﻿EARLY 
  PALEOZOIC 
  PHYSIOGRAPHY 
  OF 
  THE 
  

   SOUTHERN 
  ADIRONDACKS 
  

  

  BY 
  WILLIAM 
  J. 
  MILLER 
  

   INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  For 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  Paleozoic 
  physi- 
  

   ography 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  region 
  has 
  been 
  an 
  important 
  one 
  to 
  

   all 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  geological 
  history 
  of 
  northern 
  New 
  York. 
  

   Observations 
  made 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  ten 
  or 
  fifteen 
  years 
  have 
  thrown 
  

   much 
  light 
  upon 
  this 
  problem, 
  especially 
  significant 
  being 
  the 
  

   work 
  of 
  Gushing, 
  Kemp, 
  Ruedemann, 
  and 
  Ulrich. 
  For 
  some 
  

   years 
  the 
  writer 
  also 
  has 
  been 
  studying 
  the 
  geology 
  of 
  the 
  

   southern 
  Adirondacks, 
  the 
  five 
  quadrangles 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  map- 
  

   ped 
  in 
  detail 
  all 
  having 
  important 
  bearings 
  upon 
  the 
  subject. 
  It 
  

   is 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  this 
  paper 
  to 
  bring 
  together 
  old 
  and 
  new 
  ob- 
  

   servations 
  in 
  an 
  attempt 
  to 
  reconstruct 
  the 
  major 
  physiographic 
  

   features 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  Adirondack 
  region 
  during 
  the 
  Cambric 
  

   and 
  Ordovicic 
  periods. 
  The 
  Black 
  river, 
  Mohawk 
  and 
  Cham- 
  

   plain 
  valleys 
  will 
  be 
  discussed 
  only 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  facts 
  from 
  those 
  

   regions 
  have 
  a 
  direct 
  bearing 
  upon 
  the 
  problem. 
  Since 
  the 
  

   Paleozoic 
  rock 
  outliers 
  in 
  the 
  southeastern 
  Adirondacks 
  are 
  

   particularly 
  significant 
  in 
  this 
  connection, 
  they 
  will 
  be 
  duly 
  

   emphasized. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  questions 
  discussed 
  are 
  the 
  following: 
  

   i 
  What 
  was 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  Precambric 
  

   rock 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  early 
  Paleozoic 
  sea 
  encroached? 
  

  

  2 
  Were 
  the 
  early 
  Paleozoic 
  sediments 
  deposited 
  in 
  embay- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  extending 
  into 
  the 
  Precambric 
  rock 
  area 
  or 
  did 
  

   they 
  form 
  a 
  more 
  general 
  mantle 
  over 
  the 
  Precambric 
  rocks? 
  

  

  3 
  Was 
  the 
  southern 
  Adirondack 
  region 
  ever 
  completely 
  sub- 
  

   merged 
  during 
  the 
  Paleozoic 
  era 
  and, 
  if 
  so, 
  when? 
  

  

  4 
  Where 
  were 
  the 
  principal 
  land 
  areas 
  located 
  during 
  the 
  

   Cambric 
  and 
  Ordovicic 
  periods? 
  

  

  5 
  Does 
  the 
  present 
  northeast-southwest 
  main 
  axis 
  of 
  eleva- 
  

   tion 
  through 
  the 
  Adirondacks 
  also 
  have 
  an 
  early 
  Paleozoic 
  

   significance? 
  

  

  8o 
  

  

  