THE 
AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 
Arr. —On the Physical Geology of the United States east of 
the Rocky Mountains, and on some of the Causes affecting 
the Sedimentary Formations of the Earth; by Wiuiiam W. 
Martuer, Professor of Natural Sciences in the Ohio University, 
Athens, Ohio.* 
Part I. On the Causes of the great Currents of the Ocean, and their 
Influence in the Transport and Deposition of the Sedimentary Rocks 
of the United States. 
Ir is well known to those who have attended to the geo- 
logical structure of our country, either by reading or observa- 
tion, that the whole territory of the United States south of the 
great lakes and the St. Lawrence river, and between the Rocky 
Mountains on the west, and the Blue Ridge, the Highlands of 
New Jersey and New York, and the Green Mountains on the east, 
* In discussing the subjects suggested in the title of our article, in this and 
some subsequent Nos, of this Journal, it will be found convenient to adopt the 
following divisions :— 
I. On the causes of the great currents of the ocean, and their influence in the 
transport and deposition of the sedimentary rocks of the United States. 
II. On the causes of elevation of the sedimentary rocks above the level of the sea, 
and of the plications and foldings of strata, particularly those of the United States. 
III. On the periods during which these elevations, plications, and foldings of the 
strata occurred. 
IV. On the metamorphic changes that the sedimentary and other rocks have un- 
dergone since their deposition and elevation. 
The first and second parts were read before the National Institute at Washing- 
ton, D. C. in April, and before the Association of American Geologists and Natu- 
ralists in May, 1844. 
Vol. xu1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1845. 1 
