﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  DIRECTOR 
  1912 
  89 
  

  

  considerably 
  less 
  than 
  forty 
  miles, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  likely 
  view. 
  

   By 
  a 
  similar 
  line 
  of 
  reasoning 
  Cushing 
  2 
  has 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  Trenton 
  

   sea 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  reached 
  more 
  than 
  ten 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  north 
  

   boundary 
  of 
  the 
  Little 
  Falls 
  quadrangle. 
  The 
  thickness 
  of 
  about 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  of 
  Trenton 
  (mostly 
  shale) 
  in 
  the 
  outlier 
  at 
  Wells 
  

   shows 
  that 
  the 
  Trenton 
  sea 
  must 
  have 
  reached 
  at 
  least 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  

   north 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  that 
  locality. 
  Pebbles 
  of 
  Precambric 
  rock 
  and 
  

   grains 
  of 
  sand 
  in 
  the 
  Trenton 
  limestone 
  at 
  Wells, 
  however, 
  make 
  

   the 
  existence 
  of 
  near-by 
  land 
  (Precambric 
  rock) 
  practically 
  a 
  cer- 
  

   tainty 
  as 
  argued 
  by 
  Kemp. 
  7 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  above 
  statements 
  we 
  conclude 
  that 
  dry 
  land 
  existed 
  in 
  

   the 
  region 
  of 
  southwestern 
  Hamilton 
  county 
  and 
  also 
  most 
  pro- 
  

   bably 
  over 
  all 
  of 
  northern 
  Hamilton 
  county. 
  It 
  is 
  worthy 
  of 
  note 
  

   that 
  this 
  Trenton 
  land 
  mass, 
  with 
  northeast-southwest 
  trend, 
  oc- 
  

   cupied 
  the 
  same 
  region 
  as 
  the 
  present 
  belt 
  of 
  highest 
  land 
  in 
  the 
  

   southern 
  Adirondacks, 
  and 
  also 
  that 
  this 
  land 
  mass, 
  though 
  now 
  

   smaller, 
  occupied 
  the 
  same 
  position 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  late 
  Cambric 
  and 
  

   early 
  Ordovicic 
  times. 
  The 
  absence 
  of 
  Paleozoic 
  rock 
  outliers 
  west 
  

   of 
  a 
  northeast-southwest 
  line 
  through 
  Wells 
  and 
  North 
  River 
  at 
  

   least 
  affords 
  interesting 
  negative 
  evidence 
  in 
  harmony 
  with 
  this 
  view. 
  

  

  Regarding 
  Utica 
  and 
  Postutica 
  times 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  recent 
  work 
  

   are 
  decidedly 
  against 
  submergence 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  Adirondack 
  region. 
  

   Considering 
  the 
  great 
  thickness 
  of 
  Paleozoic 
  strata 
  ; 
  the 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  

   surface 
  of 
  the 
  Precambric 
  rock 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  existing 
  altitudes 
  within 
  

   the 
  Adirondacks, 
  Walcott, 
  Cushing 
  and 
  the 
  writer 
  have 
  all 
  been 
  

   led 
  to 
  conclude 
  that 
  the 
  late 
  Ordovicic 
  sea 
  must 
  have 
  extended 
  

   almost, 
  if 
  not 
  quite, 
  across 
  the 
  whole 
  Adirondack 
  area. 
  Many 
  

   years 
  ago 
  Walcott 
  17 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  There 
  was 
  a 
  practically 
  conformable 
  

   deposit 
  of 
  sediments 
  against 
  and 
  over 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  

   mountains 
  from 
  early 
  Cambric 
  times 
  to 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  deposition 
  

   of 
  the 
  Utica 
  shales, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  unconformity 
  by 
  non- 
  

   deposition 
  between 
  the 
  Potsdam 
  and 
  the 
  Chazy." 
  

  

  Later 
  Cushing, 
  1 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  his 
  studies 
  along 
  the 
  northeastern 
  

   border 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondacks, 
  said 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  basal 
  Potsdam 
  is 
  found 
  

   running 
  up 
  to 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  seventeen 
  hundred 
  fifty 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  

   northern 
  Adirondacks. 
  With 
  the 
  relief 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  

   the 
  deposition 
  of 
  the 
  minimum 
  thickness 
  (four 
  thousand 
  feet) 
  of 
  

  

  1 
  Page 
  77- 
  

  

  2 
  Page 
  61. 
  

  

  7 
  Page 
  152. 
  

  

  17 
  Pages 
  24-25. 
  

  

  