Geology and Topography of Westen New York. 91 
of elevation. As few points could then have been permanently 
raised above the ocean, east of the Rocky Mout tains, the action 
tion, made equal progress. When, however, the Mtinitive nu- 
cletis was laid bare, and Mount Marcy had attained an elevation 
above the: level of the ocean, and bid defiance to its waves and 
the thunders of its storms, then, and not till then; New York ob- 
tained her first “foothold on terra firma.” This “war of the 
elements,” however, must have been of long continuance before 
any portion of the sedimentary rocks were rescued from the do- 
minion of the ocean. Mount Marcy has an elevation of 5467 
‘feet ;* while Roundtop, of the Catskill, composed ‘of sedimen- 
tary pace is but 3804 feet ;+ and from the best data in my pos- 
session,{ the highest peaks of the dividing ridge which separates 
the streams flowing south from those which take a northern 
course to the St. Lawrence, do not probably exceed 2000 feet 
above tide water. The elevation of this part of the continent, 
therefore, must have been exceedingly gradual, to give time for 
= degradation and removal of such an immense amount of mat- 
ter; and it would seem probable, that it was not till the shoals 
had become so extensive as to obstruct the further action of the 
waves and arrest the removal of the detrital matter, that this 
ridge attained a permanent elevation above tide water. 
_ Whether it prove true or not, that these rocks have been re- 
moved to so great an extent as the foregoing train of reasoning 
presupposes, is of little consequence to the main question under 
consideration. The broadest ground has been asstmed, in order 
to show that the causes assigned for the topographical phenom- 
ena of this part of the state, are abundantly sufficient, not only 
to account for what we actually witness, but also for any extent 
of ‘change which facts may hereafter demonstrate. 
Supposing even, that no very great extent of strata have boda 
removed, that these ancient deposits thinned out rapidly on the 
north, and that the surface has only received such modifications 
as hike? B Beg ftw from the remaining strata; is there 
* Prof, age ea, 1838, p- 244. 
t Prof. Emmons, New York Geological Report, 1837, p. 100. 
t See Am. Journal of Science, Vol. xxxim. p. 122. 
te 
