l8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



In Erie county on the western end of the belt the dip of the 

 Upper Siluric strata has usually been estimated at 50 feet or less 

 to the mile. The Clinton outcrop, however, here lies fully 150 feet 

 higher with respect to sea level than it does in the central part, 

 a circumstance that seems to indicate a higher rate of inclination 

 than the above, when it is further considered that the line of out- 

 crop is somewhat south of its position in Wayne and Cayuga coun- 

 ties. At Rochester the dip has been stated at 80 feet to the mile, 

 in a direction slightly east of south. 



On the eastern section of the belt the dips increase progressively 

 from Madison to Herkimer county, while there is likewise a grad- 

 ual increase of elevation of the outcrop. The average dip, as 

 determined from the Chittenango and Lakeport wells, in Madison 

 county, is 62 feet to the mile over a distance of 8 miles. The dip 

 of the iron ore at CHnton as determined by leveling is 150 feet 

 to the mile. There is little basis for calculation of the dips in the 

 part of the belt beyond Oneida county, but it is to be expected 

 naturally that the beds are more highly inclined as they come more 

 and more within the zone of the Appalachian uplift. 



It is in this region that the Clinton outcrop reaches its highest 

 elevation which is about 1400 feet. At Clinton the elevation is about 

 700 feet. In eastern Wayne county the iron ore bed lies at nearly 

 the level of Lake Ontario which is 246 feet. In Niagara county the 

 ^northern outcropping edge of the Clinton is found at about 400 

 feet. 



A comparison of the dips given above shows that the uplifting of 

 the beds has been accompanied by a certain amount of warping, the 

 effect of which has been to give the formation as a whole a broad 

 synclinal arrangement, with the depressed portion in the central 

 part near the Wayne-Cayuga county line, where the beds attain their 

 most northerly extent within the State. East of this line the gen- 

 eral dip is toward the southwest, becoming more marked as the 

 eastern termination is approached. Between Cayuga and Monroe 

 counties the dip is slightly east of south. West of Monroe county 

 the syncline appears to be interrupted by a minor undulation, indi- 

 cated by the southwesterly dip of the beds at Niagara Falls. 



Details of Clinton stratigraphy 



The name Protean originally applied to the Clinton beds by Van- 

 uxem is significant of their extreme variability. They comprise a 

 heterogeneous assemblage of sedimentary types that show little uni- 



