igo2] Ami Field Notes. 151 



terraces across the Gatineau river, on the east bank opposite 

 Ironsides. These are conspicuous features in the landscape and 

 are seen to great advantage at the present railway flag station. 

 Four of these terraces are clearly discernible from the station. 

 These terraces correspond to other terraces at practically the same 

 elevations on the west side of the Gatineau River valley, forming 

 the raised beaches which of late years have been subjected to such 

 great denudation. Numerous valleys have recently been formed, 

 and were carved out of the soft marine clays of the Green's Creek 

 formation. This process is still going on, and the young streams 

 are cutting out their beds to a lower level. The growth of the 

 young forest of pines, maples and poplars which has taken place 

 since the great forest fires of 1874, is doing much to preserve the 

 land from erosion 'and denudation, which would level it down and 

 carve it out even more conspicuously during present times. The 

 bare and denuded aspect which the clay hills presented years 

 after the great forest fire, without sign of plant life upon them, 

 has been replaced by a vigorous growth of trees not very dis- 

 similar from those which the old marine terraces supported fifty 

 or a hundred years ago If not destroyed by fire this young 

 pine forest will be of great value in the future. 



No fossil organic remains were found at any point during the 

 afternoon's outing, but the marine clays and sands of the railway 

 cutting about a mile north of Chelsea station afford fine examples 

 of marine fossil shells of the Pleistocene age, among which may 

 be noted: Saxicava rugosa, Macotna baWiica, Leda [Portlandia) 

 arctica. 



H. M. Ami. 

 Ottawa, Sept. 7th, 1902. 



