﻿PLEISTOCENE 
  GEOLOGY 
  OF 
  NASSACJ 
  CO. 
  AND 
  BOROUGH 
  OF 
  QUEENS 
  62T 
  

  

  A 
  borrow-pit 
  in 
  the 
  southwestern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Oyster 
  

   Bay 
  showed 
  beds 
  dipping 
  southward 
  26°, 
  an 
  angle 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  

   tliat 
  of 
  fore-set 
  beds 
  in 
  delta 
  structure. 
  These 
  beds 
  were 
  overlain 
  

   by 
  other 
  sands 
  in 
  horizontal 
  beds, 
  and 
  tlie 
  whole 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  

   portion 
  of 
  the 
  normal 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  series. 
  This 
  

   section 
  lies 
  between 
  40 
  feet 
  and 
  50 
  feet 
  above 
  sealevel. 
  There 
  is 
  

   nothing 
  in 
  the 
  attitude 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  at 
  this 
  locality 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  

   the 
  strata 
  were 
  disturbed 
  after 
  deposition, 
  as 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  on 
  the 
  

   contrary 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  bluffs 
  along 
  the 
  north 
  shore. 
  Another 
  

   good 
  exposure 
  occurs 
  in 
  Cooper 
  bluff 
  between 
  Oyster 
  Bay 
  and 
  

   Coldspring 
  harbors, 
  in 
  the 
  cliff 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  Oak 
  neck 
  near 
  

   the 
  wharf, 
  and 
  at 
  Barker 
  point. 
  

  

  The 
  houlder 
  clay 
  led. 
  In 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  coastal 
  sections 
  on 
  the 
  

   north 
  shore 
  an 
  unstratiiied 
  mixture 
  of 
  pebbles, 
  sand 
  and 
  clay 
  in 
  a 
  

   bed 
  varying 
  from 
  3 
  to 
  10 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  a 
  posi- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  interstratilied 
  with 
  these 
  older 
  gravels 
  ; 
  

   but 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  sand 
  2)its 
  on 
  Hempstead 
  bay 
  that 
  a 
  bed 
  of 
  this 
  

   character 
  is 
  fully 
  revealed. 
  About 
  half 
  way 
  up 
  the 
  bluff, 
  or 
  about 
  

   100 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  bay, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  bed 
  of 
  boulder 
  clay 
  from 
  2 
  to 
  3 
  

   feet 
  thick, 
  traceable 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  pits 
  open 
  in 
  1900 
  south 
  of 
  Bar 
  beach. 
  

   The 
  matrix 
  of 
  this 
  bed 
  is 
  an 
  unctuous 
  dark 
  blue 
  clay 
  locally 
  sandy 
  

   or 
  gravelly. 
  Scattered 
  through 
  it 
  and 
  sometimes 
  in 
  close 
  contact- 
  

   with 
  each 
  other 
  are 
  glaciated 
  boulders 
  often 
  over 
  1 
  foot 
  in 
  diameter 
  

   and 
  numerous 
  pebbles 
  attesting 
  the 
  glacial 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  deposit. 
  

   Several 
  large 
  boulders 
  examined 
  in 
  1901 
  by 
  Dr 
  F. 
  J. 
  IT. 
  Merrill 
  

   and 
  the 
  writer 
  were 
  recognized 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  named 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  

   transported 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  from 
  the 
  Adirondacks. 
  Other 
  small 
  

   boulders 
  carrying 
  Silurian 
  fossils 
  indicated 
  their 
  origin 
  in 
  the 
  Hud- 
  

   son 
  valley 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Highlands. 
  The 
  longest 
  journey 
  made 
  by 
  

   these 
  materials 
  appears 
  to 
  exceed 
  200 
  miles.^ 
  

  

  The 
  bed 
  rests 
  evenly 
  and 
  smoothly 
  on 
  the 
  underlying 
  gravelly 
  sands 
  

   without 
  marked 
  disturbance 
  or 
  erosion. 
  This 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  under- 
  

   lying 
  bed 
  suggests 
  tlie 
  dropping 
  of 
  stones 
  and 
  clay 
  from 
  overlying 
  

   floating 
  ice 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  actual 
  advance 
  of 
  an 
  ice 
  sheet 
  on 
  this 
  part 
  

  

  ' 
  Mather 
  reported 
  finding 
  in 
  tlie 
  valley 
  of 
  Schoharie 
  kill, 
  boulders 
  with 
  "opales- 
  

   cent 
  feldspar 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Essex 
  county 
  " 
  and 
  referred 
  them 
  to 
  parent 
  ledges 
  in 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  Adirondacks. 
  Geol. 
  rep't. 
  1843. 
  p. 
  187. 
  

  

  