236 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



of the tectonic axis of the system can be made in the broad areas of 

 eruptive granites, diorites and gabbros so plentifully distributed along 

 the coast. In the northern part, from Cape Chidley to Cape Mugford, 

 the structural trend is represented in the present day topography of the 

 Torngats and, to a less degree, of the Kaumajets. Elsewhere, there are 

 only subordinate ranges of hills the directions of which lie parallel to 

 the strike. The peculiar attitude of the east-west crest-line of the Kig- 

 lapait cannot be explained until the constitution of that range is known. 



It would be of great interest to determine the relation between this 

 Labrador trend and the structural axes of the Appalachian system. A 

 hint of that relation was suggested by the structures observed at Great 

 Brehat Harbor in Newfoundland (twenty miles south of Cape Bauld). 

 There a series of slates and feldspathic sandstones of unknown age but 

 very similar to the Cambrian (?) sediments of Kirpon, shows sti*atifica- 

 tion striking on the average N. 65° W. while a later and beautifully 

 developed slaty cleavage strikes N. 35° E. The cleavage has an Appa- 

 lachian trend ; the folds show what may be regarded as the Labrador 

 trend. If the future survey of northern Newfoundland proves that this 

 association of structures is general, it may not be too bold to consider 

 the region as at the nodal point of intersection of the two master struc- 

 ture lines of eastern North America. 



These structural lines are likewise related respectively to the Labra- 

 dor and Appalachian continental shelves which are so typically devel- 

 oped. Where the two shelves meet, we have the Grand Bank of New- 

 foundland. Although not accentuated among the theories of the Bank so 

 far formulated, the possibility that the plateau on which it stands owes 

 its origin to tectonic movements at the intersection of the Labrador 

 and Appalachian structural axes, should not be overlooked. Thoulet 

 seems to have thrown final discredit on the older view of Maury that the 

 Bank has been built up from the deep sea by iceberg droppings ; but 

 Thoulet's replacing icebergs by coast-ice as the carrying agents still 

 leaves the question open as to whether the materials dredged up from 

 the Bank may not represent but a very shallow veneer coating the sur- 

 face of a submerged mountain-plateau. 



Observations on the Surface Geology. 



The most important problems in connection with the surface geology 

 of the coastal belt relate to glaciation and postglacial crustal movements. 

 These processes became most interesting, perhaps, when viewed in the 





