178 Geoloyy of Kichnwnd County. N. Y. 



or three-quarters of a mile on the uphind, and thus occupying 

 a position between the trap-dyke and the salt meadows. The 

 material is a fine, yellowish, loamy sand, containing no gravel 

 or pebbles, but rests on the glacial drift, and is hence of jDOst- 

 glacial age. This sand was once the western beach of the ex- ' 

 tensive body of salt water which formerly occupied the basin 

 now filled with the salt-marsh deposits, and which extended 

 over all the Newark and Hackensack Meadows, but has now 

 been reduced to the area of ISTewark Bay. The sands of this old 

 beach were blown inland, and formed into dunes by the gene- 

 rally prevailing westerly winds ; on a windy day the manner 

 of the formation of these dunes may still be plainly seen. A 

 number of pine-barren plants have found lodging in this sandy 

 soil, on both Staten Island and Bergen Neck, and it is probable 

 that others will be found there on further exploration. 



MoDEHX Epoch. 



Under this heading are included deposits whose formation 

 began at a comparatively recent period, and whose growth still 

 continues. 



Marine AUuoiuDi or Salt Meadows. — These deposits extend 

 over an area of about nine and one-half square miles on Staten 

 Island. The material composing them consists for the most part 

 of partially decomposed vegetable matter, mixed with a little clay 

 and sand. These salt-meadow aretis have formerly been shallow 

 bays, which have gradually been filled up, first by the deposit 

 of silt from their waters and the growth of marine plants, and 

 ultimately by the growth and decay of grasses and rushes. 

 This latter process is yet in operation, and thus the salt mea- 

 dows keep at about the level of the highest tides ; their most 

 abundant grass is the Spartijia jimcea, Willd., while the rush is 

 Juncus Gerardi, Lam., commonly known as "black grass." 

 A number of other plants contribute small amounts to the 

 vegetable growth, making the salt-meadow flora quite a varied 

 one. 



The most extensive ai'eas covered by these deposits are along- 

 New Creek and the Great Kills, on the eastern shore, and from 



