Connecticut River Valley. 231 
1. The disruption of the surface of the primitive rocky strata 
into fragments, which by disintegration and attrition, produced grav- 
el, sand, clay, and the different kinds and mixtures of earth. 
2. A lake or bay extended from the ocean to near the present 
north line of Massachusetts, in which the secondary strata of the 
lower valley were formed, by a long continued accumulation, diffu- 
sion, and subsidence of materials, collected from all parts of the 
valley. 
3. The lake, and the supply, diffusion and subsidence of gravel, 
sand, clay, &c. continued as before, but the materials ceased to hard- 
en into rock. 
4. The dislocation and dip, and the hills, valleys, and mountains, 
of the secondary strata, were produced, by the agency of subterra- 
nean fires. 
5. The melted substance of interior rocks rose through chasms 
and fissures of the previous dislocations, spread over the sand-stone 
strata, and formed the present ranges of greenstone. 
reat commotion at and near the surface of the secondary 
valley, which broke and displaced the upper layers of sandstone, dis- 
arranged the superincumbent red clay and sand, introduced 
them various kinds of pebbles and fragments, and left an extensive 
covering of unconsolidated materials, resting upon the secondary rock 
in a state of confused mixture. : : 
7. A period of tranquillity, in which the clay-beds of the lower 
valley were formed by deposition in water. 
8. Another great commotion at the surface, probably the effects 
_ of a deluge, which bore along, and left extensive tracts including 
the clay-beds of No. 7. covered with unarranged loam, sand, gra- 
vel, pebbles and rocky fragments. 
9. A chain of lakes subsisting in the central parts of the valley, 
in which, at uncertain periods, were accumulated and formed the 
highest terraces of plain. The surface of the lakes subsiding by 
successive breaches of their barriers, caused the formation of low- 
er plains, and lastly, of the present meadows. 
