii'soiUi-il a imlislicd siirt'acL' with nmiuTnu- tinr -enitclio. in ntliers tlnic air nrodviii^.s ;i few iiic-lio liniad. ami |uTlia[is (nic or two dvv.]\. \n otlun- places, a^ain. tlii'i-t arc dccii troughs si-ooin'il out of the surface rock, (hie nlthc nio>t iiiteri'>t iiiLi M'rii> ortnnmii-- is jusl north of the '•Peak." at Duii'las (at .i hciu'liL o|' .IK; f''et aliove Ijuke Oti- tivioj. Here thi' clayey earth has been reiiiovtHl, and the sur- fice pre-i'iit> thi' appearance of a .-cries of crests and trouiiis <d' wave.-, liaviiii: a distance between the crests of about eight i'eer. with .a depth v.-irying iVoin lialf to one foot — the direction oi' these is about S (i.')^' \V. Tlieir siiri'aces are smoothed and jjolished .lid no aijiaiii r-iriatcd \>v several .^ets which cross them at small angles in a niorc western line. These iee-iiiarkings continue in -tr.iiu'ht iiiK-s. -evatchinu both the tnuiLi'lis and crests (of tlie lar^:"' .irnoves) eipially. In -ome case.- 1 have noticed acute VieiidiiiL:< of the -tri;ttion<.
i)\\ tlie iiortheni >ide n\' the ])iiiidas valley the Ijrow of the e-eai|>ni'nr i- abrupt, not having the HiiLile at the <uiiiniit planed off. (xcejit nil Hie western -idi' of (illen Spencer, when' 10(1 feet or more have lieen ri'inoveil. by causes to be explnined below. The Vrnw of the escarpment on tlie southern side of the Diindas val- h'V and Haniiltiiti is e.junriy abrupt with that on tin; northern side id' the 'own el |)uiida<. Vmt iIk immediate brow is about lUill'eet lower. Nowliere in tic reeion about llamilto' ".n:I
mmmfmf.i ■ .-awt jipria
.SI
Aucastor do we tiiiil the luec ol' flu- cs-.-irjuinMit with it> ,umli' jilaned off, ;iltliouj;h tlio top is in very many places icc-scratclicd to tlie very iiiaviiin, in Jireotions varyini; IVdni 10 tlcLiVi-'cs or less, to 20 degrees, with its general trend.
The general axis of the Pundas valley may he iilaeed at I'rom N 70° E to S TO'-' W. Nowliert! hav^ T ohserved the -triatio'i- parallel with its d.reetion, e.xeept at about two miles ea>t df An caster, and at annther place at Hamilton; hut thi> l.ist, at Hamilton, re(iuires I'urtl.er notice.
At Kussel's (juarry at the head nl' .]ame> Street, a large amount of clay and ruhhle, derived IVoni the harder bed> n|' the Clinton (and Niagara also) formation, was removed in lO'der to (jUarry som*' ol' the u])per beds of .Meilina sandstone. This sandstone is overlaid by a few feet ol' earthy dolomites of tln' (.Million divisions, these forming a led-e 254 I'eet above tin.' lake and 134 below the summit ol' the- mountain. 11( re I observd that the surface had been polishe(l and scratched in the side of the escarpment at a dei)th of \'A\ led, ahi.o,-t v<>rtically below its brow. The direction wa- S. Sd"-^ W. or parallel with this margin of the Pundas valley, or the •• .Mountain." It is furth(,'r worthy of remark that although the surfiee wa< polished, the t-triations were very faint.
VI. — I'OST I'l,l(iri:NK DF.I'osiTS.
Havini: notieei] the -eneral -laciated surfatie- of the hard pal- joozoic rocks of the enuntry. it becouu's necessary to study the comjiaratively modern dejiosits wdiieli rest on them in order to understand the cau>es wliieh [iriMlueed the modern topouraphy of the country.
Vm^r
^wnm mmmmmiMummmmi'
»i':
82
Till IwllowiiiL; t;i))K' >liou.> ;i chi.ssi ticitioii of tlie y.< .lugic:il .■[■ochs newer tliiin the I'lioceiie Tortiury in Amcric.i, repi\ ■ iitod in (loscendiiit; ordir :
IN WKSTiJIX oM'AKHi
l\ MAMKliN (.NTAinO, I K,^C| V A l.KNTS Kr.SK
i,ii;i:!;k('. ktc
SVJIKIIK.
Ilcciiit .Mii(|( II] I'));!, ic- I urcsiMitcil li\ >l]i-ll-iii;irl. ' iihmIciii alliiviiiiii, etc.
(•IdtT MikI.th Em. (I'x- .Mml. n, Kia. ' ;iv.itiiiii> el vallivs in tt-riacfs (lui'iim a soinr- ^\ hat iimic ilcvati'd coiiti-
lU'lil).
|
Miiddii |
Ki |
1 (..!■ |
Eu |
|
IH.pt') |
|||
|
Uciiulci |
r. ( |
r So |
■(.II.' |
|
Glaci |
il 1- |
111 (if |
Ell- |
|
rupu. |
TcinK rsand 111 a(lH>.(.\i- .,, ,, , ' ,,,
tciiiisia mavrh. nia, ,■> ^v l.ca.dics.: 1 iTiaco and Bcaelu-j.
Ai,i;iiiiia >aiid I .'j Saii^i'ci] | Saxica\a sand I'lcsli-wattT clays. l-"or<\st ' 1"(1 (as (.f Oinii), I
I'>ri(^i-lav (with tVw Ik.iiI-
[..■(l;i rlav.
Uould.Trlay(iiv,|.:,i,.utly Bnuld. i , lav aliment).
Strkaind pc'iiL
Striatrd 1(11 k.
•f ISrick rlay (with ~ Arctic .shells.
PlJ C- Scotland). z z fvanics (Scotland
_£T Q Moiainit' debri.s, 2"'-r ] pcix hed bloek-s, S ^ ^Tavids, witii
■P animal reniaius.
^ I (Scotlanil).
ISonldcr (lay, ot Eu- ro[ie. Till. ot'Enioiie.
>triatcd ro( ii.
^ ft. ^rja£ Til. I., KRIK .\N(» OTHER c[,.\ys.
t^f^tnrn/ UisfrU-./don of the Ern and Sxagecn <'.7./_//.v._The -narer portinu of the surfaces of the striated rocks of Ontario is c(>vpr('d by AViV rhiji. This clay is always stratified, .sometimes vvrtlfc sandy partinii^, and is more or less calcareous. It is uiue •rhfflii wet, biict of an a.sh-color when dry, and the upper portion \' of very tine textiire. Tt lre(|uently contains rounded boulders and according ro Dr. Robert Bell, the lower portion includes a trrfater or sm.iUer number of fraiiiuents which are ani-ular when cemposed of paltcozoi* rock>. Tt eonta-'us no shells of marine origin. 8nme of the immediately- overlying and clcsely associ- ated depcwit.-^ are known to vovaain a con.siderable fauna of fresh water shells. The Krie elay ha> been seen at various heitihts
. ,'.-,> ._.«i«,.;a3.^<fi *i.ti..fi\.'.W»»,'fea*"'*((.U.,.
w^^f^fSmmfKUllmmMmii
wtmam*
above all tlu' ^rcat lakef^, and -.vcii I'cac'hiiiL: in the v< ion nl' our ('pper Groul Lukes tu a lK'i,i;-lit >A' 1,(I0U leet above tlie sea. al Magunctuwan river (Bell). It dccurs along Lake Ontario attlir Diouth of Nia;^ara river, at Thorold and \V(\«t\vard. In thr (astern part of the Dundas valley it has been pierced to Uh' depth nl' 7S i>'et (GO of which are l)i>low the level of tlie lake. ) I ,nn not rci'- tain of its ooeurrenet' in the upper part ot the l)iinda> valley. South oi' Br.intford. Professor Hell e>tiinates that it niu.-t h:ivc a thickness of To ieet, but in Walpole. some njili's ea-t oi' IJrant ford, the eornil'erous limestone eonie> uenerally to within a I'rw i'tX't oi' the suri'acc, who.se .soil is more or less of a clayey charae- tor, filled with fraiiinents of oorniferous liinestonc (rielily fos>il- iforous), brought to the surface by iVost. This day al.-o oeeui'> hiri:ely about Jiake Erie.
The Leda clay of the St. Lawren(;e valley was more or less itenuded bel'ore the deposition (»f thi' Saxicavi sand. So al-o <he surface of the Kri(; clay wa-^ water worn or diimded !'y subaerial actions. It is then overlaid (often uneoDfoiMnably) by Ou! Snxgccii. e/'/y, which is brownish, in \ei'y thin Ijeils (one inch, often separated by sand or ^iravel. or deposited witli inter calated beds of sand, Tlii> clay forms a heavy -nil. In the neighborhood of the Niagiri river and e]se\vjicr> it contains fresh water shells. In the region almut the western eud of J.,ak( < )ntario, much of the countrv i^ c i-.eved with this cliiv. or wlier. it is removed by Erie day. Hut in tie' localitie-< imuiedi-ifi'ly in th'' .icinity of the Niaiiani ■ <rarpnieiit. ami oi'teii in -li- Dnnda.- valley, we iiave the niil- iomied from i)i.e more mod' rn tains of *he Silurian rocks.
In noticing the occuri'eiD«-e ol' the L:<*i!H'val depir-its in i'amida. the boulder day of the St. L'i\r-cnce ippears t.p be -tantin,' in the western portion of tlie Province of Ontario. The Rrie dav, containing boulders, and aUv an-ular lVa<:uiet)t- in p.arr. has been jirovi-ionally assigned .(^ the e(j)tiv;deiit ol' both the B»mider and Leda clays of the St. Jjawreiie- \;il]e\. Tii. I>onl«t*'r day i- unslratifii'd (oi there are- only \ery few feehle indic.irions of ^.tra- 'ification), while the Erie day i- always sir itidieil. *h"SiBiiHi: dirfer- < nt conditions of deposits. ^''M tiie Krie (day -(.'nerally re-t- on tlie striated I'.ihto/.ic rocks in Western Ontario.
In th*' l)urida< valley there is a (h'jMisit older ili ii rlie terr;;e(>-> (for terraces and sea-beaches occur ,■ hove it i. and p.—ibly older than the Erie eiay uidess wr cni^idei' tlii- ■ hi_'liev ]nrtio;i ,rf ir.
rim'^
itm
*!■;:
84
I 1;T
1.^1
but wliieli M'eius >t.'arccly |)iissible ;i.- it is tlinrougiily uiistnitifiLMl, tilk'd with ;iiii;ul;ir IVimuioutss (if Niagara liiut'stoiies and cuii.sti lutini: a true
77//.— Tl\i> t'drnis a iiussililc ('((uivaKMit lov the BouUlcr clay itl'tlio St, Lawrenw valley. Principal Dawsdn remarks that the Boulder ehiy, as fUr as it i- a uiarlno deposit, is older on liioher levels than on the lower. Nnw, we tind that the western part of the hundas valley is nnde u|i of great hills and valleys olUin in the lorni nt' rcr/ns niniitntiiiei s. Cornied lai'gely by tlu' niodorn denndatioii ol the >tri'aui>. Sonietinus these hills are eut down to a depth ol iiearly l.")(i I'ret. Sections of several parallel range> may )>i' scrn hy erossiiii:' tin.' (.'duntry I'roin Aneaster to the G. W. llailway. uliout twn uiile>- <'a>t ol' Capetown. The esearpnient- at thesi' two ]ihiees ;ire a)>niit .Idii d'ct above hake Ontario, whilst the beds of .-.(.nic <<[' tlie valleys ( a>. for example, near the '•' sulphur -{irings "' ) i> nor more than liK) I'eet above the same water-li'Vrl. In this Till. a> cx-posed at the base of the hills, cut away in road making, I >aw only IVaginents of Niagara limostones. mostly of >uet\ thin slab> as tlu' uppei' layers of the Silurian rock> at Dundas afford ; and the>r stones make up a large jiercentagv o\' the whol uia>> of the bases ol' tlie hills. Again, it is possible tiiat the>e un-tratitied deposits extend down to the Pahuozolc rocks bene ath. wlueh may be absent for a great depth below the level of Lake On' irio. ;is fhey are in the centre of the Dunda> valley, niove than two mile.- I'rom the nearest p<'rtion of the escarpimnt It i> only after pa-sing the ti inks of the.^e hills, far- tiier eastward, that We' tind the Krie clay. Some of the.-e hillock> near their -tunmits have old beaches, other- capped with clays Their summits are mostly com)»osed of clays of the Saugeen e(|uivalent or of alluvium. The source of this Till is the ruins of tin Niagara formation, and could have been derived from the \ipper beds of the rocks ot' that age. which occur on the summit ol' the oearpment botli at Dundas and Aneaster.
