﻿86 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Chapter 
  5 
  

   STRATIGRAPHY 
  OF 
  THE 
  NIAGARA 
  REGION 
  

  

  The 
  stratigraphy 
  of 
  the 
  Niagara 
  region, 
  or 
  the 
  succession 
  of 
  fos- 
  

   siHferous 
  beds, 
  their 
  origin, 
  characteristics 
  and 
  fossil 
  contents, 
  has 
  

   since 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Hall's 
  investigations 
  barely 
  received 
  cursory 
  

   attention 
  from 
  American 
  geologists, 
  whose 
  interest 
  has 
  chiefly 
  

   centered 
  in 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  

   gorge 
  and 
  cataract. 
  A 
  careful 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  strata 
  

   of 
  this 
  region 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  fossils 
  reveals 
  problems 
  as 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  and 
  profound 
  as 
  those 
  furnished 
  by 
  the 
  gorge 
  

   and 
  cataract, 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  of 
  far 
  more 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  and 
  far-reaching 
  significance. 
  Profoundly 
  interesting 
  and 
  

   instructive 
  as 
  is 
  the 
  " 
  Story 
  of 
  Niagara 
  " 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  surface 
  features, 
  it 
  becomes 
  insignificant 
  when 
  

   placed 
  by 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  that 
  great 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  rise, 
  development 
  and 
  

   decline 
  of 
  vast 
  mlutitudes 
  of 
  organic 
  beings 
  which 
  inhabited 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  seas 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  and 
  whose 
  former 
  existence 
  is 
  scarcely 
  

   •dreamt 
  of 
  by 
  the 
  average 
  visitor 
  to 
  the 
  falls. 
  These 
  ancient 
  hosts 
  

   left 
  their 
  remains 
  embedded 
  in 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  this 
  region; 
  and 
  from 
  

   the 
  record 
  thus 
  preserved 
  the 
  careful 
  student 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  read 
  at 
  least 
  

   in 
  outline 
  the 
  successive 
  events 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  drama 
  which 
  was 
  

   .enacted 
  here, 
  in 
  an 
  antiquity 
  so 
  remote 
  that 
  it 
  bafBes 
  the 
  imagination 
  

   which 
  would 
  grasp 
  it. 
  But 
  he 
  who 
  would 
  decipher 
  these 
  records 
  

   must 
  bear 
  in 
  mind 
  the 
  maxim 
  of 
  La 
  Rochefoucauld 
  : 
  " 
  Pour 
  bien 
  

   savoir 
  une 
  chose, 
  il 
  faut 
  en 
  savoir 
  les 
  details'' 
  A 
  knowledge 
  of 
  de- 
  

   tails 
  is 
  necessary 
  to 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  stratigraphic 
  and 
  

   paleontologic 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  region, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  better 
  way 
  of 
  

   obtaining 
  this 
  knowledge 
  than 
  by 
  a 
  close 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  sec- 
  

   tions 
  which 
  expose 
  the 
  strata 
  here 
  described. 
  

  

  The 
  strata 
  of 
  the 
  Niagara 
  region 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Siluric 
  series 
  of 
  

   deposits, 
  which 
  accumulated 
  during 
  the 
  Siluric 
  era 
  of 
  the 
  earth's 
  

   history.^ 
  Rocks 
  of 
  Devonic 
  age 
  occupy 
  the 
  southern 
  portion 
  of 
  

   the 
  district, 
  resting 
  on 
  and 
  concealing 
  the 
  Siluric 
  strata 
  which 
  dip 
  

   beneath 
  them. 
  (See 
  fig. 
  i, 
  p. 
  19) 
  As 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  noted, 
  all 
  

  

  ^See 
  table 
  in 
  chapter 
  2. 
  

  

  