130 GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 



cular, when the formation was deposited upon the sloping sides of the shores adjacent to the 

 sea ; for though it might extend upward two or three hundred feet above the floor of the for- 

 mation, yet it would be no indication of the depth or thickness of the mass. It is rarely dis- 

 turbed by fractures or faults : a few, however, exist, but the derangements are slight, and it 

 is extremely rare to meet with contortions ; and the stratification is parallel, with scarcely a 

 deviation from a horizontal position. 



Extent of the Tertiary of Lake Champlain. 



There is rarely in geology a fact more interesting than the one which relates to the wide 

 extension of this formation. Commencing at Whitehall at the head of Lake Champlain, it 

 may be traced continuously not only the entire length of the lake, but also to Quebec, and 

 as it also appears, far towards the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It also lines the shores of the St. 

 Lawrence river as far as Ogdensburgh. From Wliitehall south, clay beds, whose charac- 

 ters conform perfectly with those upon the lake, extend indefinitely. In Albany county it 

 becomes an important mass, and there is great probability that it is contemporaneous with 

 the tertiary of Lake Champlain, though as yet fossils have not been discovered in it to com- 

 plete its identity ; it is, however, to be remembered, that a large part of the clay upon Lake 

 Champlain is also destitute of fossils, and here the dissimilarity is not so great as at first may 

 appear. Indications of the same formation exist upon the shores of New-Jersey, the Saxi- 

 cava rugosa having been found in a condition resembling those upon Lake Champlain. On 

 the eastern Atlantic, too, this formation shows itself still more unequivocally, particularly at 

 Lubec in Maine. 



This formation appears, therefore, to be extended widely, particularly ii. the north where 

 it is best characterized ; but we have not yet reached its utmost bounds. F-om the informa- 

 tion derived from the works of Lyell and other distinguished European geo.ogists, we have 

 every reason to be satisfied that it exists in Sweden, particularly at UddervtUa, where the 

 same fossils occur as at Port Kent and Beauport. 



All the facts relating to this formation point to a period, by no means ancient, when the 

 northern parts of Europe and America were submerged ; from which condition it has been 

 elevated by forces which acted not only widely, but in power remarkably uniform. 



My attention was first directed to this formation in 1835, while on a visit to Lubec in 

 Maine ; and a few facts noticed at this visit were published in the Journal of Science for that 

 year. 



I have now noticed some of the most important facts relating to this mass ; there are, how- 

 ever, many inferences of great interest, which are to be dravra from its position, and the re- 

 lations which it has to the plienomcna of drift and diluvial action in this country, which will 

 call for particular attention hereafter. 



The fact then that the fossils of the tertiary are limited to the upper portion, has tended to 

 obscure the characters of some clays which are widely distributed, principally in consequence 