Dr. Daw.-oii has shown that the Boulder clays of Eastern Can- ada were deposited beneatli water and coii'tain remains (though M\ abundant) of Arctic animds. The marine deposit does imt ejri^.'nd westward of the outlet of fiake Ontario, but beyond this mefld^iar, the Erie stratitie<l eliy. re.'^ting on glaciated rocks (gene fidly), appears to occupy Us j)lace. and is often deposited at levels belo'W the lake surface. However, there is (outside of the Dun- da- valley), at lea.-t one place wheri.' a few feet of Boulder clay
mmmWHB'' -«l^w^1
iiiny bo socn--!it tlic O.-irrisoii Cnnniinns. just west ol' Toronto, when! tlio stirt" cliiy contains aimular (Vaunjcnts and shihs ol' slialcs and liardor rooks of tlio Hudson rivoi' iorniation. touotlier with well-rounded and scratched Laurentiiin boulders.
The Erie C/<ii/ hi flir Diiixlus Vu/hi/, is ossentinllv of mode r.'itely deop-water orisiin, with only the upper portion of tlu' deposit exposed, and rather i'n'L' from pebbles. An intcrestini: (diaracteristic ol' this clay is that it burns to foiiu butf-colored bricks (popularly whitf bricks), while the ovoriyinu elay burns to red bricks (Dr. Bell). It is finely stratiiied with rre(|uciitly thin seams of sand. In the Dundas valley, the best txposurt's are on the sides of the brancii of the Dundas marsh, which passes up to Beasley's hollow, west of Hamilton. Tt is esjiocially wi'll shown alonji' the side of tlu; marsh between the Protestant and (.'atholio cemeteries. There is here an exposuiv about IJd i'eet thick. A considerable portion of the terrace which extends from Dundas to Hamilton, at a lieiiiht of about 70 feet above the lake, has its marjiin, borderini>' on the Dundas marsh, underlaid by Erie clay for about the lower HO feet of exposure. The upper portion of the terrace is made up of a hitihly arerxsK-eous clay of yellowish brown color, resting unconforinably on the surface of the Erie clay, which had been denuded, and in places removed by streams before the deposition of the clay, which when wet resembles a bed of sand in strata from one to three inches thick. This latter clay is probably the representative of the Smtyecn c/iii/.s. and is best shown in section alonu the Hamilton and Dundas street railway. An unconformable junction is exposed just near the •■ basin '" of the Desjardins canal at Dundas. This lattijr clay forms the loamy soil of one of the tinest pieces ol' farmiiiii' land in C'anada. At the cutting- of the Hamilton and Dundas railway, between the Half Way house and marsh, there is associated with the latter deposit a bed of very fine oravel where the pebbles are less than an inch in diameter. This may possibly be of more recent origin. In Beasley's hollow, near Ainsley wood, these clays rest on the Medina shale, and are represented by only a few feet exposed. According to Dr. Bell (as we have noticed before), the Erie clays extend to at least (!0 feet below the surface of Lake Ontario, in the Dundas valley. To what depth it extends [ cannot say, but it is underlaid by a Till to a depth of about 227 feet below the lake, near the margin of the ancient valley described in former pages. The '■'■Brown clui/s^' are also exposed on the northern Toi,. X. s No. .5.
-^^T--
■r-f Y!r
ll"'^,?fyW-)P^,',>'
M
i'
1^
side of tlic Duritlas viilK'V, mi the fcrr.icr, iit !tO Icct above the water, on whieh the Dundus ei'iiie'tery is situated.
Whilst the Erie clays extend to a eonsiderable heiti^^ht above I lie lake on the borders of the marsh, they do not reach much higher than the water level at Bnrliuu,toii Heights. This fact lias a lieariii'j; on the study of the Heights themselves.
Between the Dundas valley and the Grand river (that is, in the western j)art of the township of .\neaster and the adjacent por- ti(jns of Brant), the country is generally overlaid by a brownish <lay. ol'ten loamy, remarkably free from stones, and the ecjuiva- lent (on tlic .surl'ace) ol' the Saugeeji clays. Prof. Wilkins has dbscrvcd this •' lu-own clay '" in stratified bods along the Fair- child's creek.
T/ir F'iri.sf /)(</ of Ohio, rejin'sented in Canada by logs and
stumps, in the brown clays, at Toronto and elsowlierc (Hind),
iiarks the period of elevation of land during which the Erie and
Ijcda clays were denudfd bel'ori' the deposition of the Saugeen
I'.renaceous clays and Saxicava sand (of the St. Lawrence valley).
Vlll.
<T.\TE.ME.NT t>K TlIK OLATIAL AND lOKBERd THEORIES.
Before eonsideriiiLi iurther the Pdst IMioceue deposits which occur in the "region al)out tlie western end of Lake Ontario,'" lot us briefly examine the two theories that arc given in explana- tion oJ' their origin. It is not my purpose to enter details except ♦hose that bear on the explanation nf the deposits in the region of study.
Thn (j'/acl'i/ Thforj/. — During the later Tertiary days the con- tinent stood at lea.st several hundred feet above its present alti- tude, probably at the time of the advent ol' the "great ice age." The two theories — the Glacial or Glacier, and the Iceberg or Floating Ice— -difler f<sentia]iy in the earlier jiart of the epoch. The former of these theories (or hypotheses) seeks to prove the continuing elevation of the continent after the close ol' the Plio cone epoch proper; that a great continental ice-sheet capped the northern portion oi' America, and reached in some instances as far of the oOth parallel of latitude; that the old rivers flowing southward had a greater pitch than at present, and thi' waters from the melting daeifrs running down the elevated old river channels in a southerly direction (and also making new ones), K'ooped out most of th(> basins now liuried to a depth oi'ten seve- r;il hundred feet below their modern reprcsentativeSj or the pre-
,-iiS:;rf)*v:-"ieiiiif'it'l-i^U'
??f;^%^e*> ?,,
87
sent surraeo of tlu; Liud where the aueieut valley."* are entirely obscured. At the same time the erosive eHect.-- were obscured l)y the stones and ile/jfis de['ii>ited by tiie uieltin^i: ;^laeier, bein^ trau.sporte(l by the waters lu.-sliinji' down the -<teep jiitcli of tho river beds. With an increased elevation of tlie land, the conti MOUt would be more elevated to the northward, which would still i'urther iucrvase the veloeity ol" tlie w.tfcrs flowing southward, and retard or altogether stoj) those Howinu nortluvard. Other exea vatinu' efi'ects would be produeed by tfii; ulaeiers shovini;' lor ward the dcicomposed roek beneath themselves. The ixistiuu valleys would to a ureater or less dei;ree determine the direction of the glacier itself. The.se jilaciers, laden with stones and ilvbn'y, moving over the land would naturally plane off the rocks below them, and the stones and sand contained in the ice would pro- duce their striated and polished surfaces. The glaciers would transport the local material by the thrusts ; and the rocks and other contained dehrls derived from the source of the' glacier it.sell' would be deposited as it melted, thus producing terminal (and also lateral) moraines. In order that the glacier could move southward it is not necessary that the surface of the land should have any slope, I'or if the ice were sufficiently deep, the weight to the northward or towards its source, would cause it to flow like •1 mass of apparently solid pitch, whieh when piled up is con- stantly seeking a lower level. CroU has calculated that the ice could flow if the suri'ace stood at half of one degree above the ocean level. The terminal moraines produced would tend to duij the waters beneath tlie glaciers caused by their melting.
After the cro.sion by glaciers (and the striations of the surfaces if the rocks) was accomplished the continent began to be de- pres.sed, and the subsidence went on until the land was more than r)00 feet below the present altitude. (But we will subsequently see that the depression continued till a submergence of 180(-' feet at least, or perhaps several times that depression was attained/. This subsidence and also the previous damming of lake and river basins produced Immense inland lakes beneath the continental ulaeiers, or floating icebergs de/ivcd from them. As tlie glacier» melted, the transported dtbrls contained in them was deposited in in unstratified manner on the land, or where it fell into water it ^vas partly stratified. This period of the glacier constitutes the Diluviau era or Lower Champlain epoch. The preceding period of elevated continent forms the period of glacial drift. But the
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^ifieater part of the uustratitied drilt, as stated by Prof. Dana, was deposited iu the Lower Chaiuphiin epoch.
The boulder eh>y of the St. Lawrence was deposited in both the Glacial Drift and Lower Chanipiain epochs (of Dana), and a portion of the Erie clay of the region of the great lakes iu the latter epoch, if not in that of the Glacial Drift of the present classification. But as the Erie clay is stratified, it could not have been deposited in the epoch of the Glaciai Drift according to the tlieory of an elevated continent. After the Diluvian or Lower Champlain epoch, the waters continued to be deep, but with much floating ice, bearing erratics. This constitutes Dana's Alluvian or " Upper Champlain era " of stratified clays and gravels.
At the same time the Leda clay (stratified by water and of marine origin) and the upper portion of the Erie clay (stratified and of fresh water origin; were deposited. Then the seas became shallow from the elevation of the continent; and, finally, in some places a forest growth appeared on the uplifted land Again, there was a subsidence on the production of a glacial lake, and tlare were then deposited the upper beds of Dana's " Allu- vian era," corresponding to the Saxicava marine sands of the St. Lawrence, and the Saugoen clays of Ontario. There was still boulder-laden floating ice. As the continent was again rising, or the waters of the glacial lake subsiding, the elevated terraces or beaches were made at heights from 17(10 feet to the sea level in the region of the lower lakes. These terraces will be described iu succeeding pages. This elevating process continued until the continent stood at perhaps 200 feet above the present altitude, marking an epoch known in Europe as the Reindeer or Second Glacial period. Then came the subsidence which brought the continent to the present general level with the modern deposits.
The Jci'U'fg Theorij. — The Iceberg Theory differs essentially in the beginning and oarly days of the "Great Ice Age."
According to this theory the old channels now buried were producid in days before the advent of the Glacial period, by the ero>ive action of the atmosphere, and pre-existing rivers, when the continent was at a higlier elevation, and date back to very aueient geological times. At the commencement of the Ice Age the continents were subsiding until depressed much be- low tlio jtreseut sea-level. At the same time glaciers were aeeumulatiug iu the northern highlands, aud even farther south-
89
ward, where therti were any elevated peaks or table lauds. These highlands were coustantly seodiug off icebergs which, breakiug loose, were borne southward by the oceanic or lacustrine currents, and carrying with theni their loads of stones and lUbris from the region of their foundation. The striations of the roek surfaces in continental areas, remote from glacial-producing mountain^, (or hills perhaps) was accomplished by the stranding of the bergs in the comparatively shallow basins. This action is shown to-day on the coast of Labrador and Greenland. At the same time the melting bergs were depositing their loads as boulder clay. The iceberg theory accounts for the boulder clay of the St. Law- rence and the stratified Erie clay (with boulders) of tiic lake region, both dating back not only to Dana's Champlain epoch, but also to the epoch of his Glacial Drift.
There is no material difference in the explanations of the origin of the middle and later deposits of the Glacial period, as rendered by the more liberal view of the glacial and iceberg hypotheses, both recognizing the subaqueous origin of the Leda clay, the upper part of the Erie and other stratified clays, the Suxicava and other sands and beaches. However, according to the glacial theory, much of the stratification of the deposits took place in lakes and rivers dammed up by the glacier itself, without so great a subsidence of the continent as the extreme iceberg theo- rists would have.
Distribution of the Xortheni Drift. — Let us now examine what evidence, aiding the elucidation of the history of the Great Ice Age, can be derived from the .«tudy of the region of Lake Ontario. In doing this, however, it will be necessary to go some- what out of the locality of our immediate study.
