100 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



silicious sandstones which appear abruptly, without transition. 

 The first bed is 15 inches thick, then follow 4 to 6 inches of shale 

 like that underlying the sandstone and then other beds of sand- 

 stone similar to the first succeed. The abrupt change from soft 

 argillaceous shale to massive sandstones indicates a cessation of 

 subsidence, or an elevation of the sea floor, and a creeping out of 

 the shallower water conditions with their attendant sand deposits 

 over the region where previoush^ only muds were laid down. 

 There are in all something over a hundred feet of these sand- 

 stones, though near the middle of the mass the beds have become 

 shaly again. 



No fossils have been found either in the shales or the sandstone. 

 Extended search, however, will undoubtedly bring to light some 

 of the characteristic Upper Ohamplainic species. Lower beds than 

 those exposed in the creek are found on the Delaware and Hudson 

 Railroad southwest of Central Bridge. Here again heavy-bedded 

 sandstones occur between the shales. 



The lower beds of the series are exposed along the Schoharie and 

 its tributaries north of Central Bridge and may be traced as far 

 north as the house of Mr William Bega, 3 miles south of Mill 

 Point, or 7^ miles south of Tribes Hill station, where they are 

 seen to rest on the Utica shales in the bank of the creek. In the 

 bank of the stream are exposed 114 feet of clear black shale which 

 represent the Utica horizon. Above this follow 195 feet of grayish 

 sandstones alternating with bluish argillaceous shales to the top 

 of the cliff. These represent the lowest Lorraine beds, the con- 

 tact with the Utica being a pronounced one.^ What are proibably 

 the highest beds of this series are well shoAvn in the roadway lead- 

 ing from Mix and O'Reilly's quarry at the stone crusher, in the 

 northeastern part of the Schoharie village. The lowest beds ex- 

 posed are dark arenaceous shales, succeeded by a purplish gray 

 dark silicious sandstone a foot in thickness. Above this are 

 about 20 feet of a lighter, yellowish or reddish, somewhat friable 



^Prosser, C. S. Notes on the Stratigraphy of the Mohawk Valley etc. 

 N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 34, p. 470. 



