﻿40 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  ward 
  into 
  the 
  Mesozoic 
  interior 
  sea. 
  There 
  were 
  probably 
  other 
  

   consequent 
  rivers, 
  whose 
  location 
  may 
  be 
  in 
  part 
  indicated 
  by 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  valleys 
  now 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Finger 
  lakes 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  

   Subsequent 
  streams, 
  flowing 
  along 
  the 
  strike 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  and 
  capa- 
  

   ble 
  of 
  accomplishing 
  much 
  erosion 
  by 
  undermining 
  the 
  resistant 
  

   capping 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  escarpments, 
  continued 
  to 
  widen 
  the 
  longi- 
  

   tudinal 
  (i. 
  e. 
  eastwest) 
  lowland 
  areas, 
  while 
  the 
  transverse 
  valleys 
  of 
  

   the 
  consequent 
  streams 
  remained 
  relatively 
  narrow. 
  

  

  The 
  topographic 
  rehef 
  feature 
  produced 
  by 
  this 
  normal 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  drainage 
  on 
  a 
  young 
  coastal 
  plain 
  consisting 
  of 
  alternating 
  

   harder 
  and 
  softer 
  strata, 
  has 
  been 
  named 
  a 
  '' 
  cuesta 
  ",^ 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  

   briefly 
  defined 
  as 
  an 
  upland 
  belt 
  of 
  slightly 
  inclined 
  coastal 
  plain 
  

   strata^ 
  with 
  a 
  surface 
  gently 
  sloping 
  toward 
  the 
  newer 
  shore, 
  and 
  

   a 
  steep 
  escarpment, 
  or 
  inface, 
  fronting 
  a 
  low 
  belt, 
  or 
  inner 
  lozv- 
  

   land, 
  which 
  separates 
  the 
  cuesta 
  from 
  the 
  old-land 
  upon 
  which 
  its 
  

   strata 
  formerly 
  lapped. 
  The 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  cuesta 
  form 
  is 
  usually 
  

   due 
  to 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  resistant 
  stratum 
  overlying 
  a 
  less 
  resistant 
  

   one, 
  as, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  limestones 
  overlying 
  the 
  upper 
  Medina 
  

   shales. 
  The 
  inface 
  of 
  the 
  cuesta 
  is 
  continually 
  pushed 
  back 
  by 
  the 
  

   undermining 
  subsequent 
  streams, 
  aided 
  by 
  atmospheric 
  attack, 
  and 
  

   thus 
  the 
  belt 
  of 
  low 
  country, 
  lying 
  between 
  the 
  cuesta 
  and 
  the 
  old- 
  

   land, 
  is 
  continually 
  widened, 
  while 
  during 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  the 
  valley 
  

   of 
  the 
  transverse 
  consequent 
  stream 
  which 
  carries 
  out 
  the 
  drainage 
  

   increases 
  comparatively 
  little 
  in 
  width. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  remembered 
  

   however 
  that 
  the 
  lowland 
  can 
  never 
  be 
  deepened 
  below 
  the 
  depth 
  

   of 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  consequent 
  stream 
  which 
  carries 
  its 
  waters 
  

   through 
  the 
  breach 
  in 
  the 
  cuesta. 
  

  

  While 
  the 
  main 
  drainage 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  was 
  undoubtedly 
  south- 
  

   westward 
  by 
  consequent 
  streams, 
  which 
  flowed 
  through 
  the 
  cuesta 
  

   in 
  gorges, 
  and 
  by 
  subsequent 
  streams 
  flowing 
  into 
  the 
  former, 
  and 
  

   occupying 
  the 
  inner 
  lowlands^ 
  short 
  streams, 
  flowing 
  toward 
  the 
  

   old-land, 
  down 
  the 
  inface 
  of 
  the 
  cuesta, 
  were 
  probably 
  not 
  uncom- 
  

   mon. 
  These 
  streams 
  began 
  to 
  gnaw 
  gullies 
  back 
  from 
  the 
  inface 
  

  

  ^ 
  Davis, 
  W. 
  M. 
  Science. 
  1897. 
  New 
  series. 
  5:362; 
  also 
  Textbook 
  of 
  

   physical 
  geography. 
  1899. 
  p. 
  133. 
  Pronounced 
  kwesta, 
  a 
  word 
  of 
  Spanish 
  

   origin 
  " 
  used 
  in 
  New 
  Mexico 
  for 
  low 
  ridges 
  of 
  steep 
  descent 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  

   gentle 
  slope 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  ". 
  

  

  