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ON THE LEADING GEOLOGICAL AREAS OF 

 CANADA. 



BY E. J. CHAPMAN, Ph. D , 



Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in University College, Toronto. 



In a recent number of tlie Canadian Journal, an outline was given 

 of a proposed subdivision of the Province of Ontario into certain 

 natural areas. In the present essay, an attempt is made to extend 

 a subdivision of this kind to the entire Dominion, but in the form of 

 an index only, defining the general position of each area, and sum- 

 marizing in a few words its distinctive characters, without entering, 

 at present, into physical and geological details. That a generalization 

 of this sort, now first attempted, must present many imperfections, 

 can well be undei-stood ; but, as the only condensed view, hitherto 

 published, of the leading geological features of the entire country, it 

 may not be altogether unacceptable.* 



The Dominion of Canada includes, at present, three western and 

 four eastern Provinces. The western Provinces comprise : Ontario, 

 Manitoba, with the North- West Territory at present attached, and 

 British Columbia. The eastern Provinces include : Quebec, New 

 Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In the follow- 

 ing geological summary, these Provinces will be taken in the above 

 order. 



PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. 



This Province admits of a subdivision into six natural areas, com- 

 prising : (1) The Lower Ottawa District j (2) The Gananoque and 

 Back Townships District; (3) The Lake Ontario District ; (4) The 

 Erie and Huron District ; (5) The Manitoulin District ; and (6), 

 The District of the Upper Lakes. 



(1.) The Loioer Ottawa District. — Comprises a comparatively level 

 area, bounded on the north by the Ottawa Piver; east by the 



* It is proposed to issue this Index, when completed, in a separate form, with the addition 

 of two or three pages of introduction, a list of the works consulted in. its compilation, and out- 

 line maps of the various Provinces, showing the subdivisions adopted in the test. 