The so-called ice-cap of the northern hemisphere was con- fined principally to the region of the North Atlantic Ocean. In America, Professor Whitney states, as the result of extended observation, that there is no evidence of an ice age at low levels along the Pacific Coast, excojit along the sea, at sueh elevations as could be glaciated by floating ice during a slight subsidoiiee along the coast of Vancouver's island, on an adjacent coast of the mainland. The southern limit of the northern drif"t on the eastern side of tlie Rocky Mountains may be approximately designated by a line drawn from the head waters of the Saskat- chewan river to the mouth of tlie .Missouri river, thenee to the centre of Oiiio. through Pennsylvania andNe.v York, tn northern Now Jersey.
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In Europe the northern drift descoudcd i'roin the Scandinavian niouutain.s towards Central Russia. It did not cover Eastern Europe, nor any portion of Asia, Itut in the catjtern hemisphere it was confined to the north Atlantic.
The greatest development of the deposits of the Ice Age ij> :idjacent to where there would have been the greatest precipita- tion of moisture. We sec to-day that much of Greenland i> eoyered with glaciers, but Messrs. Fieldon and Kance (of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-76) observed the paucity of glacier.- in Northern Greenland, and that neither tliero nor in Grinneil's Land, north of about lat. SO'' 20' were icebergs (derived from glaciers) met with, but all the ice was considered asfloebergice Capt. Nares explains tlie dift'erence between the ordinary floe and Polar sea ice. The former is only a few feet thick, and meeting with obstacles, it sometimes gets piled up 40 feet or more in height, while the latter is S<> or 100 feet thick, and dimply lifts any obstacle in its way. Now, our glacial friends, in referring to the " American Ice ^aps " or sheet, can only refer to the region covered by nortiiern drift before roughly outlined, which did not even cover Alaska. It must also be remembered that any such ice cap, as they require, would be lessening in thickness ;«s it receded from the eastern margin of the continent, with its Laurentian and Appalachiiiu Chains of mountains, to cut off the Atlantic moisture, as we have just seen with regard to the northern coast of Greenland. We are told that the drift is found in the White Mountains at an elevation of more than r>20() feet on the top of Mount Washington, with erratics (be- longing to a lower topographical level) on the summit of the mountain, and that all this debris was pushed up by a glacier. Whilst there seems no doubt of the existence of <;laciers in the White Mountain regions, it seems really too hypothetical to place .'I glacier in the White Mountains at the high elevation, that in moving would push up lUbris even 500 feet from the summit of the highest adjacent mountains.
ThuknesH of la: dip. — When Professor Agassi/ tionoun«ed his glacier hypotheses, re(|uiring a continental glacier to over- top by 2,000 feet, the highest peaks of Mount Desert Island (which are in the same latitude as Mount Washington, with an elevation of more than 1500 feet) and project to Long Island Sound — Professor Leslie calculated " the height of the snow mass necessary for producing the supposed motion of
Hi
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thi;5 glacier at 20,000 f'eof, at the pole) and the abstniction of that amount of water I'roiu tlio sea would lower the sea-'evol «>ver the whole globe about tiOO feet. The snow cap necessary to lift d'-ift material over Mount Washington would so much ex- ceed thiS thickness as to increase the in:prob:;bility. Nor does it seem jiossible that any local glacier in t'lo White Mountains could, even il' it had a sufficient thickness to produce its own flow, lift drift materials several hundred feet higlier than the place whence they came, and not sheer off on the lower icf and pass around the high j)eaks — a constant re(|uircuient ol' the glacier hypothesis.
It is )iot my purpose liere to attempt to discuss the ice cap in the Whitf Mountain legions. Yet it is nt'cessaiy to refer to this region on account of the great elevation of drift material, in looking out the causes of the drift in the region ( f Lake Ontario. The local evidence of moraine-lbrmed dams does not seem suffi- cient to counteract the seeming impossibility above pointed out.
Tr(insjii>rt<it!on hi/ Count Ice. — The floating ice theory here answers much better than that of the glacier, for on the conti uent sinking tlic ruins of the hills of lower levels eouM be carried upward by the action of coast or pan ice oi' successive years, which alon<: the Hestigouche and St. Lawn nee rivrrs has been IvDOwn to move enormous blocks "f rock to a considerable dis- tance in a single .H'ason. The great precipitation of snow about the North Atlantic, along the ranges of American mountains borderinii it. would tend to depress the north-rastern portions of the continent more than either those to the southward or west- ward. This depression was nearly 2,000 feet, at least in the later Terrace e]joch of the Tee Age, beyend the Western End of Lake Ontario. Tn the mountain regions of the l^icific coast the evidence of a ubsideuce to more th;m 4,<»0(> ftct i^ ap- parent.
At the northern end of Skaiieatelcs l^aki' in New York we tind, at an elevation of SOO fi'ct above tlic sea. Coruiferou> lime stones, which belong to rock beds ni situ at only lower levels fc the northward. These apparently wen* lifted upward by floating ice durinu' tlie subsidence of the region. Airain, at the Western End of Lake Ontario, we find ureat quantities oi' water-worn pebbles, who.se original rock lies thirty or I'orty miles away, but at only lower topographical levels, except a great di^taoce away.
Tcnniit'il Mnfuitf: I/j/jxitlnsis. — Another evidence strongly
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Jidilucod by tlu' irl'ifialists. in support of the contincntnl ^.'lacier, is the so c!illo(l torniinal moraine, represented in Canadian North- Wcst Territories and North- Western States by those ridges of drift liills. known as Coteaii dc Missouri. Totcau des Prairies. Kettle Moranios (of Wisconsin ). the rid_L'es about the southern end of Lake Michiiian, across Ohio and Pennsylvania, the rantre of drift hills of Nck Jersey, and the <lrift hills of Long Island.
The whole of liong Isliiiid is composed of stratified drift (con- sidered by I'rof. Dana to have been deposited by the glacier ice water). Several, at least, of the so-called moraines of New York and Ohio, rcpresentetl by the ridg(>s south of Lakes Ontario and Erie, are evidently old water margins. The ridgeg south and west of Lake Michigan, constituing the so-called Kettle Moraines, are rudely stratified, according to Dr. E. Andrews, of Chicago. And the described structure of the North-western Coteau, con- taining so much gravel and boulders, even if the greater protion be not stratified, together with the flat country to the north and north-ea.st (whence much drift material from the lower level of the valley of Lake Winnipeg was tran.sported westward and southward to much liigher altitudes) makes us look with doubt upon much that has been written about these regions, in support of the favorite Ice-Sheet theory.
With e(|ual propriety could we call the Artemisia gravel and the Oak ridges (to be referred to under Terraces) as terminal moraines of the Province of Ontario ; (at least the former of these ridges rises to an elevation little inferior to the Coteau des Prairies). These highest and most distant ridges, surrounding the great lake basins containing unstratified boulder clay would be just what one would e.Kpeet to find wliere the laden ice, from northern highlands, after crossing this island sea, became stranded, and finally melted as the old hills were sinking to, or rising from the sea.
However, it is not my purpose to discuss the subject of the Glacial Geology of America, but only to describe some of the surface features in the '' Region About the Western End of Lake Ontarion," and see what lessons can be derived therefrom.
Agents of Ghicintion. — Glaciation of rock surfaces can be produced by the action of the glaciers containing stones, or by that of floating ice shod with rocky matter. Ice of itself, unless frozen to its bed has no important erosive action. In fact, the principal erosion beneatli a glacier is produced by the action of
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running wjitcr, hurling .•ilon- tin' ilihrix fn.ui tho nultiri.u ul.uMrr. Again glaciers (lorivc tlioir iiriiiciiKii Io.kIs oi' ,f,;h)-is froni ovrr lianging rocks, wliicli would scldoiu appear above .( -.'rand conti nontal gliicior. Ico with even little or no loreign ni;iteri;d ina% polish surfaces (not scorify) when hurled by the action of wav.'s and tide, as seen r.;- I»rof. ri. V. Hind, on the coast of Labrador, where tJie hard rocks have been polished for several hundre<l feet above tide, durinc the time that that portion of tli.' continent b.n been rising.
From various Arctic expeditions, we learn about the enornio)i.« .|uantity of detritus which is aimually ren.oved by the floe oi coast ice. though only half a dozen leet thick. This ice -et> piled up. and by the action of wind and tid.> abrades \hr shore to nn elevation of ;U» feet or more.
Our American geologists nf th.- -I.icial seliot)! x-em unwillinL- to attribute the .scorifying i.r.wer to flo.-iting ice. which become-* temporarily stranded. Kven the grindin- o{' the contained stone- in flo.iting ice stranded at low tid,. in the trough of w.ives of a rough sea. acting during lonu' perind< of time, wunld j.roduce -reat effects. Fairly considerii.g the fpiestion, tlie ice-marked -urfices of the region of our study tell us but little in favor ol either the glacier or the iceberg hypothesis Kven the south eastern striations in the highland counties of Ontario (character izcd in part by the Artemesi;i gravel) at most could only have been produced by local glaciers discharging small bergs into the Ontario sea. whose general currents were drifting to the .south westward.
Any continental glacier pa>sing over the region of our study must have filled the basin of tho western end of Lake Ontario and the ancient Dundas valley (more than two miles wide, and from 750 to 1000 feet deep) else the Niagara escarpment of preglacial date facing the lake would have been planed off by tlie erodinir I'orce which struck it obliipiely without having the direction of the force changed (except in the valley itself; for we find the summit angles sharp. Nor has this sharpness been subsequently- produced by frost action as indicated by the talus at the ba.se of the slopes. The ancient Dundas valley, as has been pointed out, brintrs additional proof, that the region was not excavated by glacial action. Even the removal of the upper hundred feet of flie escarpment on the western side of Glen Spencer, which most nearly resembles glacial action, was not effected by ice-action but ^'O*- ^ s 2 No. .0.
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'■<y >uliiii.ri!il :ii:(ii(ios, uliiili ri.'iiinM'd ihc uiipt,'!' suilaci's ul' tln' larriAv sjinr of r<K-ks M'|iaratiii:; this ^l(•ll ami Ulcii Webster from "lie riinnii ol' the Duiulas valley.
It seems imftossible that in the ret;iuii ol' the hikes any ^roal
TiKiviiiii ulaeier <]i<l exist, which measured Irtmi a depth ol" what i*
mw ."lOH I'ert below tlie sta to a heijiht sufiioieiitly ^'reat to pusli
(irwaiil tiie ilt'Jirix Worn that drpth to an elevation ul' Irom lOOtt
o 20(1(1 t'fei or more over the hiuiilamln ol New York, I'euusyl-
>aiiia and (Hiii'. The eniilii;uration id' the reiiioii would not
'.avor ^iieh :i eomlitioii ol iee- lor ilie mouiituiti.i ol' Labrador.
'r<^mlKe, and ol New KiiLiland. a^>isted by those of New York
Old l*enii>\lvaiiia. toj;etliei' witii thi' hiulilands (d' Ohio, would
iiave neees.-arily -ji;? off tlu! moisture and ]ireveiited the precipl
lation (Ml the interior of the confiiient. as we today see iu Hall'.-
liasin and tlir I'nlar sea in the far north.
(h!(jin "/' llimlilrr ('luij.- lJo\ilder elay may be produced I'V floatiiiLi iee as Will as by Lilaeiers. I'rof. II. Y. Hiud las iibxivi'd iis fdrmatioii at tlir |ne^ent time on the eoa.st of Labrador, by the action of pan ice. In Arelie rei;ions the ooii- 'ortion of submarine mml by tlic jamminii of straiidiiij; masses ■if the thick ice nf ilic polai' si'.i>. Iia> been observed to produce -well cH'eets ;i.- are often attributed to L:laeier^, and could (|uitc as • asily by piisliiiit: alon^ the softened mud jiroduee the so-culled :.:round moraine, a> a Lilaeier.
Tliii/i-i < ss iif' />////, -ThrouMhdut ilie I'rovinee of Ontario, the average thickness of the I'ost IMioei'nc deposits is less than 50 feet, exeeptinu in buriecl channels :nid alont; eei-tain ridges. A.» ' xhibitetl in many sections exposed to llu' bed rock and iu many bore hole,-, it seem- that the drill i> nearly everywlusre stratified, tnd the nnstratitied drift i- the (Xception outside uf buried ■hannels.
