﻿46 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  was 
  completely 
  submerged 
  under 
  the 
  Ordovicic 
  sea 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  

   Adirondack 
  island 
  and 
  alternating 
  land 
  and 
  water 
  conditions 
  im- 
  

   mediately 
  around 
  that 
  island. 
  

  

  Without 
  going 
  into 
  the 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  formations, 
  it 
  is 
  important 
  

   to 
  note 
  that 
  the 
  earlier 
  Ordovicic 
  deposits 
  were 
  almost 
  wholly 
  lime- 
  

   stones, 
  while 
  the 
  later 
  deposits 
  were 
  nearly 
  all 
  shales 
  and 
  sand- 
  

   stones. 
  Thus 
  in 
  southeastern 
  New 
  York 
  the 
  thick 
  Wappinger 
  lime- 
  

   stone 
  is 
  overlain 
  by 
  the 
  still 
  thicker 
  Hudson 
  River 
  shales 
  and 
  sand- 
  

   stones. 
  In 
  northern 
  New 
  York 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  Beekmantown, 
  Chazy, 
  

   Black 
  River, 
  and 
  Trenton 
  limestones 
  overlain 
  by 
  the 
  Trenton 
  

   (Canajoharie), 
  Utica, 
  and 
  Frankfort 
  shales 
  and 
  sandstones. 
  It 
  

   should 
  not 
  be 
  understood, 
  however, 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  formations 
  named 
  

   are 
  present 
  in 
  unbroken 
  succession, 
  because 
  the 
  oscillations 
  of 
  level 
  

   (above 
  mentioned) 
  occasioned 
  certain 
  interruptions 
  in 
  sedimentation. 
  

  

  The 
  predominance 
  of 
  limestone 
  formation 
  in 
  the 
  earlier 
  Ordovicic 
  

   sea 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  proves 
  that 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  that 
  time 
  were 
  com- 
  

   paratively 
  free 
  from 
  land-derived 
  sediments 
  and 
  this, 
  in 
  turn, 
  is 
  

   best 
  accounted 
  for 
  not 
  by 
  great 
  depth 
  of 
  water 
  and 
  distance 
  from 
  

   land, 
  but 
  rather 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  nearest 
  land 
  areas 
  were 
  

   comparatively 
  low 
  and 
  small, 
  and 
  hence 
  were 
  not 
  undergoing 
  very 
  

   active 
  erosion. 
  During 
  the 
  later 
  Ordovicic 
  the 
  adjacent 
  lands 
  were 
  

   considerably 
  higher 
  and 
  no 
  doubt 
  larger, 
  so 
  that 
  vigorous 
  erosion 
  

   resulted 
  and 
  muds 
  and 
  sands 
  were 
  largely 
  washed 
  into 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  The 
  aggregate 
  thickness 
  of 
  Ordovicic 
  strata 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  is 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  2000 
  and 
  3000 
  feet. 
  It 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  inferred 
  from 
  this 
  fact 
  

   that 
  the 
  Ordovicic 
  sea 
  was 
  ever 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  thousand 
  feet 
  deep. 
  

   Even 
  the 
  limestones 
  abundantly 
  show 
  by 
  ripple 
  marks, 
  mud 
  cracks, 
  

   fossils 
  etc. 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  laid 
  down 
  in 
  shallow 
  sea 
  water. 
  The 
  very 
  

   character 
  of 
  the 
  materials 
  (old 
  muds 
  and 
  sands) 
  in 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Ordovicic 
  formations 
  shows 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  deposited 
  

   in 
  deep 
  ocean 
  water. 
  Such 
  sediments 
  are 
  not 
  now 
  forming 
  on 
  the 
  

   deep 
  sea 
  bottom. 
  But 
  how 
  are 
  these 
  statements 
  to 
  be 
  harmonized 
  

   with 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  nearly 
  3000 
  feet 
  of 
  Ordovicic 
  strata 
  exist 
  in 
  

   New 
  York? 
  During 
  the 
  whole 
  period 
  (with 
  certain 
  exceptions 
  

   above 
  noted) 
  the 
  land 
  gradually 
  subsided 
  and 
  in 
  this 
  slow 
  down- 
  

   ward 
  movement 
  stratum 
  after 
  stratum 
  was 
  formed 
  upon 
  the 
  sinking 
  

   sea-floor, 
  so 
  that 
  at 
  no 
  time 
  is 
  it 
  necessary 
  to 
  assume 
  great 
  depth 
  

   of 
  water. 
  In 
  general, 
  the 
  Ordovicic 
  sea 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  must 
  

   be 
  thought 
  of 
  as 
  a 
  vast 
  shallow 
  (continental) 
  sea 
  which 
  spread 
  

   over 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  slowly 
  subsiding 
  continent. 
  There 
  were 
  no 
  ocean 
  

   abysses 
  at 
  all 
  comparable 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  ocean. 
  

  

  