SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 119 
conglomerate (basal Malone) of limestone and chert, including boul- 
ders as much as 8 inches in diameter, one of which yielded remains of 
Fusulina elongata, a fossil of Permian age. These boulders were of 
course derived from the underlying strata. This basal conglomerate 
is overlain by limestone containing conglomerate and brown sand- 
stone layers, all of Jurassic age (Malone formation). On the east 
side of this area the gypsum is apparently overlain by brown sand- 
stone and blue limestone of the Malone formation, dipping southwest. 
West of the gypsum quarry the railroad ascends a low ridge from 
which there are fine views of the Finlay Mountains, to the north, and 
of the Sierra del Presidio, far to the south in Mexico; the latter is more 
closely approached after the descent is made into the valley of the Rio 
Grande. 
Finlay is a small settlement on the high alluvial plain northwest of 
the Malone Mountains. Near by are several small knobs of lime- 
stone, some of them Jurassic, and some Cretaceous 
i cue ee (Finlay), with members of conglomeratic sandstone. 
Population 60.* About 12 miles due south, near the Rio Grande, are 
New Orleans 1,118 t¢he ruins of Fort Quitman, once an important army 
miles, 
post when the Indians were on the warpath. 
West of Finlay there is another long tortuous descent of nearly 
400 feet into the valley of the Rio Grande. There are many cuts in 
lake beds, in most places eroded into badland forms, notably at points 
2 miles beyond Finlay, at Stevenson siding, and thence to Madden 
and beyond. The material is a pink sandy clay of compact texture, 
with a few harder sandy beds. Badlands such as are shown in Plate 
17, A, result from rapid gullying in soft beds that are sufficiently com- 
pact to sustain steep slopes. In the next 5 miles the valley of the Rio 
Grande is reached, and the railroad curves to a northwest course, 
which continues for 60 miles to El Paso. 
The uplifts that followed the time of great volcanic activity in 
western Texas strongly affected the preexisting drainage, forming 
basins between the mountain blocks, some of which still exist. A 
wide trough excavated by the Rio Grande was dammed by the uplifts 
base of the formation. The intricate 
folding and complex faulting in these 
mountains renders it difficult to deter- 
Finlay. 
% The Jurassic rocks of the Malone 
Mountains (Malone formation) con- 
sist of blue and gray limestones with a 
few intercalated layers of conglomerate 
and sandstone, having a thickness of 
about 1,000 feet. At the base is a con- 
the rocks 
ders. Some of the strata contain mol- 
luscan fossils of Jurassic age. The 
fossils are most abundant, so far as 
reported, in low, detached hills about 2 
miles east of Torcer siding at a horizon 
believed to be about 300 feet above the 
found in the Malone formation are 
ammonites and gastropods in pamela 
able variety, but there are also many 
other forms. (Deseribed by y cre) | 