(llociiil Liil.i ( lljiimllii tlnil ). — Accordinu to the i^lacial the- ury, after the reee.-sion of tin; nhuier-ice which scooped out and filled the Lireat lake basins, and moved over the hills ffrom 1500 to 250(1 feet abovt; their deipest l>i,'ds)to the south, there was ]iroduced a i:reat ulacial lake by the elosinu of the outlets with ice, and in this lake the stratified drift was de,.,jsited. We have already shown that the lakes are not of lilacier origin. If it had been possible for the ice to have been ]iushcd up and over the jreat elevations referred to, yel it ^eems biglily improbable, that a remnant of floating iee could have dammed up not only tlu-
!•'.
I..wor outlets t(. thr lacMstriii,. >,a. I.uf ••(Im, rai>,.| i„.uiv of tl,.. lower ridires t., tli.' sn„tl, In mm ice Iw.rrler siifri.-ient f.." j.nv.M.t the overflow of its waters. A^ remarkod l.y l>,„r. |)..,„a, „., iiiorJiines boar -vi.leupe (.IMicli a ilain at KlOd fW>t alx.ve tli.- m-;, \u the Province of Ontiri.. tlie stratifie.l .Iril't in v.-ry tnaiiv places is at a niuel. liioJier lev.l tlian Ion- stretelies of tli." h.rrie • ranijes to the sr.uth. .Moreovrr, at the time wlwii part of the..- .-tratitio.l deposits were hcin- pio-liiee-l tlie srn eonfiiiied little o-
110 floatin- iee wherewith to Hos.. tl ntlrts. nmeh Ie>> to i„
ereaso hei-rhts of the harrier-.
•nidothrr f'/<n/.s:-.\vvnvi]\u'^ to tle^ -hteial th.'ory the eontinetit stood at a umeh hi-her elcvatim, in the ie.- a-e than at the present time, yet it does not demand atiy very ureat ehaimvs of level. So also in the ahove remark.^, the Mihjeet of local oscillations has not hoen an element of eonsidnation. yet -rn-at (-han-es of level did take place. The marine houhhr drift ol' the St. Lawrence valley, eontaiidn- Arctic shells, reaclw^ an elevation of over :>0l» fi-ot, irrespective of hi-rher tmd inorr inodcrn t.-rraces. AI.so the coasr of Labrador has been i<nown to hav ri.xn to ure.at hei-hts ^inc the ice tioe. Prof. Dana remark- that the continent was mor<' ••levated to the northwanl thiin the southward.
Diirin;; the ^reat accnmulafion ef iee alon- the mountains nt Labrador, (^icbee. N,.w Knulaiid. N.-w York, etc. and in fact ■ iromid the north Atlantic, thcv would ||,.,v,> bceti a relative sink inu- of the continent ari.-iiiu fi-.,ni the clianav of the centre ol' -ravity of the earth. The sub-idenc,' would be-in alon- the Atlantic coast and extend westward. We know that the lar-e deposits of Houlder clay in the St. Lawrence valley are marine and deposited beneath water. However, on mo\ in- up the St. Law- rence valley the evidences of fh." marine eht.racler -radually disap- pear as the Arctic sjiells Ciinnot be traced to tlw; western di'posits. -Vor do any of the m.arine I'f.rt Pliocene deposits pass westward of the east end of the valley of Lake Ontario (who.«e elevation is 247 feet above mean tide). The unimportance of the IJotdder clay farther west in Ontario, or more frcfiuently its entire absence, with Erie stratified clay containing a few boulders, especially near its base, resting on striated rocks, points to the fact that the ice •ige and the continental subsidence be-an earlier to the north- eastward than it began iu the valley of Lake Ontario and the region to the west of it. 'IMiis being the case, we have ati oxplri
an-
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.itiuii li»r ilif clwiiinc of cIiiiiMrlcr ••!' tliu drift doposit.x from the Jiiiriiic •• Boulder clay '" of flic St. li.iwroiici! vuUey to that of tin lower ln»iildt'r bearing; (probably ) fresh-water Krie stratitied clays, ior the eoiiditioti> favorable tit the deposition of the topoi^ruphi eajly lower IJoulder day would e.vi.xt ♦■)r a loujicr period than those of the Hri»' t;lHy haviiiy- been beu.uu and partly completed ht.'fore tilt! formation of the latter elay. The inerea.sin^ accumu lation iif ice about the barrier hills would elose the iSt. Lawrence valley to marine eurrents, and eut off much of the precipitation ot' nioLstiiri' from the interior ba^iii. leavinii, it freer to the action of coast and bef.; iee from the adjaeent mountain!!.
IIi,uh«'r than the .Niagara isearpment, or T.'itt feet above the M'a, the eountiy beyond the western t-nd of Lake Ontario aflord* vrry little Boulder clay cxeejit in old buried valleys,
'J'lie Lireater part of Erie elay appears tu be contemporary with ?l)c- later d»;positL 1 (tortious of the IJoulder clay and with the l>eda elay of the 8t. Ijawrence valley during a time of contracted ice sheets, when the sea was aiiaiii inakiii'j; inroad.s on the conti iient. The Erie clay occurs at elevations ol' IttOO loot in the I'rovince of Ontario.
TIti' I iijH'ofm (J}i<iriiit> I <>i llif (i/iiilnf lli/j»<>fln)it'n.-\{'tiir eartdul study 'tf the subject ol the di ift deposits in the lakere^'ion, and after readini;' an immense amount of literature on the subject of glacial geology ol' America, wherein itne tinds many intcreresf ing discoveries, yet an enormous amount of dogmatism unworthy of scientilic observers, there is but <ine conclusion that I can arrive at — namely, that the glacial theory is not applicable to the explanation of the physical features of the lake region, either of the moulding of the country, as citusidered under the origin (if the lakes or ol' the glaciation. oi of the drift depttsits of the On- tario peninsula. It is true that a great thetiry cannot be cou- .siderod either as pritven or ilisjtrovcn by limited observation. and that is all which this jtaper purports be — tint a consideratitm of the whole subject, <>veii as far as America is concrned, much less Kurope.
tJn'titu iij'ti'r the <'/i),si of' fin h'jiarli I'j' A'//' r/«fy.- After tli'' period of the deposit of stratitied Erie elay. there appears to have been an elevation of the land, for in Ohio and other States it is succeeded by a forest growth and dcnudatiitn of the surface of the country.
During this time in Ontario the >url ice of tin' Erie day was
tmm
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•IfUU.lcil. »., ||i;,l llu' MicwM-iiiim .Sau_Li,iii i-\ny. li,. ,,ii it utlituJUl ly. The vailoy Ml llu- Dii.i.lus tiiai>li aii.i liurliiiutcn bay. be^i(lc!, »ui-li iiibutiuy >tream> as the CoM Spiini; c-ivjek wore rxt-avati-.l ill it. The Cuhl Sprinu cnvk txcavatod a ..-hauiuil in the Kric day a R-w huiidnil Itvl wide (us sccu aloii- the Ifaiu- iltoii uiiil l)uii(la.> strec'l railway, which (hj^ccu.ls to the ujai>h alout,' thi.< civok;. bt'lim- th.- (K-jHiMtioii of tho arriiai'i-ou.s clay. lu I'act, a furisidiMablf poitioii ..J' the Duiida.s valley was reexea vated by the lar-e >treaui.«; o|' till.-, liiiu'. It was during thi.s period ol'deuudatioii tliat the toie.<t trees were Hourisliiiiu wliieli are Couiid under the clay,>, and sands about the eify ol" Ttuoiito and in th«- iScarboro Ilei-hts. Then came the subsidence with if- depo.sit of Sauueen -brown clay" (de>eribed before), which eoveis so mu.di of the surface of the i)mi<Ja.v valley and in Jiict a ureat jH.riiou ol the Province ot Ontario. Diiriu- this deposit then; appears to have been little or no floatini: ice in the rej-ion ol' .study, as there is a remarkable absence of erratic-. The erratics bclon- to lucr date.
Tltf Sinrhuru /A/cyA/.s- Kast of Toionto. Mr. «Jeor-;e Jen- nin<i.s Hiude lias written an iMteiestinu paper.-- I'lifortunately • (.'aiiiuliau .ImiiiiuiI. !h7T.
the author is a member of the nmre advanced .sehuu] ol" ulaciul thought. Over the stratilied el.i^s .ind sands there is a deposit of what Mr. Ilinde calls Till. This lills a vrdley ..f a sireiu, scooped out by a probably interuhieial stream. Il.jw-ver, the writer consider.s it (which he ti-uresj as a glacial hollow (like our lakes ^ tilled up. From the evidence as laid down, it is euii- spicuously an old water course. ,ind there is no evidi uce -iveu tn .show its i;lacial origin any more than there is evidence of the glacier excavation of the lakes. Thi- so-c;illed Till is compuM-i of far drifted Trenton limestones and I tiea -late-. The mo-i rational description of the presence uf ihi, •■ Till i- it- deriv i tion by coast ice from the Treiiinn .md Ttiei mek- wliieh formed the shores to the nortli and east.
Closing li',n,n'h-H nil th, (.'/aria/ Tiiairi/.- -\\\ \\\v Dundus v;.I- ley there are a number of sheej* backs or n.rhrii niatitninnW'^. Tie .summits of these hills, at least, belon- to the Tenaco epoch, and may be easily explained by the deinidation by .Mreaiu.-. owiu- te the peculiar features of the country, which will a-ain be noticeii.
T/k; Co'iar of tlu Arr/ir W'inf'r i> a .juestion uiiiside of ihi- .sliori deseriptiv(! study, lluv/ever. tlic theory nj' I'u • secular
98
•f
(•li;mi:t's nl' diiii.itc, ' aii^iiii: priiiiiirily IVom tli' ('('crntiiciiy <>f' tin t'.irtli s ojhit. .'IS |ii()|tnsf»l l»y Mr. .I;iiiif'> Cioll iiimI ;iO(!f'pt(Mi i»y Mr. .James (Jcikic in flu! two adminiMi* work^. "(Miinatc* and TiiiH' " ;m(l "(Jn'iit let! Aiic" seems the most leiisible; and te those wnrks I rercr jiiiy (n<(uiriiii: readers. With re<_'!ird td the III .{(ji nf Siiitl'iixl ami north nl" Kni:hiiid Mr. (Jeike makes nut a much hetter ease than (Uir Ameriean ulaeial I'riends. It nuist he rememheretl that Senthind is in the lattitnde nl' I'rnm tlie mid- dh' tit the northern j»art of La))ra(hir. ami were the t J nil' Stream lo diaiiiie it> I'oinse. and witli a little increase in (|U.intity of preeiiiitatioii and lo^, to day, ii, wonld auain lieeome a njaciai re<iion. 'I' he drift which oeeur> in the lake n^ions of Atnerici rL'scnd)les more nearly that ol' central Kuropc than that of Scot land and Scandinavia, where the evi(h'ncc-> ol' "jhicial action arc more apparent than on the continent. At the ]ire»ent time only glaciers in the far north discharge icehcrtrs into tlie sea, yet those arc driven t'artliur .'•(mthwar<l than the extreme limit ol' southern drift in America. It mu>t he rcmemhi'rcd that t!u'>e )u'riL:s coim from a latitn(K' not much farther nortli than tlie Scottish islands. 'I'herefore. the American n-ader mn>t not he unintentionally led astray. On this continent there are hut few writers who are unbiassed, .•ind it is .■^omewhat uiicnmmt)n for a student to mt;et with a judicial production as ^eolo<^y lia> not yet produced the irreat min<l who has been able to decipher all the valuable hiero- iiliphics of i-urface •/coloi;y on this continent. A portion of tho parti/.an writin<:r is unavoidable but very many more are unwor- thy proiluctions of the servile obedience to tho memory of the • listinu'uisln'd foiindcrs of the ulacial theory, who never exacted the honniue b(>stowed by som«' of their disciples, attributinir to i;lacicrs anv sort of features wlio>e oriuin is somewhat obscure.
IX
-'li:i{K.\rKS \SU UK.^CIIKS.
Ovcrlyinu' the '• Rrown olays." or where these are absent, the lilue Erie clay>. there is a considerabh; number of terraces and beaches, whose remains are to be seen at the western end of Lake Ontario. Ksjiccially is this tlie case in the Dundas valley; but even here the majority have been more or less removed by sv;bse- (|uent denudation, so that at the higher levels there only remains an occasional hill capped with stratitied sand or f»;ravel, or small frairuients of the isolated beaehes >kirtlnu; the Niaj^ara escar^ tnent.
