3l8 WALCOTT 



Algonkian Random Terraiie. — The sandstones of the Ran- 

 dom terrane are considerably broken and disturbed, and capped 

 by a highly altered greenstone, which appears to have been 

 deposited and eroded prior to the deposition of the basal Cam- 

 brian sandstone. 



CAMBRIAN SECTIONS OF NEW BRUNSWICK AND CAPE BRETON. 



Mr. Matthew has so fully described in many papers the for- 

 mations of the Cambrian system in New Brunswick, and their 

 contained faunas, that it appeared almost unnecessary to reex- 

 amine them. It was mainly on account of his statement that a 

 great unconformity exists between the ' Etcheminian' and the 

 ' St. John quartzite' at the base of the Middle Cambrian that I 

 was led to study the sections at St. John and on Hanford Brook. 

 Mr. Matthew gave me all assistance possible and guided me to 

 the localities where the best outcrops of strata could be found. 

 He has done a great deal of earnest, thorough work, and I re- 

 gret that I am obliged to differ from him in the interpretation of 

 the Lower Paleozoic section in New Brunswick and Newfound- 

 land. 



In the city of St. John the examination of the outcrops led me 

 to the conclusion {a) that the Lower Cambrian strata beneath the 

 St. John quartzite had been deposited on and against an irregu- 

 lar, uneven shore line, (<^) that the sands of the St. John 

 quartzite had been spread conformably over the beds of the 

 Lower Cambrian (' Etcheminian'), (c) that where the pre-Cam- 

 brian (Algonkian) rocks projected above the Cambrian beds, or 

 formed the shore lines, the St. John quartzite conformably over- 

 lapped the reddish-purple and greenish-colored arenaceo-mica- 

 ceous shales and thin-bedded sandstones of the Lower Cambrian 

 ('Etcheminian') and came in unconformable contact with the 

 Algonkian rocks. 



The basal bed of the St. John quartzite was formed of a clear 

 white sand, no traces of the subjacent Lower Cambrian or 

 Algonkian rocks appearing in it in the outcrops that I have ex- 

 amined. It is only in the layers 30 feet or more above the base 

 that white quartz pebbles, over a half inch in diameter, begin to 



