Geology of Seneca County. 87 



It should be noted that the gas wells struck salt water in the 

 Salina group, and that one well, three miles north of the village, 

 struck a 15-foot layer of salt at 565 feet. 



Contact with the succeeding formation i^ nowhere seen. The 

 width of the interval between the respective exposures is a 

 quarter of a mile N-S. The line of contact lies in the valley of 

 the outlet of Seneca lake, covered with till and sediment. 



Lower Helderberg Group. 



This important series of rocks, prominent among the forma- 

 tions of the eastern part of the State, mostly disappears before 

 reaching the longitude of Seneca county. For an enumeration 

 of the components of the series, reference is made to the Report 

 on the Geology of Xew York, Fourth District. The only mem- 

 ber of the series of which mention need be made is the "Water- 

 lime group. This is found, as stated in the report, in the bed of 

 Flint creek, at Phelps, about four miles west of the border of 

 Seneca county. It there consists of a black, shaly, hard lime- 

 stone, about three feet in thickness. No fossils were observed. 



In Seneca county reference should be made to the description 

 of strata underlying the Onondaga limestone at McQuane's 

 quarry. The Avaterlime is to be found here, if at any place in 

 the county. The rock is a very argillaceous limestone, in parts 

 very finely laminated and splitting readily in thin sheets ; it was 

 not observed to contain fossils. 



Oriskany Sandstone. 



This formation is well marked at Flint creek, Ontario county, 

 and in several localities in Cayuga county. In Seneca count}^ its 

 absence at the base of the Upper Helderberg limestones is to be 

 noted at the only point where the base is exposed, viz., McQuane's 

 quarry. 



Upper Helderberg Group. 



This term, as here applied, includes as subdivisions the lime- 

 stones known as Onondaga, Corniferous and Seneca, this being 

 the order of superposition, with the Onondaga at the base. 



The Onondaga limestone is found at one spot, a few feet in 

 area, in Seneca county, with characteristic appearance. 



