ANCIENT WATER LEVELS OP CHAMPLAIN-HUDSON VALLEYS 187 



from the Hudson river clays and refers then to Vaccinum oxycoc- 

 cus abundant in the Connecticut clays. 



Other observers have from time to time reported fragments of 

 wood and lignite in clays in or about the river gorge but much of 

 this material appears to be of more recent origin than the 

 strictly glacial and Albany clays (see paper by Fitch in bibli- 

 ography at end of this report). 



Indian shell heaps occur along the banks of the Hudson at 

 various places, composed largely of the shells of oysters and 

 these have occasionally been seen in situations which led to the 

 belief that they were in place in the sands overlying or inter- 

 stratified with the clays. An examination of such a supposed 

 case on the Croton delta showed Professor Grabau and myself 

 that the shells were in a talus and derived from an old shell heap 

 at the top of the bluff. 



As for the remains of a reindeer found at Sing Sing (Ossining), 

 I do not know the circumstances under which it was found; but 

 its occurrence is consonant with the view of nonsubmergence of 

 the lower Hudson valley. 



So far as present evidence goes it appears safe to state that 

 no strictly marine fossil has been found to be indigenous in the 

 waters in which the clays were deposited from the mouth of the 

 Hudson to the vicinity of Whitehall; and further that no 

 estuarine species are known in the clays or sands. This does 

 not mean that the clays were not deposited at sea level with a 

 communication with salt water on the south or at the north 

 but thait they may have been laid down at or as far above sea 

 level as their geologic environment may demand. 



Landslips. The disastrous landslips characteristic of many 

 clay areas, as for instance those of the St Lawrence valley de- 

 scribed by the late George M. Dawson^ and the recent catastrophe 

 in Norway reported by Dr Hans Reusch,^ are not likely to occur 

 in the Hudson valley for the reason that over the great portion 

 of the clay area these deposits lie on the dissected and glaciated 

 rock terraces of the river. There is no great thick deposit of clay 



^Abstract in Am. Geol. 23, p.103. 



^Reusch, Hams. Norges Geologiske TJndersogelse, no. 32, Aarbog for 

 1900, Kristiania. 1901 ; Nogle optegnelser fre Vaerdalen, p.1-32 ; Jordfaldet 

 ved Morset i St.lordalen, p.32-44; The Landslip at Morset, p.226-28. Some 

 notes regarding Vaerdal, p.218-26. 



