178 ENVIRONMENT OF VERTEBRATE LIFE, ETC. 



the Triassic it is at least possible that the massive limestones described 

 are a continuation of the one to the north assigned to Gschelian age by Girty. 



At Banff in Alberta the upper Carboniferous and Permian (?) are repre- 

 sented by: 1 



The Upper Banff Shale. This is a series of brown, calcareous and often 

 arenaceous shales, lying conformably upon the quartzite below. It is often 

 sun-cracked and is interbedded with thin layers of sandstone. A very 

 common fossil is Schizodus. 



The Rocky Mountain Quartzite. A clean quartzite which represents a 

 sudden shallowing of the water which did not become muddy. This forma- 

 tion is about 800 feet thick at Banff, but thickens rapidly to the east, so 

 that at Lake Minnewanka, 12 miles east, it is 1,600 feet thick. 



The Upper Banff Limestone. This is shaly at the bottom, but more 

 massive near the top. The lower shaly portion has cherty lenses and cherty 

 shales interbedded with the limestone. 



The Upper Banff shales have been shown by Lambe and Kindle to be 

 probably of lower Triassic age : 



"The Upper Banff shale has been referred in some of the recent reports of 

 this Survey to the Permian. Since the original reference of the Upper Banff 

 shale to the Permian was of a provisional character it has seemed desirable to re- 

 examine the question of the age of these beds in the light of additional evidence 

 of the last season's collections. I have accordingly brought together all of the 

 available collections from these beds, including Professor Shimer's collection 

 from the Lake Minnewanka section, and referred them to Dr. Geo. H. Girty of 

 the United States Geological Survey, who has a wide acquaintance with the 

 faunas of this and related horizons in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. 

 Dr. Girty concludes that these faunas represent the horizon of the Lower Triassic 

 (Meekoceras beds) of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. If this opinion is correct, as 

 I believe it to be, the reputed Jurassic beds from which the fossil fish transmitted 

 to you were obtained and the ' Permian ' of the Banff map as well should be re- 

 ferred to the Triassic. Inasmuch as most of the species in this fauna are new, 

 this determination will have to rest for the present on evidence of a somewhat 

 general character." 2 



The evidence for the Permian age of these beds is set forth by Shimer, 3 

 Burling, 4 and Lambe. 5 



1 Allan, J. A., Rocky Mountain Section Between Banff, Alberta, and Golden, British Colum- 



bia, along the Canadian Pacific Railway, Summary Report Canadian Geological Survey 

 for 1912, p. 173, 1913. Rocky Mountains, Guide Book No. 8, pt. n, p. 183, 1913, 

 issued by the Geological Survey, Ottawa, 1913. 



2 Kindle, E. M., in Lambe, Ganoid Fishes from near Banff, Alberta, Trans. Royal Society 



of Canada, series 3, vol. 10, p. 37, 1916. 



3 Shimer, H. W., Lake Minnewanka Section, Alberta, Summary Report Canadian Geo- 



logical Survey for 1910, pp. 145-149, 1911. 



4 Burling, L. D., Notes on the Stratigraphy of the Rocky Mountains, Alberta and British 



Columbia, Summary Report Canadian Geological Survey for 1915, pp. 97-110, 1916. 

 6 Lambe, L. M., Description of a New Species of Platysomus from the neighborhood of 

 Banff, Alberta, Trans. Royal Society of Canada, vol. 8, p. 17, 1914. 