\m
//I'j/i /l.n.h H.<ir ir.</r ,■,/„//•,<..-. U,.Mi„„i„_, ^^j,|, ,1,,, l„,.,j.|n., t*. the liiL;li.'>t iiltiiu'ii!^. !il)()iit till' iiiiiiicdi.nc virioits n| J.ak-' Ontarii), tluiir is an i'xl»;ii.s|vi! ileiMi.sit ..I" sand and linr -ravel wvav the villa-c of Walcidnwii. ..ii tlu; lit|M.rt||f NKi-iH;, . M-.irpiiHtil. at an rlovation «.i;,(M» \W\ ( I'siiniiitfd i \\\n^\v \\u- l:,k,'.
la^jk li,,hl, „,,,,• .Ih(v/.s/. /•. On a>c.'iidiii- ih- Dunda^ valK-y 'o till! watLT-bi'.l l..'l\vi'fn it and llic (iian.l riv. r. ul.out a milf WL'sl olAn.M^t.r viilauv. tli.'iv aiv .-.•vnal drpoMi.. ..f >fiutilird canfl and tin.' -ravfl un the ^nnmiit- .ir ndcs m|' \h,- |,ill> :,t ..,„ flcvatiun ..f I lU W-n (.•siiniair.l ) mIjmvc ili-' l.tkc At ..„.. ,,f il,,. '■\l.(».surc> nf ili.s,. dc|Misifs. tliciv i^ .Ml nhli.nic lii'd.lini: ilipjiin- 'S.\ do-n-o to the snutli-i-astward. Kalx' b.'ddin- i> wn ru-iiuinn. Tin-."..; bcaclu's arc noic nv !,■>< conii.u-.l n| wril wat.T \v..ni jicMjK's Df th.. lludxin liver Innn.'tinn. At ilu' Ninir ,.k-vati<.n l)Ut simtli ill' llic (Jnmil liv.r. n.'.-.r Scn.ra vilhiu,'. ili.-iv i, i,u otlitT uraM'l d('|n)sil.
JUijhi)'' lUnrl, ,,l Dninhls.- ()\n urxl li.';,rll i^ ll„ >niall
roinain.s ol' a tcnac; fuund at tlic hci-lit .if ;;.;:, t,.,.i (|r\.ii,.d) abovt! flic lake, on liotli sidcx.C tlic iM-iuh ..I' ( ;!rii Spmi-.T. Tlir <']ovati«.n \va- irvdl-'d on tli,. cot, m >,idc ,i| i.l„. (jidi. A> unlv a vui-y small IVa-incnt remain-. IVin'jiii- ilu; .dder ruck., it i'. i»o,<si})le tliat, it mav liave H.rmerlv extended >,)me\vliat Iii^lier. This is ihc I,,.,, I, in Dr. li,.]!\, ,,,|„„.i ,,, i|„. (',,„adian (ie.,l„uical .Survey, I'stimate.l at .'!] s |,.,.t. Tlii- de|,(,>it cMi-ist- ..f rounded Iiebbk-s of the Nia'^ara limestone, witi, wliiel, are a-ueiai.d |.eb hies of the Hudson river peiiod and a few (uher- .if ervMalliiie rocks. .MuL-h of thi- deou>it ha^ liea, artitieially reni.ived in UKikinj:' the railway I'mbankm-'nt a<-i(i-.- (il^n '«|m neer. near th. Duudas station.
Aiiofliur r>,.i,l, ,ii .\u<:i.-.i, r i> |,,und ^n ili, ^Ide- ,.| nne nt (hose .so-(;alli!d •• >1hv]."> l.:iek " iiMrtliw.ird horn .\i)e;t-.lei'. |i i- probably at, the s.-.me elevation .!> il„. 1,im i, rr.ic .lr>, i ii.ed at
Duudas (3;J5 tn ;;i;(l \\.v\ above ihe jdvei. h i- rnUl|iM„.d of
very line lirav.-l ;iiid smd, deriv.] mniv or 1> -- frum Imiji Hud hou river and Nia-ar.-i roek-. lo-etlKi with many airjular lh:d> ..l' Niatiara limestones a.ml shales. Tlir expoMiie .,1 tlii- de|.M>it i- ou the south >ide ..fa >iMir or ri.ij.^ whieli ri>. - n. arjy KHi led hiylier. As the ri.l-e i> e.ivere.l with >..il it i^ miN ,a tjir pit- where the uravfl has been renn.ve.l U^\■ road purp.-.- that -ee tious can be .<een. Al»ove th..- -ravei- flier.- i- a d.p..>it ui ciav coutainiu'.: many ;iii-ular -lab- ol Ma-.ara liin.-I..n' - ..nd -hales
i^':
100
More carotul cxaniiiiation is nocessjirv to •Iftcriuiiio wliothrr this "boulder clay " is oldor or newer than the or.ivei which flankn the hill, for in some places it iippcars to overlie the iiravcl. but it, luay have been derived by land-slides tVoni the higher h vel of tlie .>teep hills. In this regimi. north-west of Ancaster tbe hills, flanked with beaehes, are separated by ravines, often 100 feet deep, with beds not more than 240 foot above Lake Ontario.
Tcrnn-rsaf flu hrcl --y' 20 1-224 /iv/— On the hills adjacent t(. the beaches described, nenr the outlet of (Hen Spencer, there is a terr.'ice with a rolling surface (on whicli is the Koman Cntholu; cemetery) of sandy material, havini: a height of 201 foot above the lake. The side of the .same hill, at a hriiiht of 224 feet, .'hows stratified sand and fine gravel, which is exposed for fifty or sixty feet almost vertically. This is on tin- northern side of tbti town about three-fourths of a mile eastward of the railway station. The sand cont,>ins layers of fine gravel, much of which is evi- dently of the Hudson river formation.
Terrace lit -,[ Lrnl of ISM/Jf/, — One i>)" the most perfect of the •' sheep's back " occurs on the .southern side of Dundas. with- in the corporation. This is situated \tehind "<lartshores dam" and has a height oi ISO feet (levelled). A gravel pit bas been • ipened on the upper portion and stratified gravel has been ex- posed for a depth of .'{0 feet. The lower portion ol' the bill near the dam is compo.sed of blue clay, but a .section of the whole hill has not been laid open. Most of the gravel is fine, btjt it contains a considerable number of stones eight or ten inches in diameter, with a few slabs as much as one and a lialf feet in diameter. The.'ie larirer stones are mostly comno.sed of Niauara dolomites and are semi-angular. T did not find Hudson river fossils in the pebbles, but am of th • opinion that much of tbe gravel is com- posed of these rocks.
The Grraf Tri'u-i af \]{i /)tf ahoie Lake Ontario is the most widely spread of all the ancient beac.ies. At the Duncas valley it occurs on the northern side of the town and includes tht^ higher portions of the terrace on which the cemetery is situated. Here the surface is composed <if brown clay, underlaid by a sort of quick.sand, which is probably Saugeen clay.
The terraces and beaches at about this height are .seen on the northern side of Burlington bay and farther eastward south of the lake. Tbe Burlington heights (108 feet) belong to this sys- tem. Eastward from these heights it runs diagonally with a
101
.
slight curve through the city of FLiniiUon until it abuts ntiiiiiist the foot of the uiountain, near the head of John street. Again, in the vicinity of tlie city reservoir (at the same height) it com- mences .its course again and extenJs eastward. Ocoasionilly where the older deposits are higher, or the escarpment sends out jutting ridges this terrace suddenly stons, but beyond, where the same contour line is met, the beaf^h is found. A terrace northward of Toronto also occurs at a height of 108-11 1 feet above the laice. and near Burlington at 118 feet. This terrace ibrmed an old beach, as is sliown by the sorted and stratified sands and gravels everywhere in the localities mentioned except on the northern side of Dundas, or on the south-wi^tern side ol the Burlington heights. The pebbles of this beacli contain a few JjaUi Mitian rocks, but with this exception the whole of the mass is made up of ruins of the rock oi" the Hudson river epoch. These pebble^' ;'re well rounded and usually not more than six i'lches in diameter, tilthough in .-ome places there are large rounded .«labs from one to two foit long. I have closely exam- ined these deposits and have never seen any pebbles that appeared to be of the Niagara formation. Though all the stones are not fossiliferous (some arenaceous and some calcareous), yet a very large tiumber show the characteristic Fludson river ibssils. In this terrace, at Burlington heights, remaiiis of the mammoth wapiti and beaver have been ibund.
IWrai'" (It /Itr Lccd of ~i\ /fit. — Our next terrace is most apparent in the Dundas valley, although occurring on the nortii- ern side of the lake, and li;ss conspicuously or more gently sloping in Hamilton and eastward. This terrace occupies most of the country beneatli the escarpment i'rom Beasle}'s hollow, at Ham- ilton, westward, to near Dundas. Its northern side slopes abruptly to the southern niiirgin of the Dundas mar.>;li. There is also a terrace on the northern side of the town ol' Dundas, at the same heiglit (in the region of A'ictoria street and the driving park). The central portion of the city of Hamilton is on the same terrace which, however, more gradually slopes to the lake level than at Dundas. The height of this terrjice is 7<» feet. It is composed below (where exposed > of blue (Erie) stratilied clay. Above, it is composed of a yellowish brown clay (the Snugeen equivalent) which is inconspicuously stratified, but in the cut- tinirs of the Hamilton and Duudas railway, \\e ' ave seen that the sand washes out and shows the stratilication. Along the Vol. X. r >*'"• •*■
■•' ':•'
102
*?
■m
h.uiu' niilway nittiiii;;', ikmc its ut'itlKTii iiiMiLiiii. fJien; is a bed of Mtvy tiiio gravel wlioso ficbblos n-.st'iiibie fln)8e of Hudson river form;! t ion. but no fossil roiiiains prove positivt^ly that origin. A? the c'xposurt! of he limits of this jiavel is not made, I cannot t<i\y eerfiinly whcthor it is flie same ;,i:v or not, but am inclined <<» ret^.ird it .is ;i iiiarij;inal dejxisit on the side of the hill facing the l)uii<l.i.> marsh at a hrinht .,f';ibout 45 feet.
/'riK-Ji ,if tlr I., nl /;/■ 1 7) /i,t. — {)[' our next beach only a small portion niiiiiins, It has ;i heidit of about ]') feet above the Dunil.is marsh om the s!<le ol Hcaslty's holjovv. just below the <'athoIi(' <-cmrtrry. at Hamilton. It is composed of shell marl juailc Mj) of masses nl' limki'r. >h('lls. wiiost,' components will be rubse(juently noticed, under mode, n dcpi»sits.
/'I'.scitf Ijiih, /j'«v/<A.- Our lowest :ind last licach is that of the j>rc.-cnt hike hjvcl. and extends a lew Wwt above its present shores. The componi-nt- of this bc.ich iVnin Toronto to Hamilton and « 'istward t(» (irimsby. Heamsvillc and Niaiiara river are of Hud- son I'iver pel)bl(>s with a few Jjnurentian stones. In the region of Ihimilton the jt'bblesat the lake level in [)art have been •derived from the older beach of the snnic imiterial at tlie level of lit) feet. But the Burliii-toM beach, M.'paritiuL;' the waters of (he bay of ili,> s:imc name from Lake Ontario, cnild not have been dcrivec] from these deposits by any a-i'iicy workinii' at pre- >enf, 'I'he Ijurlington beach i< less tlian iialf a mile wide with a mean lit;iuht ol S feet and deposited \\\ watci- about 80 feet •<1eep. The prc.-ent Burlington beach and the bed of tlie bay are exactly a counferiiarl of what wa< happiaiiiiii when th^. lowm- portion of the Dunda- valley wa< submerged :ind formed a bay. <'Ut oft" from the lake by wli.ii 'low lorm«i tli>' narrow ridge ot' Burlington Heights.
