sandstones 387 



Clinton Group. 



The rocks of this group are shales, thin beds of limestone and 

 shaly sandstones. They crop out in a narrow belt from Herki- 

 mer county west to the Niagara river and bordering the Medina 

 sandstone on the south. Sandstone for building has been quar- 

 ried in the southern part of Herkimer county ; at Clinton , near 

 Vernon and at Higginsville in Oneida county, from this forma- 

 tion. The nearness of the Medina sandstone, with its more ac- 

 cessible quarries and superior stone, has prevented the more ex- 

 tensive development of the quarrying industry in the sandstone 

 of the Clinton group. 



Oriskany Sandstone. 

 The Oriskany sandstone formation is best developed in Oneida 

 and Otsego counties. The rock is hard, silicious and cherty in 

 places, and generally too friable to make a good building stone. 

 ]STo quarry of more than a local importance is known in it. 



Cauda Galli Grit and Schoharie Grit . 



These rocks are limited to Schoharie and Albany counties and 

 to a very narrow belt which stretches south and thence south- 

 west to Ulster county. The Cauda Galli sandstones are argilla- 

 ceous and calcareous and are not durable. They are used in 

 Albany county for roadmetal. The Schoharie Grit is generally 

 a fine-grained, calcareous sand-rock which also is unsuited for 

 building. Quarries in these rocks have local use only. 



Marcellus Shale. 



As its name implies, this formation is characterized by shaly 

 rocks, which are not adapted to building. The abundance of good 

 building stone in the next geologic member below it — the 

 Corniferous limestone — whose outcrop borders it on the north 

 throughout the central and western parts of the State, also pre- 

 vents any use which might be made of its stone. A single quarry 

 was at one time opened in it at Chapinville, Ontario county 



Hamilton Group. 



The rocks of the Hamilton group outcrop in a narrow belt, 

 which runs from the Delaware river, in a northeast course, across 



