4: NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



GEOGRAPHIC POSITION 



The area comprised in the Little Falls atlas sheet lies mostly 

 north of the Mohawk river between East Canada and West Canada 

 creeks. The Mohawk runs across the sheet near its southern edge. 

 The Canada creeks diverge and run out of the sheet limits, East 

 Canada to the east, and West Canada to the west, about midway 

 between the Mohawk and the north border of the sheet. The map 

 extends over 15' of latitude, 43 to 43 15' n., and 15' of longitude, 

 74 45' to 75 w., comprising about 218 square miles. 



Its geographic association is with the Adirondack highland 

 region and the Mohawk valley lowland. South of the Mohawk the 

 altitude rises quickly to that of the dissected plateau region of 

 southern New York, this being wholly without the map limits. 

 The lowland is worn down on a belt of rocks which are weak as 

 compared with those to the north and the south. It is much nar- 

 rower here than farther west, for the reason that rocks which here 

 are resistant and hence belong to the plateau district, become 

 both weaker and thicker as they are followed to the west, so that 

 the belt which they underlie becomes merged with that of the low- 

 land. 



The lowland belt is an agricultural one and has been cleared 

 and farmed this many a year. The district occupying the north- 

 east portion of the map belongs however with the Adirondack 

 highland belt and is still forest covered. But lumbering has been 

 carried on for many years around the edge of the woods, so that 

 within the limits of the map the timber has been mainly cut and 

 the woods are therefore very thin. Fires have however not been 

 as frequent as in many parts of the Adirondacks, and very little 

 of the territory has been burned over. Sporadic cutting of timber 

 is going on even yet, mainly hardwood, with here and there a 

 spruce, the logs being hauled out singly throughout the year. The 

 supply is sufficient to keep several small sawmills running. 



GENERAL GEOLOGY 



The detailed topography of the district can not be made intelli- 

 gible without a knowledge of the rock structure and the geologic 

 history of the region, since it depends on both. The study of the 



