PLEIST0CP:NE VERTEBKATES FROjNI CUMBERLAND CAVE 3 



limestone at this point belongs to the Keyser member of the Helderberg 

 formation, and is about 50 feet stratigraphically below the base of 

 the Oriskany. The limestone is stnictiirally a part of the steeply 

 dipping west flank of the Wills Mountain anticline. In the vicinity 

 of the cave the strata are standing nearly vertical, a fact that probably 

 aided greatly in the penetration of surface waters. 



ACCUMULATION AND PRESERVATION OF MATERIAL 



The followhig accomit of the conditions encountered at the cave is 

 taken from Gidley's preliminary report (1913b, pp. 94-95) on the 

 occurrence: 



In making the railway cut, several small chambers at higher levels than the 

 one containing the bones were encountered, and before the work of excavation 

 began there was said to have been an opening to the surface on the crest of the 

 hill directly above the middle of the present roadbed. This opening so nearly 

 overhead probably at one time served as a trap through which were introduced 

 the animals whose remains are now in the deposits of the bone cavern. There 

 are other openings along the line of outcrop of the ledge, one of them at about 

 the same level with the bone-bearing deposits, appearing at the north end of 

 the ridge Where it slopes abruptly down into the Wills Creek Valley. These 

 openings may or may not have communicated at one time with the caverns 

 intersected by the railroad cut, but probably had nothing to do with the accumu- 

 lation of material in the latter. 



From Brown's [1908, p. 163] account of the Conard Fissure, it would seem 

 that the conditions governing the accumulation of material in the Cumberland 

 Cave were quite similar. The bones for the most part are much broken, yet 

 show no signs of being water worn. They are found scattered fairly uniformly 

 throughout the entire mass of unstratified accumulations which consist entirely 

 of cave clays and breccias, \mevenly hardened and more or less cemented together 

 by stalactitic materials. There is an almost entire absence of admixture of sand 

 or gravel, or in fact anything that would suggest the possible aid of streanx currents 

 in sorting or placing the material during the process of accumulation. 



RELATIONSHIP OF CAVE TO PHYSIOGRAPHY 



Five geographic provinces are recognized in Maryland (Fenneman, 

 1930): Coastal Plain, Piedmont Plateau, Blue Ridge, Valley and 

 Ridge Province, and Appalachian Plateau. The region about 

 Cumberland Cave belongs physiogra])hically in the western part of 

 the middle section of the Valley and Ridge Province. 



Physiographic studies of western Maryland and vicinity (Abbe, 

 1900; Clark and Mathews, 1906; Stose and Swartz, 1912; Stose and 

 Miser, 1922) show that several surfaces, representing periods of ces- 

 sation of downward stream-cutting, have been developed. Rem- 

 nants of the various upland surfaces recognized are commonly 

 represented by sets of ridge tops having accordant levels. More 

 recent stages in the process of stream erosion are seen in the different 

 gravel-strewed terraces. 



