EARLY DEVON 1C HISTORY OF NEW YORK AND EASTERN NORTH AMERICA "J 



I 



THE DALHOUSIE FORMATION 



Dalhousie, lying at the upper reaches of the Bay of Chaleurs where 

 its waters broaden out from the debouching Restigouche river, faces from 

 the New Brunswick side of the bay the now well known site of Devonic 

 fishes at Scaumenac. It is in fact the northernmost point of land in the 

 Province of New Brunswick. The village rests at the foot of an intrusive 

 volcanic boss, Dalhousie mountain, lying a mile or two back from the water. 

 From this parallel apophyses extend seaward and in between these have 

 been caught the series of beds whose fauna here invites our attention. 



Following the shore southeastward from Dalhousie harbor beyond the 

 Incharran Hotel to the Bon Ami rocks (a sea wrecked promontory fre- 

 quently referred to by writers as Cape Bon Ami but not so known by the 

 residents) one traverses only the section of one of these igneous arms. 

 The inward retreat of the shore at the Bon Ami rocks marks the begin- 

 ning of Stewart's cove and here the sedimentaries are exposed only in 

 shore section and extending inland but a short distance. With these 

 only are we here concerned. A series of about 450 feet of calcareous 

 shales, for the most part uniformly dipping at an angle of 70 degrees toward 

 the northeast and north rests upon the slopes of the eruptives with some 

 degree of alteration from contact therewith and carries interbedded ash or 

 tufa strata full of organic remains. Sedimentation was contemporary with 

 the volcanic ejections as evinced by the ash beds and quite probably coeval 

 with the outpouring over the sea bottom of the greater volcanic masses. 

 These disturbances have produced no dislocations of the strata though they 

 have hardened and glazed them along certain contacts. 



Historical note 



Not much has been recorded concerning the geological situation at 

 Stewart's cove and it is perhaps quite sufficient to quote here the account 

 given by Sir William Dawson [Acadian Geology, ed. 4. 1891. p. 578] which 

 summarizes the work of his predecessors in this field. 



