RHODE ISLAND COAL MEASURES. 195 



TAUNTON QUADRANGLE. 



The eastern part of the area designated the Taunton quadrangle is 

 nearly devoid of outcrops. In general it may he said that, except for a 

 triangular area on the southeast equal to about one-ninth of the whole, this 

 quadrangle is occupied by the rocks of the Carboniferous system. The strata 

 which appear at the surface are mainly the harder conglomerates and sand- 

 stones, thrown into anticlines and synclines. Of these structures there are 

 at least two well-defined sets in the western part of the quadrangle: the 

 Dighton syncline, with coarse conglomerates, coming to a nose-like end at 

 Dighton in Richmond Hill; and the Great Meadow Hill or Taunton syn- 

 cline, with the coarse conglomerates of the "Rocky Woods," west of 

 Taunton. Between these two great conglomerate areas lies the axis of an 

 anticline which probably traverses the area eastward to Middleboro. On 

 the northern side of the Rocky Woods tract is an anticlinal axis with nearly 

 vertical strata, north of which lies the Mansfield syncline. 



The deposits so far recognized range from the highest beds in the for- 

 mation, including the Dighton conglomerates, downward toward the middle 

 of the Coal Measures section, including members of the Seekonk and Ten- 

 mile River beds. The precise position of the lowest strata seen is not defi- 

 nitely known. The following notes pertain to important natural exposures 

 of the strata and to artificial openings. 



Red beds. — At one point in the northwestern part of the quadrangle, about 

 1 J miles southeast of West Mansfield Station, in the road on the west side of 

 Hodges Brook, red slates are in contact with gray beds, striking N. 64° E., 

 with nearly vertical dips. This is the only exposure of red beds known 

 in this area, but whether they are an extension of the red slates in Attle- 

 boro or are a reappearance of the Wamsutta group, there is no means of 

 deciding. The red slates in the drift south of this point afford plainly 

 marked flattened impressions of calamites. 



outcrops in Norton. — Midway between Norton village and the southwestern 

 arm of the Norton reservoir is a low outcrop exposing about 100 feet of 

 conglomerates, sandstones, and slates. The strike here is nearl}- NE.-SW. 

 The conglomerate is composed of quartz, quartzite, and granitic pebbles 

 varying from half an inch to 3 or 4 inches in diameter. These beds can 

 be traced eastward for a quarter of a mile. Unless they are overturned 



