548 HENRY B. KUMMEL 
which overlie the Lockatong beds, and which are so well exposed 
in the valley of Raritan, particularly near New Brunswick. They 
are predominantly red in color, although a few purple, green, 
yellow, and black layers occur. In general this series consists 
of a monotonous succession of very soft argillaceous red shales 
which crumble readily to minute fragments, or split into thin 
flakes. Much of it is porous, the minute, irregular-shaped cavi- 
ties being often partially filled with a calcareous powder. Cal- 
cite veins and crystals are common in some layers. Locally 
lenticular masses of green shale occur in the red. In size these 
ange up to a foot or two in diameter, and vary in shape from 
nearly spherical to lenticular masses, narrowing down to thin 
sheets along cracks. They are undoubtedly due to chemical 
changes resulting in the leaching of the shale. 
Although the majority of this series are soft red shales, there 
are some hard layers, chiefly near the base, and occasional beds 
of fine-grained sandstone and flagstones, some of which afford 
valuable building material. Massive conglomerates along the 
northwestern border are in part the shoreward correlatives of the 
red shales. 
Evidence that the shales were deposited in shallow water is 
abundant. Ripple-marks, mud-cracks and rain-drop impressions 
occur at many horizons. In some quarries imprints of leaves, of 
tree stems, or the stems themselves are frequently found. The 
numerous reptile tracks which have made the Newark beds 
famous occur chiefly in this subdivision. Typical exposures 
occur along the Raritan River, particularly near New Brunswick. 
The Brunswick beds underlie all the region under discussion 
except that occupied by the Lockatong and Stockton beds and 
the trap rocks. This area is considerably more than two-thirds 
of the whole, partly because of the great thickness of the series 
and partly because the beds have been bent into broad, gentle 
folds. Standing on the northern end of Sourland plateau one has 
a magnificent view of the low plain formed on the Brunswick 
shales, chiefly in the Raritan valley, of the trap ridges which 
interrupt its continuity and of the enclosing highlands. To the 