(Jtlii r Uriiilirs ill (Jiifii li'i.- - \\\ ]s:;7. Mr, Thomas llov mea- sured the beaches betweiMi Toronto .md Lake Simcoe. Iiavin" the following elevations above Lake < )ntario :~- ] ](>. lMO, 2S2, 310. :;4(;, W2, llil', oDl*. .•),'>y. .-)L>(; *;>•_'. T.U. TCI leet respectively.'^^ .\dditional gravel Iteaehes occur along the Northern railway a^ 'too feet, and on desceiclinL; towanls (icorgian bay at 520, .'l^S and ']54 feet above Lake Ontario. A -till tiner .-eiies of beaches
I
"I
• 'i'lic elevations were coiiicd (Voni llie (icrilo;:; of Canada, wlieir fliviitions well' i;'ivi'P aliovt; sea ; the (.lcolo;:ieiil Survey plaics Lake niitaiio at ■J;.;'J feet aliove }ii-li tide.
lor.
iiiiiy bo scon from Torontc) vvi's.tw;inl ;iloiiu tlu' Toronto, (inv an. I IJruco r.iilway. The clovatioDs and locatioiis wcrt; kindly fur iiishcd ni(; by Edmund Wrnizyo, E><|., the diief ontiini-cr (if the railway. Those sand and travel deposits occur at the f(>llowini; .'Icvations abnvo liakc Ontario : — H;o, L'8(». 37(». 71 (t, '.MM), 1;{40 Ibet respoirtivcly. Af'tor i>assini: the summit ol' tlu- road (I K!'i I'oet above Lake Ontario) and deseendini; towards I^ake [luron there are irravcl bods at lolK and 100(», and si-veral beds with ilevations down to (l!t7 lott above Lake Ontaio, Aloni; the western branch ol" the road there are also gravel deposits at I-'!>9. li:;0. lO.')*). 87(1, 8:)<> and 8:i(» feet above I^ake Ontario.
/iiiit/us .{(fjurriif In Liiki.t Siijitrlor ntul J/nrou. — The '"(Je- oln^y of (Vinada " contains the i'ollowin<; list of boadies adjacent to Lake Superior, n.ar IVtits Escrits, at 3'.t8. K)8, 4r»s. .'jirj, r»L*7, til'.') and OJKi feet almve I^ake Ontario. At Owen Sound there are beaches at 120. laO and 20(1 feet abovi' Fiake Muron, oi Itjr), 4!>() and ')U> feet .diove liake Ontario.
Hnir/ies Souf/i of l^nkt Oiiturin. — ^Alon;:' the (ireat Western railway, adjacent to the valley of St. David's, (filling a portion of the rafiini of the interLilaei.il Niaizara river) there is a beach at :;8(5 (to about 25l>) feet above L ike Ontario.
I have not been able lo obr.iiii the list of any serie.-> of terraces and Ancient beaelas in New Voik State. l*rof. Flail places the highest 'lake rid.:e " at ll'O fei't. F have observed the old beach adjacent to the Seneca lake and at the north einl of Skaneatles lake, wiiieh nach to ,in elev.ition >()0 feet above tlie sea, and liave placed the top of this ea<i bead. ;ibout (()1;5 i- 12) 02') feet above (jake Ontario.
(iriivel IHihje.'i Soiifli-\\'(s( <>/' Luki: L'rlij, have beer) observed by Messrs. G. Fv Gilbert an-i Winchell at 4!)0. ;{8(;, 408, 'jriO, 220, 19'), llii'), and 00- (I.') feet above Fiake F'lrie.
Arteiiiisi<i (!rin-('l ninl On I: Rlihy. — All the higlur beds of >lr;itified satid and uravol alonu tin.' Toronto, Grey and Bruce railway are within the aiea of j)r. Fiell's ArfcmcMa grniil, wlucli forms a slii;htlv curved belt 1 00 nilles loiiu and about 2i> miles broad, facinj; the Ontario vuUey. The belt extends from near (Jwcn Sound, on Georgian bay, to near tlie city of IJrantford.
Dr. Bell describes the Arteinesia Li,ravel as follows: — " Tiiis i:reat belt of gravel has a general parallelism with the Niagara e^arpment. and follows the highest ground of the peninsula. The materials couiposing it consi.'^t principally of the ruiu.s of the
I ■: ■;
tj '¥
104
Guelph tbrniation. on rhich the iireatcr part of it lies except towards the southern extremity, where the Niagara formation is hu-iiely represented. Pebbles of Laurentian and Huronian rocks are everywhere mixed with the others and sometimes form a con- siderable projiortion, while rounded frauments from the harder beds of the Hudson river formation occur locally in some abun- dance." (Note — These last rocks are obtained from lower levels.) '• The ,<>ravel is all well rounded and generally coarse. It often constitutes what might properly be called cobble stones, being loose and free from any adnnxture of clay, and it is distinctly stratified. Well-worn boulders ot Guelph, Laurentian and Hu- ronian rocks are disseminated througli the whole mass. At Brautford and Mount Forest (?) it overlies blue Erie clay."
1
TAKLE OF ELEVATIONS OF TERRACES, 15EACHES AND RIDGES.
The following elevations of terraces and beaches are here tab- ulated with reference to elevation above mean tide. This, how- ever, can only be approximately done as none of the series is complete. Some of the elevations refer to the highest exposures and others to pits cut into the gravels: —
Kijfrciu-ca qt lahl( vn n/'/ioi'tli jhi^
!/'■
n Oil liigii lauds of Micliiaaii.
// Snniniit of land.
(■ Bcacli also of tliis idcvatiou
on Mackinac i.sland. <l Adjacent to Si. David's vallcv.
' Along W. (I. and Bnico lailway. ./' Along "Whitby liiaiich of Mid- land railway.
1/ Along ]\Iidlaiid railway. // Along T. (i. Si I!, railway.
h
lo:
TABLE OF ELEVATIONIS.
|
n |
^.i. |
>* |
1 |
1 |
Gj |
|||
|
5^ |
3 ": |
1 |
M £ |
|||||
|
CO O |
_ O s . c c ^^ |
II |
s 1 fc.1 B O 55 |
" 1 v< U O IF |
d .4-1 £ c |
-5 .£ "^ 3 -3 — c o 1 1 « , — is O^ |
u a. s -• <-5 |
|
|
1,709 (/>) |
1,700 « |
|||||||
|
1,5«7 (in) |
||||||||
|
1,557 (in) |
||||||||
|
1,540 (w) |
||||||||
|
1,377 (w) |
||||||||
|
1,307 (m) |
||||||||
|
1,297 (w) |
||||||||
|
1,247 (m) |
||||||||
|
1.237 (ni) |
||||||||
|
1.140 |
1,117 (w) 1.097 (w) 1.1177 (w) |
f |
1,003 tt. |
|||||
|
1,011 |
l.OUl |
1 { |
959 981 to |
|||||
|
981 |
923 |
|||||||
|
9."i7 (in) |
||||||||
|
929 |
873 K05 |
s-17 707 |
944 (in) .S18, |
79.3 |
940 882 87-1 83.9 (■ |
872 |
79.3 708 738 |
900 7-18 |
|
747 |
749 |
1 •' 1 |
||||||
|
687 |
669 <;49 |
74 5 713 |
7o5 |
|||||
|
G33 |
d |
035 |
055 |
r |
0C3 to |
001 1 |
||
|
582 |
593 557 529 |
00] |
017 |
0 15 |
017 I 58 3C.') |
i;3R |
||
|
508 |
) |
527 |
||||||
|
to |
[ |
498 |
./ |
|||||
|
•171 |
J 457 |
<.->»- 4 |
505 479 4-18 |
|||||
|
427 |
407 |
401 |
43 ( to 432 405 |
3,7.'^ |
||||
|
3(5:-! |
342 |
U |
||||||
|
:i27 |
325 |
|||||||
|
255 |
||||||||
|
to |
||||||||
|
247 |
km;
■•k-
.<'.
> .
At u niucli l<»wir K-vtl tli:iu thf liigluT itr nuilial jiiirtion oftLi' Ai'tcuK'siji ur.ivcl n(.l<i(.' wliidi runs iii'arly north anJ houth ; there i^ anotlii'i' rhV^r known us tlu' • O.//.- I*l<hji\" which loaves thu Silurian oscarpincnt near I'aluiavc (on the \\. ii N. \V. railway) •it a licight of Tlili I'ci't above I<ako Ontario. Ft extends eastward to near tlic '-rireiit licnd " "I the Trent river, the .siuuinit of the lanjre beinn about twelve or loiirtien miles nortli of the lake, lifter passinu eastward of Torontt*. The Northern railway crosses it at 7.')4 feet, the Toronto .ind Nipissiim at S!».'') fuet, Whitby braneli at TSl I'cct and the Midland railway at {\(\\i feet above Lake Ontario. It is I'roin "JOO to ."JtMJ K-et above the broad trouuli from (ieori:ian btiy to the Uay of Quinte, occupied by Simcoe. Balsam, Uice and other lakes drained by Trent river. The ba.sin of this trouuh is underlaid by l'ali«'(»zoic and older rocks. Several small lakes occur on this ridj;,e without apparent I utlets. A spur of this ridi;e runs to Lake Ontario near Scar- boro, and forms the " heiuht>." rising vJOO feet ;ibovc the hike. It consi.-its principally oi" stratified fo>siliferous clay and sand with two intercalated beds oJ' boulder-l)earin;4 clay. I*ortions of the ■Oak Ridiic" eastward ol' the meridian of Toronto, consist of flay ridges — probably the exposed e(|uivalents oi the clay beds of •Scarboro Hei<;hts," The hiehest portion of Oak ridge is only i'.OO feet above the rocky floor of the trouiih, which forms the immediate northern m;ir<:in. We are safe in concluding that rhe stratified character of the lower portion of the ridge con- tinues downward to the rocky floor on which it lies, or with no important unstratified deposit bene.ilh to constitute it a moraine.
In studying these ridges, especially the Artemesia ridge, wo eannot fail to be struck with the similarity of tho.«e so-called Kettle Moraines of Wi.sct»nsin. Coteau des Fairies and Coteau de Missouri. There is a general parallelism between all these ranges. Even a portion of tlu' Artemesia gravel is nearly as elevated as Coteau dcs I*rairies.
Other high terraces and beaches occur along the St. Lawrence at 000 feet above the sea (Dawson); and ii» Tiabrador, at 1.000 feet, besides erratics at much higher elevation (Hind).
Tn Ireland and Wales marine beaches are found at from 1200 tn 1400 feet above the sea.
Origin of thv Tirrmua. — As before pointed out, we have no evidence of any general morainic ch.iracter of the "Oak ridge." ( Ml studying the levels of the <;ountry covered with Artemesia
-
107
gravol, w.; M'c simply ;i lii-li riil^v i)\' laiiil wiih li,:„!, iniiilviii-- Jill the viiiy ditwii fmiii tlic suimnit (over 17<»0 livt iibove tlu' so.i to an altitude of iihoiit ItJO 1'ect, -urntumleil by oik! *uceessi(»u of (»1<1 water-tiiar^iiis. iiidicatitii: the -rjidual m-DWth by elevatiou of a rocky or •_'etiorally rocky island, \\>v the "Artt mesia ^riivrl" reposes ,as fir as 1 !iave been able to leaiii) on hard rocks or titratificd clays, except iu th»? nld Imried chanin'ls of trilmtarifs of the ancient <iraiid river ' prii)cipa;,y). Surrnuiidiiii: the old island we tiiid in several ]ilar<'s rude tei raiM'> of about tlie same altitude, at many miles apa''t. V. t the waters did not lin-^er a> lontj to form Jiiarked terraces as at lowe,- levels. This '.iiMieral deposit in no way partakes of the cbaraeter of a Senteb kame. even thouiirb we e(»nsidered the -Oak ridiit; ' of that ejiaracter. as the latter uiueb more nearly resenililes one in outline, rel.tfive dir ion and cnmposition than the .\rtemesia highlands. The whole series of beaches and terraces about hake Ontario marks the slow (.'levation of the continent, causin;;- lainis at various ele- vations to be covered somewhat uniformly with tin.' -ravel and sand, and ai:ain somewhat intermittently, i^odueim; well marked terraces. Nor did this subsnlence o|' the waters cease when the present lake level was o})tained. is we hiu- a eiunparatively modern ledgi', carved out of the >ol'i .Medina rock.- near the outlet of the Welland canal, belov. the suilace ot the lake and e.xtend- ing downwards lor a known dejith of more than forty feet. Thi- fact would indicate local o>cillition ol rli«- iiiarnin of tie' jH'seiit lake basin.
I fail to comprelieiMl how any glacial lake coitld have existed when it was producing iirraccs over all the great lake leuiun at au elevation of what is now 17"() fet above the sea. I'l.ir the .-ur- face of the waters was not covered with an\ i:reat amount of ice — perhaps not much more than the ice I'rinin'- of tin- pieM'iit >\:ty Many portions of the southern liiLrhlands do not. ri>" to aii^ such altitude to be easily barricaded with the :-ni:.ll amount ot tli»atiij^ ice indicated by the traii.-[)orted m aerial.
