A PECULIAR CLEAVAGE STRUCTURE 555 



During the past three summers the writer has had opportunity to 

 study the metamorphic complex in the Dalton, EUijay, and Dahlo- 

 nega quadrangles at the northern edge of Georgia east of the Great 

 Valley. Stretched pebbles,^ so called, have been observed at various 

 places in the first two areas mentioned. Among the localities visited 

 and studied is that near Ellijay depot, as well as others not very far 

 away from the town. As a result of these studies a possible different 

 interpretation of this interesting phenomenon has been deduced. 

 It is the object of this short sketch to present evidence for this inter- 

 pretation of a phenomenon which, so far as the writer is aware, has 

 never been observed elsewhere than in the southern Appalachians, or 

 at least has never been described from any other region. 



GENERAL GEOLOGY 



The portion of the Appalachian Mountain belt near Ellijay 

 probably consisted formerly of both sedimentary and igneous rocks. 

 The region has passed through one or more periods of dynamic 

 metamorphism as a result of compressive forces acting from the east 

 or southeast. During this metamorphism and possibly since, the 

 rocks were profoundly folded and faulted; simultaneously with and 

 subsequently to these structural changes they have been altered and 

 mineralized and as a result almost perfectly recrystallized. The 

 erosion and weathering characteristic of the region as a whole, which 

 followed the earlier forces, has left them in their present condition. 

 The character of the rocks in the region varies widely from slightly 

 metamorphosed slate to profoundly crushed and metamorphosed 

 igneous and sedimentary rocks. 



Location. — ^The first occurrence of "stretched pebbles" to be 

 described is located near the town of Ellijay, the county seat of 

 Gilmer County, near the confluence of Cartecay and Ellijay rivers. 

 The "pebbles" may be found in a cut not more than 20 feet deep, 

 on the railroad, 100 yards more or less north of the depot, almost 

 opposite and also just beyond the nev/ wholesale house of W. J. 



I The term "stretched pebbles" is used for convenience in this and subsequent 

 places. The writer's views as to the proper designation of these "pebbles" will be 

 devebped later. 



