GEOLOGY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY DISTRICT. 417 



qiiartzose mica schist into a genuine mica schist, and, on the other, into 

 quartz conglomerate. When the mica becomes quite apparent in the 

 rock, we shall designate it as quartz schist, otherwise, quartzite, or, where 

 pebbles are present, quartz conglomerate. Here, as in many places else- 

 where, it consists of a narrow, interrupted band. It is first seen near the 

 forks of the road at O. Bronson's, and south at W. Hunt's. It is uncon- 

 formable with the gneiss on the south-east, and with schist on the north- 

 west. It is found in the south-west part of the town, on the road, now 

 practically discontinued, that runs south from Landaff village. The road 

 passes over it on the hill south of J. Clough's. We have gneiss here on 

 both sides of the quartzite, though unconformable, but both dip westerly. 

 The strike of the rock would take it near the outcrop at Bronson's. To 

 the south it keeps on the east of the road, but crosses it about half a mile 

 north of D. N. Page's, and an eighth of a mile west of Page's it crosses 

 the road running parallel with the river. Here the strike is somewhat 

 variable ; it has a fine-grained gneiss on the east, and a coarser variety 

 on the west. A characteristic of this band is the low dip of the strata. 

 It rarely exceeds twenty degrees. West, near Mrs. Grant's, there are 

 isolated bands of quartzite that dip north. 



In the east part of Benton there is one of the most extensive outcrops 

 of quartzite that we have; and we find here all the varieties, — quartz 

 schist, quartzite, and quartz conglomerate. It first appears south of D. 

 Howe's, and it may be a continuation southward of the band that out- 

 crops on the north side of the Wild Ammonoosuc in Landaff. In shape, 

 this area, as a whole, in Benton and its extension into Haverhill, is pecu- 

 liar to this rock. The strata seem to have been doubled up and bent on 

 themselves ; and where the great fold occurs it forms the ridge and sum- 

 mit of Black mountain. From Howe's the strike is southward ; on the 

 ridge more to the west, and on the summit of Black mountain, and on the 

 ridge west where it has its greatest thickness, it is almost directly east 

 and west. It differs from the area north in the greater inclination of the 

 strata. 



Near D. Howe's, east of the quartzite, we have a hornblende gneiss, 

 with nodules of epidote ; and east of this is the common gneiss. On the 

 west of the quartzite we have gneiss, the strata of which are nearly ver- 

 tical ; and the inclination of the strata of the gneiss on the east is greater 

 VOL. II. 53 