There seems a ditJiculty in e.\|)hiiniiig the a!j-eiic'; of marine life iu this area when it is found in the bed of the St. J.iwreuce \al ley, unles.s the whole period wa- on(> of comjiaratively >liort du- ration, aud marine life did not ^et farlher we-iw.iid ihni the present outlet ol' Lake Ontario.
yVtf:' Dfaiii<i(j>: inf tin I III" ml Ski .-'V\\\> inland body oj' water, as the continent wa.- jradu-illv risin-- from )•'. netlh tin' -ea lev.-l.
iWMBMBMCm
108
.i'«,
t'-
oviilcntly had a large tiumbcr ol' outlets at ditleivut times by which it connected witii the outside ocean. These old outlets are indicated by a number of river-like valleys crossing the high- lands of Ohio and New York (not to refer to those extending from the valley of Lake Michigan and the presejit St. Lawrence valley). The following are the most conspicuous ancient water- ways: Through tiie highlands of New York; 1, by the Mohawk river, at 4.'?4 feet above tide, '2, then by the valley of TuUy lakes, at about 12(t() feet; o, by the valley of Skaneateles lake, at about 1200 feet; I. by the valley of Owasc(» lake, at 1282 feet; 5, by the extension of the valley of Cayuga lake, at 10].') feet; G, by the valley of the exteiisiou of Seneca lake, at Sli.") feet above mean tide ; and several others at greater elevations. All these valleys are from 100 to IJOO feet or more beneath the adjacent highlands. In Ohio, Dr. Newberry enumerates the following ancient channels: — 1, by the valleys of the (iraiid and Mahoning rivers, at !>.'>() i'eet above tide; 2, by the valleys of the Cuyahoga and T iscarawas rivers, at 9(18 feet ; '.>, by the valleys of Black and Styx (a tributary of the Tuscarawas) rivers, at 00i> feet ; 4, by the valleys of Sandusky and Scioto rivers, at 010 feet; and .'). by the valleys if the Maumee and and Miami rivers, at 'J40 feet. The summits of all these valleys are more or less tilled with stratified driit, and in some cases, as that of Seneca valley, the summit forms a long, nearly fiat alluvial plane, I'ree from boul- ders. All these valleys of New York, on the northward side of the divide are deeply underlaid by sediments, whilst to the soutiiward, exposures of rocks along their beds are much more I'ommon. The remarkable connection between these old outlets and the beaches is very striking. Thus, there are at about the level of the lowest of these outlets, 434 feet, beaches on both the southern, western and northern boundaries of Lake Ontario at corresponding heights. Also, at the level of the next lowest enumerated outlet (by Seneca valley) at 8(55 feet, beaches were produced (only a few feet higher corresponding to the outlet through which water a i'ew feet deep was passing), in New York (north end of Skeneatles lake), in Ontario (north of Toronto), and even in the region of Lake Superior.
Erratics and Origin of the (Iracd of (In: Beaches. — Almost everywhere in the •• region about the western end of Lake Onta- rio,' well water-worn boulders of Laurentian and Huronian rocks are occasionally to be met with, and in some places they
10!»
■1
arc abundant. Tlioy tn-v a1iiin<l,int in such remnants of th,. houldor clay as exist, an.l in portions of the lower beds of strati lied clay. At tlio western end of Lake Ontario they are not found in the Sauueen clay. However, in the hiter tornices thev :ire found, tliou-h usually of small size. On the surface of tli-' ••ountry above the Nia<j;nra escarpment they are met with much more fre(|nently tli.in below the escarpment (where they are very rare unless derived from one of the beaches). On the upper levels of the Dundas valley none are to be seen. Tlie " Arte- mesia gravel" contains n uiy. It also in places contains larur <|uantities of the water-worn remains of Hudson river rocks, all derived from lower levels. Along llo.sscau creek, in Barton township, there is a group of .semi-rounded boulders two feet long, composed of Medina sandstones, whose outcrop is only two miles away, but at au elevation of two hundred feet lower, be noath the Niagara escarpment. The northern erratics are much more abundant and larger on the highlands of New York and Pennsylvania than at lower levels at the western end of Lake Ontario, and occur on top of the terrace deposits. Besides these dej osits and the Devonian pebbles of New York, carried to higher levels, the materi,-.ls (»f the beaches arc derived more or less from the adjacent rocks. There seems, as far as Ontirio is concerned, but one explanation for the lifting of these water-worn pebbles and boulders to higher levels, and that is their trans portation and elevation by the slow agency of coast ice forming in many succeeding years during the time of continental sub- sidence, as we .see to-day the large boulders in many of the north-western shallow lakes lifted from their beds, by the action "f the thick winter ice, and drifted on some portion of the shore by the prevailing winds, there to be left on the dissolution of the ice, as reef several feet higher than the lake surface.s. Again, a,'* the waters were receding many of the boulders along the coast would again be picked up by the annual ice, and transported to hills, and growing beaches which are now the highlands to the .south, while tlie intermediate deeper beds received but few, rarely dropjK^d by the passing ice. In regions less expo.sed to currents and shore deposits but little stony material was deposit, cd, as is demonstrated in the upper portion of the Dundas valley and elsewhere. There does not appear to have been a large amount of floating ice, as indicated by the fine material over tlur beds of .some of the old outlets noticed already. Vol,. X. J. 2 No. 5.
.■<'■■
i.r:^
The ht'iichc."' ill till) ljiu;li»;r levels ;iic eoin|(nsod of iiiueli more lical 'A'7///.s thnii tliUM- at llii I'lct Jiiul at. the i>res<'iit water level, jiltimt the wiihtciii end of l.,akc Ontario now tn bo described.
liiii'Hinjloii Ihlijlits mnf Ihu'l hiqlnii llmrli. — The lower part of the Uuiidiis valley and the site of Builiiiuton bay were exca- vated out of the Kri<: elay dm in.:' the period of elevation ol' land that followed that iipoeh. and the inter^laelal (ii'and river flowed down this v.illiy in the same way that the Niairara river flowed down the St. Davids valhiy. The>e valleys beeauje closed, how- ever, duiinu,' the depo-its of the Sauueen elay and the terraces (the visible >urfaue foi' a depth <d' l!0(l feet in the St. David's valley shows only stratified sand, and was not closed up by jrlacial action as has been .'Hl: jested). Therefore the deposits of Bur- lin:^ton heights land the 1 III feet terrace) were not brought down the Dundas valley. ."Nloreuver. T liave never seen a solitary Niagara pebble in this terrace, tliou'^h sou!:ht lor. Aj^ain, the llud>on river pebbles in the J)undas beaches at iiiiiher levels are ail very small, whilst both the lit! feet terrace and the present lake beach contain some strata ol' cobble stones from four to six inches in diameter, with oval (water-worn) slabs from one to two feet louj:. The materials of these beaches have all been derived from the (Uhris of Hudson river rm-ks and contain a small (juau- tity of crystalline jiebbles of moderately small size. The nearest exposures of Hudson river rocks is at Oakville (20 miles distant, but at a lower level. However, at Weston (ijt) miles distant) west of Toronto, the same rocks occur at 171I feet (and lower) above Ijake Ontario. 'JMur shape of tlie pebbles is flattened oval, they were evidently derivetl froni these northern exposures and trans- jtorted around the whole western end of tlio lake to form tlie conspicuous terrace of ll(i I'eet and tlie present beach. This transportation has been iflected by the action of tlte waves aud floatiiii:' coast ice when the wattM' was at the respective levels. The present beach may have been in part derived I'rom the <lenudation of that 11(1 I'eet.
Bu''lin<;ton Ileinlits I'orms the extreme western end ol'the bay of the same name and tlie Burlinirton beach, the end of Lake. Ontario. The Heii^hts, varyinu' from les-; than ii (juaiter of a .uile to a few hundred yards in width. he))arates the Dundas iuursli (at the same level) i'rom Burlington bay. The width of the marsli here is about lialf a mile. At \\w northern end, it was ibrmerly cotmected with the bay by a ravine ])artly tilled by
/
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I
u If
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'. n.llwMy ,.n.U,.k,m..,t :,(>,,• tl.r luijas .-,.,■,. ...u thr..,„.h |i., ^<^^.^•ir.l.ns oanal. Th.. .\v.uUuu nf tl... ll..i,|,ts is lOS Urt almv. tlu' lake. ,„,.l is ,1,.. c.<m.i,.ai...r li,.k brtwcun .!,.■ torncos ,.„ I,.,,), S.JOS of tl.o DiUMlas ,u;.rsl.. ul.os. valK-y was ..xcav.tni l,.t;.,v tlu'ir ,K.|M,s.t. Murii.mtn,, bead.. In.i.i ;j(»(» t,. :,(.(. vanls ui.l,. j, about Hvc. inilos lon^, a,„l s.-pa.vites H,. bay fro,,, thr lake i„ ,|„. sam.. way a> tl,.- Iloidits s.,KU-at.- ti... bay lVo,„ th. ,.ru-sl, tb.
'!'.'" ''''"'- ''"• ^•"■•nt.Tp.M'f of tbr n,i„.,.. whn. th.. h.k." 1 ..„
^irtcrn.t l-v-ls. The bay inM-h. of ,h. b..ad. is 7. 1.., .i.vp N.-.th..,- of ,h..,. b,-a.h..s has b.v,. pn.,luc..I by ..,li„.,,,;: •"•"U-Jit ,lovv„ by stirauis an,I thnnvi. uj. in thr Urn of <a,M >ars. as ,„ ,„a„y ,no.lr,-,. h:,rhn,-s. hrcau^o „,. iniporr,-,,,, st.va,,,, i>.''vc. flown] down the Dnn.Ias vallry (.Mnce the epo,!, „f hi-h •!lovat,o„s at the eiose of the fo,.,natinM ..f the K,-i,. Hav) o,- ~1 "o^rflow. Mo,-e ,,a,-tic.,laf]y i. this staten.enf ,,n,ve„' by th. •'bs,.nce of all „,ate,-ia] belo„^iMu to the Dutuias vallrv o,- .v-ion <lra,ne,l by its st,-oa,ns. In the {{u.'lin^ton lleiuhts there is often «nw a„.l plunue be.hlinu^ .unl ^UMy obii,,ue sfatifieation seen wh.c-h ,l,p towards th.' lake. |.;.k.. Ontario never fre<.zes „,o,.„ tban a \\w ,uiies from its ,nai-in. and even nio,-e than sho,v ice is UMCom,„on. Winter storms of,,.,, pile th.' ice and eontained stone ve,-y h.-h on the sl,o,a.s. Murlinuto,, b.ay always fre..zrs ov..r Tt beconios appaivnt that !..„!, ol' th.se ri-l^es (t^h. latter ri<in- only e.oht feet above the lak,) w.fe pioduced by tl,e lako action from Ilndson riv.r prbbKs and .sand, tran'sported by coust-K,,. and waves. Any >/rUis of Ilmlso,, ,-oeks fonnd in the Dundas valley hdow 1] T, [Wt level is ve,-y small. Th. L.-mi-entian pel)bl.'s are no more than the few .lep,'.>it.Ml from th.' floatin- ice of the hi.J.er feriMee .■p.,eh upon th,. .-e-ioii IV.)m which the detritus came.
Tiiecau.se which det.'rmiiie.l the po>iti.iii (,{' ilu'se ridi;cs i> easily explained. The ext.Misi..,, of the lake into thes- n.m-ow arms was frozen over durin- winte,-, ,iot necessarily any eol.ier than th.at of the pi-esent time. As th.^ n..rth-..ast.Tn" wimls were driviug the coast-ice a-.ainst the In.z.n b,.ni,.r. it became broken up and dopo.sited it.s bu,alen of stoms an.l > md in th- same way that the pre.-eiit coast-ice with its ontained ston.s e.,ntinu.-s to inc-ease (though ve,-y slowly) the breadtli of Uni'lin^ton beach, aided with the action of the waves.
