[ma-tthkw] geological CYCLES IN MARITIME PROVINCES 125 



banded with alternate light and dark red, and in the upper part of 

 the series interbedded with the limestones and quartzites; they are 

 accompanied by hornblende and mica schists, into which they sometimes 

 grade. The diorites included a variety of rocks, some of which seem 

 to be altered sediments, while others are altered igneous rocks, gabbros, 

 quartz diorites and diabases. 



The Lower Huronian Cycle. 



In the earlier geological explorations in Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick large areas of slates and quartzites were met with which 

 were first called grauwacke, and, subsequently, Cambrian; in these areas 

 fossils were rare or absent, and when found, were not of a kind to 

 throw much light on the age of the beds in which they occur. Such 

 was a large area in Nova Scotia, cut up by granite intrusions, in which 

 gold in paying quantities was afterwards found, hence called the gold- 

 bearing series. WTien Upper Cambrian fossils were found in the rocks 

 of the Mira river. Cape Breton, which proved to be quite different in 

 appearance from the gold-bearing series in Nova Scotia, the latter was 

 called Lower Cambrian, and is now so called in the reports of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of Canada, and so designated on its maps. 



But since this name was so used, a careful study of the areas in 

 which Cambrian fossils have been found, has been made, and while the 

 Cambrian terrane in southern New Brunswick agrees almost exactly 

 in the succession and aspect of the members with that of the corres- 

 ponding terrane in Cape Breton, it does not at all agree with those 

 of the geographically intervening (so called) Cambrian of the mainland 

 of Nova Scotia. There is, therefore, strong reason to suppose that the 

 latter is an entirely different terrane and of a different age. It is cus- 

 tom and precedent that has retained for the latter the name of Lower 

 Cambrian. Unfortunately, this Maguma or gold-bearing series is not 

 seen in contact with any Palaeozoic series older than Silurian, and our 

 reasons for placing it beneath the Palaeozoic systems will be seen in the 

 latter part of this article, 



A great deal of detailed surveying on the Maguma series has been 

 done by the ofiScers of the Geological Survey of Canada and others, and 

 its strata have been^ found to be of enormous Lhickness, yet of remark- 

 able uniformity. According to Mr. E. E. Faribault, they consist essen- 

 tially of two divisions,^ a Lower or Quartzite Group, and an Upper or 

 Graphite and Ferruginous Slate Group. 



In this report (1883) Mr. Faribault does not give the thickness 

 of these groups, although saying that the quartzite group is over 10,000 



* Rep. Prog. Geol. S^rv. Can., 1883, p. 145P. 



