ITiS .\i:\\' ^<»l;K siwri: miskim 



Ik'si Incalii ics Ikmii^- ni llic iKtusc of Mr (icoi-o-e Acker on West 

 iiinimiaii', wlicrc a red Imni. \isihl(» from Schoharie, stands 

 dirccily (ni (liis snrl'acc; and on l-'asl nionnlain above the Fox kill, 

 where the road for some distan.ce rnns on this stratnni. 



Tlie two jdaces jnst mentioned fnrnish tlie l)ost localities 

 for collecting- the Oriskany fossils of this region. The fossils 

 are best obtained from the loose blocks which are fonnd ]denti- 

 fnlly scattered abont the fields or piled n]) in fences. The 

 weathered rock is easily shattered by the hammer, and care ninst 

 be taken to get the fossils without injuring them. 



On the eastern side of West hill there ai)i)ear to be from 5 to (> 

 feet of the Oriskany, but owing to the imperfect sections exposed, 

 no accnrate detenninations could l)e made. On the west side of 

 this hill, however, this formation apjiears to be much thinner, and 

 in some i)laces not represented at all. This is again the case 

 farther southwest along the road leading to Howes Cave between 

 Dann's and Sunset hills but on the north slope of the latter hill 

 a good exposure is found [sec section in ch. 5]. On the Avhole, 

 the Oriskany sandstone is not well exposed in the Oobleskill val- 

 ley, and it is not impossible that it is absent over part of this 

 area. On lOast hill the thickness appears to be not over one or 

 two feet, the highest beds being represented. 



While the lack of outcrops can not of course be accepted as 

 conclusive evidence of the absence of this formation in portions 

 of this region, yet the fact that the Oriskany is so eminently fitted 

 to ])roduce extensive outcroi)s, or at least to influence the topog- 

 raphy, lends color to the sui)i)osition that where the outcrops are 

 wanting, other conditions being favorable, this formation is either 

 absent, or so Ihin that it can not exert its normal influence on the 

 l)rogress of ei-osion. If tluMi we acce])t the facis as indicating an 

 ii-regiilai-ity in the thickness of jhis formation, we have additional 

 e\ideiice |!oiiiiiiig to an hiatus between the Becraft and Oriskany 

 forma lions of I his region. We may thei-efore assume that during 

 eaily Oriskany lime ih(» Schoharie as well as the northern llelder- 

 beig regions wcic above waler and snbjecl lo a cei'tain amount of 

 erosion (hlrill^ which I he Toi-I I-:wen beds and in j)laces also por- 

 tions of I he npiM'i- liecrafl weic removed, willi I he exception of 

 the reinnani of tlie former formation fonnd on West hill. J)uring 