Ifiahon I^irrr Fns!i!h in ihr last f,n, /Awr/o ...—Abundance of ihssils occur in the pebbles of these beach.s, at llC fe..t .above
112
fhu luko and ut the l.tkc lovd. Tlicy ;iri! M'ltlom I'ouml iu tin; jiri;nHC«:t)us |H'l»blfS, but iiio.-t ;ibuii(laiitly in lln' luoro Hattcufd calcareous stonu. I liavi; obfaiinij tin; i'ollowiiij; Ibssils : — St'iiu- /iiirn fifnunxi, ('ohnniitirin ti/iro/ntn, Aflu/n'n Itiiiilii, Stiopho- iiuiiii ii/teniit(ii, S. iff/tiililci, li<i>tiiim mrii'm, Oiiliia trstudi- iinn'it, (), mciili.iif'il is, i). /j/ii.r, Olmlifhi irnnsn, Miuliolopuls iiiudioliiris, .]/t)ifin/iiftsis. (iiuuicidus uudt'tiTUiiuod sptcits), Ci/f- tiidiintii /ill nil f til, OrfhniiiitK sj)., Chtuhnitn sp,, Li/rodcsnut jiutifsfiliifd, Aiiifiiiiii/chiit I'lulliitu, Ai'iiiiln ilniiisHU, Murchliiouiii (fi'iicilts^ ( 'i/rfi)fi/i s urn I Ins, (h'tliniii'ns /uiiuUosnnt,, Ot'i)ioci.'i'>t>i rrihlsiftfiiiii, /jij)i I'difiii ('miiiili iis'iH and tails of (\ilyini iii\
Lift lii liiiiiitiiij ht fin Till nil Difio.sifs. — l)i'. Boll t^ivos a list'^ <il' Jiuniy |ilacos iu Ontario wlicrc tlii' »tratifital irravels and sands contain I'loli -water >li('Ils. To bis li>t otlicr collectors have added localities. However, about tlie western end ol' Laki^ Ontario they arc very rare, and 1 have seen only one ov two localities whore lliey are lound aliliuujih they occur near Niagara Kails.
The iirincijtal locality i> not in the lerraees, but will be (li'scribed below.
However we have reniain> in liiirlini:lon Heiiihts more inter- esting: than >helis. ."Nlany years a-o in niakinii the cuttiuii through the beiuhts ol the Desjardins canal, at an elevation of 70 feet above the lake (about ."l^^ feet below the suniniit), remains oi" the mammoth J'Jiii/cjilins .hn-l.-smii : horns ol a wappti, (J'rms Cnu- iiihnsis, and the jaw of a, beaver. ( 'nstor fihir, were found. In If^Ttl, while makini; another excavation iu the Heiirhts the work- men found a tui*k and one vertebra of a mammoth. At a depth of o(l or -10 feet from the top of the terrace there could have been no beach on which these animals miiiht have wandered. Were the animals then union miatt; enoniih to be carried tiiithcr on till! ice, were they dmwned in atlemptinu to cross from one side of the ancient valley to the other, or were their b<Mies car- ried thither by the Hicitini; ice?
In several of the swamps north of Jiake Eric; teeth and bones of mastodons have been I'nuinl, but lh(!.-e beloiiu: to more modern de))osits.
XT.- .MoDKIi.N DEI (tSlTs.
.Most of the deposits ol the pn'x'iit tinie consist oi the soils carried down by the streani> into the huiidas mar<h and Jjake Ontario.
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• Cml. c.r ( 'all.-
ise,:;.
.
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113
Odc drpo!.it r.ow .o.,,!,!.!,,! ,l.„..s „„» U.Kmi^ to tlii.v fla.^>. .Iu^twf.t..| III..- Catlu.lk- c.:i.iot.:iy at llauiiHoii ami LordcriuL' «Ti a branch ni' the Dumlas ,„ar.sh we MimI a hr-d ..r shdl marl. This is al,u.,>t oiuiroly uia.U' up .,(' Uukvu >\u'\U. ami .•o„tai„s h1«o the Inllowiii- inodcin sptrics in a statr „r ,,p..t'iTatiou :- r,Hula '>/f,ntaf„, Tn,„h,ims Iriihatal,,, .]/,s,„lou „//.„h,/,ri. ,Sncnn,„, ,,A//y,/„. as r(.-t;(.irtiiz.'(l by Mr. Whiteavos. This ik-posit has a thickiirs> ol' about i:» r,ri .xfoidiMo t,, th:it hni-hf abow (ho marsh.
Sonic int.M(;>tin- facts with n-aid to th.' modern dcpo.^its iu our hike and tlic Dundiis marsh have nrci.tK ,...mc t.. li-ht.. 'I'he area of the Duihbis marsh is rather njure tiian two mile>. It is generally shallow and lillr.l with ree.ls. In the ea>t,.rn portion there are .-iome deej)er place> where the reeds .lo not oj-ow, it i> bein- rapidly liljed by iji,. .Mvumulations ef the sediments Vrom Mie streams emptyin- int.. it. The deposits are now principally made during the increaM,d How ol' water of the sprimr fre.sh- ets. A constant source ol* trouble lias for manv yenrs been experienced by the silting up nl the JX-sjardin "canal, which pusses throui-li the marsh. As late a> iStitt or ISC;'. the western end of the marsh was rre(,m nt.d im .katioi: purj.o.«cs; ihf same portion is now turned into I'ertile meadows. For nearly a score of years the proj.rietors have be.i, trying to recover tlie land by luakiug dykes. One dyke after , iiother has b»'..n encroaehing on (he marsh until a considerable .ma i> now drained. In makin- one of these dykes a trench wa,- Mink to a depth of se-veral feet and at six and one-half feet Inuii the .Hirfaee Mr. James ("lie-- wiu came on a bcl of saw-du-t >i.\ inches in thlekii.-.v Tiiis was iu tlie y<ar ISTC. ()n makiii- iM(|uiry. I le.nn.'d that the first saw-mill in tlio region began operation.- alioiit tliey.ar HI I. Thus we see that from the time that the >aw-dum was luouglit down from >ir. lJreen"s mill, in the J.indsay civek. a deposit"'of mud six '11(1 one half I'eet thick .iccumulatt'd in a period ..f about sixty-tivv years, or that the nite ,1' deposit i- ■i]H>n/^r4mik-i*{-.Hu iuJi.,per anuum. It is probable that at ile piv.ent rime tin accumulation is aiore rapid as the area nf il,e d. po.^ii has been considenibly lesseuetl. The parts of the mai-h oui«id.' ,,nd a.lji- ceut to the dykes are now entirely ab(.ve w.iter in tie later p.n-ti.m of the .summer. This silting iq. is continuin- iiniii the .sj.rin-: fresliets c;ui no lon-er .ncrflow the low land, wh-n ;ill the scdi" ments are earric.l into ibvper water. SeaM.ns .,f hi;^], ^^a!.el in
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ry.
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114
the lako, (if eoiirso, favor tlio tliic^kc iiing of the .--oil near the sur- face, when perhaps tlie siiccoeding scasoi) will he accompanied by low water, with the consequent distrihufion of tlie sediments in only the deeper portions of tlie urea.
fjiil't F/iirf,i(iti'(>)is. — In order to iiscertain what proportion ot the elevation of tlie b()t«-oni of tlie swamp was due to tiie sedi- ments. I succeeded in j:'ettin<: some of the records of tlie fluctu- ations of the lake levels. In a Smithsonian contribution Col. Whittleseu has publisluMl a more or le>s complete register of the tluctuiitiou of Lake Ontario at tlu' port of Osweuo between the years 1815 and 1857. The earliest of these records be'.:ins in ISloaiid is v-'ontinued i'or the next twelve years, durini:' which time the annual fluctuation was very considerable, the extremes beinu' as much as 1.') I'eet. From IS-MI to lsr)l> the maximum diffen iiee ol" levels w:..' only t.vo feet; wliile that from 1859 to 187.'> (obtained from otle.'r I'et'rds) was 2.8 feet.
The question arose whether tlu liiMb- were risinu' (or water sinkim:) or not. At ()swe;^(i the mean hei;^ht of the water between 1840 and 185."j was about nine-tenths of ,i foot hii:;h(;r than between 1815 and 1827. As the records obtain. h1 from 185!' to 187;} arc not IVimu same datum I eannot compare them with previous years. Hut if we take the heiiihts from 18511 to 180(1 inclusive, and thfise IVouj 18(17 to 187.'! inclusive we find that durinii' the later period, at OsweL:o, the waters were about nine- tetiths of a foot lower. The table of fluctuations (obtained from (\aptain FaTrgrieve, of Hamilton; i'or Toronto Harbor shows that the mean height of the water hi tween 1874 and lSo5 was one foot lower than that between ISi'il and 1^51 inclusive, fn com- putiuLi' these hei^li^s the records for two years in each period arc incom]>lete, tiieretbre they have not been included in the calcul- ations. The following are the mean heiulits of the laki' at Toronto above ;i given datum mark for the years :^ —
feet.
|
1S.'4 |
\ ',5 |
|
IS"),*! |
i.:!o |
|
isi'r, |
1. h; |
|
1S,-,T |,S5S |
•'.•'.". |
|
iS"i(» - " :'..". |
|
|
1S(!0 |
1. 1" |
|
iSlil |
|
|
ISC" |
J.l 7 |
|
isor. |
1 .(;'j |
|
18fit |
'J . 7 ( 1 |
|
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The mvntcst fluctuation in the 21 years was 3.1 feet, at Toroutd foiiiittiii-- the lour year, '57. 'til, 'UC, '{?.)). From these fluetuatioiis of the hike it can be seen that the position of the iM-eatesr, deposition in the niarsli will be somewhat ehan<iO(i in different years, as much of it is very near the water level. During; a continuance of years of h)\v water th(> sediments would bo carried farther by the streams and cnn<;e(jueutly the hii^her grounds; would not receive additions.
FiUliuj up fJiv MV.s/r/v/ Kiid of IhirJlngfoii Buj. — Grindstone creek empties into the we.-tern end of Burlington bay, and the currents principally pass close to the eastern side of Burlington Heights. As this stream brin-^ d>'Wn i large ((uintity of mud and, although emptying first into a swamp of its own), a consid- erable amount of sediment is carried into the bay and is deposited in the ((uieter waters near Carrol's ])oint. at which place there is a long bar (submerged at hi-li water) where these currents meet the waves of the ojumi bay. This portion of the bay is fast becoming a swamp.
XII. — I \Kr, MK.ii.vn.
About two miles northwinl ol' Wat. 'rdown, there is a small pond — Lake Medad— half a mili' Iihil:. In tlie western part of Dundas valley there is a numb r n!' small ponds amotit^st the hills of drift material, but thcsi! ar.' only Muall expansions of the various streams at heights from ."ilO f.'et to 210 fVet above the level of Lake Outai-io. On one sii'e of ]>akf Medad there is a ru:>ged shore of deejily weathered dnjiMnites. extending more than 20 feet above its waters. Tlie shoia; bdKN'Mh is eomj'O^cd of a beach of pebbles. The op[iosite side of tlie lake i-- shallow, ami is now occupied by a marsh. Thisl.ikelet is iio( a.i e.vpinsion of any mo- dern rivulet. A numlier of insiuniliea'ir stivams empty into it, but not one of which could |possib!y have ixeivat. d rh',^ ]irescnt basin. Tills lakelet is not on the uppermost portion ot tlie Niagara es- carjmieiit, lui i\ a somewhat brnadly !'UL:i:ed eoiintrv. 'i'lie basin of Jjake Medad is evidently a iilled uppoiainii of a lar^fr water channel that became blocked by drift m il"ri il, which it has be<'n unable to clean out for Itself in modern times, 'i'iie whole lake could bo drained by cutting thivu-h the diift deposits which occupy one of its extn'inities. I was informed by one of the inhabitants that he had discovered an underiiround outlet, so that a portion >''.' the waters discliar-e by a stream directly into Lake
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()nta,lo, while at present, the sn.all visible outlet is by Grind stone creek, through Waterdown ^
Comparing, it with Lak. Ontario, it has its Niagara escarpment on one s,de and on the other a gradually shallowinir shore towards .n area ev.dent!y filled to some depth with drift material anab- Tou^e T, ,^7^ -Silurian roeks north of Ontario, whilst .ts outlet ,s blocked up, as the the greater lake is, in its south- eastern extremity.
Thus I will close a fragmentary work, which will, T hope, assist m the study of the surface geology of Ontario, and also give more prommcnce tu the almost undeveloped subject of pi-'^iatile ' jreology .
(Having learned the value of accurate elevations, I have col- ected the levels of most of the railways in Ontario and some other hsts of elevations which will follow the present paper )
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