GEOLOGY AND SCENERY OF NORTHEAST COAST 89 



The little map is intended to show that there is definite 

 trend to the rocks of the Basement Complex, and that this 

 trend has a remarkable parallelism with the present north- 

 east coast of the peninsula. That is, the edges of the worn- 

 down, folded schists and other rocks, like the axes of the 

 folds, run parallel to the general shore-line. It looks as if 

 this part of the Basement Complex were originally built 

 up by mighty earth-forces acting in a northeast-southwest 

 direction and raising a distinct and lofty mountain-chain 

 on the line of the present coast. Further exploration is 

 necessary before the conclusion can be considered as final, 

 but Dr. Bell's discovery in the Baffin Land Archean of 

 what would appear to be the continuation of the same 

 " Labrador trend" (thus extending more than 1300 miles) 

 lends force to the idea. 



In Figure 13, heavy black lines diagrammatically repre- 

 sent the " Labrador trend," and others represent the various 

 elements in both relief and rock-structure which belong to 

 the great Appalachian mountain-system. The two trends 

 meet at the Strait of Belle Isle. The " Labrador trend" 

 locates one of the most ancient (Pre-Cambrian) mountain- 

 ranges of America; the Appalachian trend characterizes 

 the much younger (Post-Carboniferous) system that in- 

 cludes the Alleghanies, the Blue Ridge, the White Moun- 

 tains, the Green Mountains, and the lower ranges of New 

 Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Where so 

 little has been done in the field, one must hold but loosely 

 to the idea of a definite law of structure in Canada's most 

 difficult terrane, but it is believed to be a fair and just, 

 perhaps helpful, working hypothesis to govern further 

 exploration. 



