GEOLOGY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS AND VICINITY IO3 



small anticlines are mostly of short length, pitching often con- 

 siderably at the north and south ends. They cause the grit and 

 chert ridges to rise for a short distance above the surface to soon 

 disappear again. 



It is probable that also in the Saratoga plain in places a number 

 of smaller anticlines and synclines are combined into larger anti- 

 clinoria and synclinoria. At least the presence of a multitude of 

 small grit anticlines in an elliptic space, as in the Rocky tucks, 

 would suggest the probability of such a more complex structure. 

 There is little doubt that anticlinoria and synclinoria exist farther 

 east,^ where the pushing force was greater and the rocks more 

 resistant, but in this western shale belt the entire crumpled, mi- 

 nutely and often irregularly folded mass has the appearance of a 

 rolling and slipping mass, not strong enough to be thrown into 

 folds of mountain-making magnitude. Yet we find already close 

 to the east, in the hill region, as in Willard mountain, clear evidence 

 of a syncline on such a larger scale. 



These folded and crumpled shales are further cut by a ver>^ 

 regular cleavage and by faults. The cleavage is ever present in 

 the folded shale region ; the cleavage plane dips nearly always to 

 the east, similar to the bedding planes, most frequently intersecting 

 the latter at an acute angle. 



While the contorted appearance of the shales in consequence of 

 the many folds often gives the whole mass the appearance of 

 having yielded to the pushing force by simply crumpling up, there 

 is also everywhere evidence of a slipping of the rocks along 

 innumerable slip planes or small thrust faults. We have already 

 mentioned their presence in the eastern portion of the little dis- 

 turbed Canajoharie shales. In the folded area, however, we 

 have met them everywhere. In the good east-west section, for 

 instance, which the Batten kill furnishes at Clark Mills, a whole 

 series of such faults, about lo to 20 feet distant from each 

 other, were observed in the north wall and traced across the river 

 bed. They all rise toward the west at angles varying from 20° 

 to 45° and many are made conspicuous by calcite veins. The throw 

 is always small, but the upthrow side is always pushed a little 

 to the west. On the west shore of Saratoga lake where the shale 

 lies in places nearly flat, one overthrust plane was observed that 

 was nearly horizontal ; in the clififs of the southwest shore of the 



^ Dale p. e. has described Mt Greylock as a synclinorium. 



