THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I9II 'J'] 



LIMESTONE 



The stone classified under this heading consists for the most part 

 of the common grades of Hmestone and dolomite such as are 

 characterized by a compact granular or finely crystalline texture and 

 are lacking in ornamental qualities. 



A smaller part is represented by crystalline Hmestone and by the 

 waste products of marble quarrying which is sometimes employed 

 for crushed stone, lime-making or flux. Limestone used for the 

 manufacture of portland and natural cement is, however, excluded 

 from the tabulations so as to avoid any duplications of the statistics. 



Limestones have a wide distribution in the State, the only region 

 which is not well supplied with this stone being the southern part 

 where the prevailing formations are sandstones of Devonic age. 

 The noncrystalline varieties occur in regular stratified ord^r in the 

 Cambric, Lower Siluric, Upper Siluric and Devonic systems. In 

 most sections they occupy considerable belts and have been little 

 disturbed from their original horizontal position. On the borders 

 of the Adirondacks and in the metamorphosed Hudson river region, 

 however, they have been more or less broken up by faulting and 

 erosion and in places have a very patchy distribution. 



The Cambric limestones are found in isolated areas on the east, 

 south and west sides of the Adirondacks. They are usually im- 

 pure, representing a transition phase between the Potsdam sand- 

 stones below and the high calcium limestones above. The lower 

 beds of the Beekmantown formation as originally defined are now 

 known to belong to the Cambric system. The Little Falls dolomite 

 is perhaps the most prominent member of the Cambric limestones 

 and is extensively developed in the Mohawk valley with quarries 

 at Little Falls, Mayfield, Amsterdam and other places. It is a 

 rather heavily bedded stone of grayish color, suitable more espe- 

 cially for building purposes. In Saratoga county the Hoyt limestone 

 is in part the equivalent of the Little Falls dolomite ; it has been 

 quarried for building stone just west of Saratoga Springs. On the 

 west side of the Adirondacks the Theresa limestone is described by 

 Cushing as a sandy dolomite which may in part belong to the 

 Cambric system. It is comparatively thin and has no importance 

 for quarry purposes. 



The Beekmantown limestone which is now taken as including 

 the middle and upper beds of that series as earlier defined is mostly 

 restricted to the Champlain valley. It occurs on the New York 

 shore in rather small areas, usually down- faulted blocks, that are 



