﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  DIRECTOR 
  r23 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  The 
  notes 
  and 
  collections 
  which 
  are 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  this 
  report 
  were 
  

   made 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  field 
  work 
  during 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  Julj 
  1897. 
  

   The 
  held 
  work 
  was 
  undertaken 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  locating, 
  if 
  

   possible, 
  a 
  complete 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  Ordovician 
  rocks 
  from 
  the 
  

   Birdseje 
  or 
  Black 
  river 
  limestone 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Utica 
  

   or 
  Hudson 
  river 
  shales, 
  within 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  Trenton 
  Falls 
  pal- 
  

   eontological 
  province, 
  from 
  which 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  rock 
  specimens 
  

   and 
  fossils 
  might 
  be 
  made 
  for 
  the 
  ISTew 
  York 
  state 
  museum. 
  As 
  

   the 
  writer 
  has 
  previously 
  pointed 
  out 
  (White 
  '96 
  & 
  '96a) 
  the 
  type 
  

   section 
  of 
  the 
  Trenton 
  formation 
  at 
  Trenton 
  Falls, 
  Oneida 
  co., 
  

   jr. 
  Y., 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  formation 
  was 
  originally 
  described 
  (Conrad 
  '37, 
  

   Vanuxem 
  '42) 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  complete 
  section. 
  The 
  lowest 
  layers 
  seen 
  

   there, 
  are 
  at 
  an 
  unknown 
  distance 
  above 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  river 
  

   zones 
  and 
  the 
  section 
  terminates 
  in 
  gray 
  crystalline 
  layers 
  which 
  

   Darton 
  ('93, 
  p. 
  618-620) 
  considers 
  to 
  represent 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Tren 
  

   ton, 
  although 
  at 
  Amsterdam, 
  where 
  the 
  crystalline 
  layers 
  are 
  lacking, 
  

   he 
  says 
  (1. 
  c. 
  p. 
  620) 
  the 
  thin 
  bedded 
  shaly 
  limestones 
  grade 
  into 
  

   the 
  overlying 
  Utica 
  shales. 
  Along 
  Lake 
  Champlain, 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  

   considered 
  a 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  Trenton 
  Falls 
  province, 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  

   construct 
  a 
  continuous 
  section 
  from 
  the 
  Calciferous, 
  w^ell 
  up 
  into 
  

   the 
  Utica. 
  But 
  although 
  the 
  paleozoic 
  seas 
  were 
  doubtless 
  con- 
  

   tinuous 
  around 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  island, 
  the 
  local 
  environment 
  and 
  

   conditions 
  of 
  deposition 
  varied 
  considerably, 
  so 
  that 
  intermediate 
  

   stages 
  of 
  faunal 
  development 
  occurring 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Adiron- 
  

   dacks 
  are 
  lacking 
  on 
  the 
  other, 
  and 
  local 
  oscillations 
  of 
  the 
  Ordo- 
  

   vician 
  land-surface 
  have 
  produced 
  different 
  sequences 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  

   or 
  less 
  impure 
  limestone 
  strata. 
  

  

  