THE OCCURRENCE AND ORIGIN OF AMBER IN 

 THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 1 



ARTHUR HOLLICK. 



A Recent Discovery of Amber in the Cretaceous 

 Deposits at Kreischerville, N. Y. 



Preliminary Note. — A recent discovery of amber in consid- 

 erable quantity, in connection with the Cretaceous deposits at 

 Kreischerville, Staten Island, N. V., may be found" briefly 

 recorded by the writer in the Proceedings of the Natural Sci- 

 ence Association of Staten Island for November 12th, 1904, but 

 without any extended description or discussion. The discovery, 

 however, was found to have aroused an unexpected interest in 

 the subject, and the preparation of this paper was suggested. 



Geologic Age and General Description of the Deposits. — The 

 deposits in question consist of clays and sands which represent 

 a part of the eastward extension of the Amboy clay series of 

 New Jersey and are included in the Raritan formation, which is 

 generally recognized as middle Cretaceous in age and approxi- 

 mately the equivalent of the Cenomanian of Europe, the lower 

 Atane beds of Greenland, and the Dakota group of the West. 



At Kreischerville they have been extensively, excavated for 

 economic purposes and in what is known as the Androvette pit 

 a section was recently exposed, consisting of irregularly bedded 

 clays and sands, referable to the geologic horizon above men- 

 tioned, overlain unconformably by more recent sands and 

 gravels, the entire series showing more or less disturbance by 

 glacial action. A view of a portion of the pit is shown in Plate 1. 



Conditions Under Which the Amber Occurs.— - The amber 

 occurs in a stratum or bed, characterized by layers and closely 

 packed masses of vegetable debris, consisting of leaves, twigs, 



1 Read before the Botanical Society of America, Philadelphia meeting, Dec. 

 }0, 1004. Investigations prosecuted with the aid of a grant from the Society. 



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