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  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  CARBONIFEROUS 
  SYSTEM 
  

  

  This 
  system 
  took 
  its 
  name 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  the 
  chief 
  

   coal 
  bearing 
  formation 
  of 
  Europe. 
  

  

  The 
  Carboniferous 
  is 
  not 
  well 
  represented 
  in 
  New 
  York; 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  uppermost 
  sandstones, 
  shales 
  and 
  conglomerates 
  near 
  the 
  

   Pennsylvania 
  boundary 
  are 
  undoubtedly 
  of 
  this 
  age, 
  but 
  they 
  

   contain 
  no 
  fossils. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  endeavor 
  to 
  identify 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  strata 
  of 
  New 
  

   York, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  necessary 
  to 
  take 
  up 
  the 
  known 
  strata 
  of 
  this 
  

   age 
  in 
  Pennsylvania 
  and 
  trace 
  them, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  possible, 
  into 
  New 
  

   York. 
  

  

  The 
  gradation 
  from 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Devonian 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  

   Carboniferous 
  is 
  not 
  abrupt. 
  On 
  either 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  assumed 
  

   boundary 
  plane 
  are 
  greenish 
  gray 
  shales 
  and 
  sandstones 
  without 
  

   distinctive 
  characters. 
  For 
  the 
  present 
  purpose 
  it 
  is 
  necessary 
  

   to 
  describe 
  the 
  succession 
  of 
  the 
  Pennsylvania 
  rocks 
  and 
  indi- 
  

   cate 
  their 
  occurrence 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  

  

  Sub-Carboniferous, 
  Pocono 
  group 
  

   Above 
  the 
  uppermost 
  Devonian 
  sandstones 
  lie 
  the 
  rocks 
  which 
  

   are 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  system. 
  They 
  

   are 
  mainly 
  sandstones 
  with 
  occasional 
  beds 
  of 
  conglomerate. 
  

   This 
  conglomerate 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  occur 
  on 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  peaks 
  of 
  the 
  

   Catskills, 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  recognized 
  in 
  southwestern 
  

   New 
  York. 
  

  

  Sandstones 
  of 
  Pocono 
  age 
  doubtless 
  occur 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  near 
  

   the 
  Pennsylvania 
  boundary 
  but 
  they 
  have 
  no 
  fossils. 
  

  

  The 
  Pocono 
  formation 
  attains 
  a 
  thickness 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  2,500 
  

   feet 
  in 
  Pennsylvania 
  on 
  the 
  Susquehanna 
  river. 
  Some 
  thin 
  seams 
  

   of 
  coal 
  occur 
  in 
  it. 
  It 
  contains 
  no 
  fossils 
  except 
  fragments 
  of 
  

   plants. 
  

  

  Mauch 
  Chunk 
  group 
  

  

  The 
  Pocono 
  is 
  succeeded 
  by 
  a 
  formation 
  called 
  the 
  Mauch 
  

   Chunk 
  group, 
  which, 
  in 
  Pennsylvania, 
  is 
  about 
  3,000 
  feet 
  in 
  its 
  

   greatest 
  thickness, 
  though 
  far 
  less 
  in 
  some 
  districts. 
  It 
  is 
  almost 
  

   entirely 
  composed 
  of 
  soft, 
  red 
  shales 
  and 
  argillaceous 
  red 
  sand- 
  

  

  