﻿ProUems in Quebec Geology. 485 



presented ; embodying the views that have been stated in 

 the latest scientific publications on this subject, by the 

 Canadian Geological Survey, in order that the true aspect 

 of the question may be clearly seen, 



The area over which these rocks are distributed is 

 not confined to the province of Quebec. They are also 

 recognized in the province of Newfoundland along the 

 western portion of the island as well as in the states 

 of New York and Vermont to the south. The literature 

 on the subject is abundant and extends from the first 

 quarter of the century to the present day. 



The study of these rocks, which presented so many 

 points of difference from the established formations, was 

 greatly complicated by the presence of certain bands of 

 conglomerate associated with the limestones and slates, in 

 which fossils were found, both in the paste and the 

 pebbles, of quite different horizons; in the arrangement 

 of which it was not always found practicable to separate 

 the fossils of the two series, owing to the great similarity 

 of the matrix in the two cases. The elucidation of the 

 structure was also hindered by the presence of numerous 

 faults which occur throughout the area, and, through the 

 agency of which, strata widely different in age have been 

 brought into close proximity ; so that in some cases the 

 older series now rests upon the newer, both conforming 

 in strike and dip, and in the absence of fossils their true 

 relations are sometimes difficult to determine. Further 

 complications also arose from the attempt to reconcile the 

 crystalline schists and associated rocks of the mountain 

 area, which present features strongly resembling certain 

 portions of the Archaean, with the slates, sandstones and 

 limestones of the sedimentary series which they were 

 supposed to represent. 



In the earlier days of their study all* these various 

 groups of strata were considered as belonging to a 

 generally ascending series, so that a great part of the 



