﻿GEOLOGY 
  OF 
  SARATOGA 
  SPRINGS 
  AND 
  VICINITY 
  I43 
  

  

  easterly 
  troughs 
  may 
  have 
  formerly 
  extended 
  farther 
  west 
  than 
  

   they 
  do 
  now, 
  and 
  have 
  covered 
  the 
  present 
  exposures 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  

   of 
  the 
  western 
  trough, 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  afterward 
  worn 
  

   away. 
  But 
  this 
  does 
  not 
  alter 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  Ordovicic 
  shales 
  

   are 
  the 
  last 
  marine 
  deposits 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  

   region; 
  that 
  the 
  time 
  which 
  has 
  elapsed 
  since 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  

   Ordovicic 
  is 
  enormously 
  long; 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  seems 
  inconceivable 
  that 
  

   these 
  shales 
  could 
  remain 
  over 
  so 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  district 
  and 
  in 
  such 
  

   thickness, 
  if 
  the 
  trough 
  had 
  ever 
  had 
  a 
  high 
  altitude 
  for 
  any 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  length 
  of 
  time. 
  

  

  CLOSING 
  STAGE 
  OF 
  THE 
  PALEOZOIC 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  held 
  by 
  geologists 
  that 
  the 
  closing 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  

   Paleozoic 
  were, 
  in 
  eastern 
  North 
  America, 
  a 
  time 
  of 
  great 
  earth 
  

   disturbance. 
  The 
  district 
  was 
  uplifted 
  and 
  titled 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  the 
  rocks 
  were 
  greatly 
  folded 
  and 
  faulted 
  by 
  compressive 
  

   forces. 
  Folded 
  rocks 
  characterize 
  the 
  Appalachian 
  district 
  from 
  

   Alabama 
  to 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  thence 
  northeast 
  to 
  Gaspe. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  quite 
  certain 
  that 
  widespread 
  uplift 
  and 
  Appalachian 
  folding 
  

   occurred 
  at 
  this 
  time; 
  but 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  also 
  that 
  the 
  preliminary 
  

   stages 
  of 
  the 
  folding, 
  at 
  least, 
  had 
  taken 
  place 
  long 
  before. 
  The 
  

   sagging 
  troughs 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  speaking, 
  separated 
  from 
  

   one 
  another 
  by 
  tracts 
  of 
  relative 
  uplift, 
  were 
  the 
  initial 
  stages 
  of 
  

   this 
  folding, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  progress 
  all 
  through 
  the 
  Paleozoic, 
  

   as 
  recently 
  urged 
  by 
  Ulrich. 
  1 
  

  

  The 
  Paleozoic 
  deposits 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  Mohawk 
  trough, 
  the 
  Western 
  

   basin 
  deposits 
  of 
  this 
  report, 
  were 
  for 
  some 
  reason 
  not 
  greatly 
  

   folded. 
  They 
  lie 
  nearly 
  flat 
  today. 
  They 
  lay 
  either 
  too 
  far 
  west 
  

   or 
  without 
  the 
  zone 
  of 
  folding; 
  or 
  else 
  the 
  unyielding 
  mass 
  of 
  the 
  

   Adirondacks, 
  which 
  lay 
  back 
  of 
  them, 
  acted 
  to 
  prevent 
  folding. 
  

  

  Did 
  the 
  thrust 
  faulting 
  which 
  has 
  carried 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  East- 
  

   ern 
  basin 
  into 
  our 
  district 
  take 
  place 
  at 
  this 
  time, 
  or 
  not 
  till 
  later? 
  

   We 
  can 
  not 
  positively 
  answer 
  this 
  question 
  as 
  yet; 
  but 
  we 
  are 
  in 
  

   agreement 
  with 
  Ulrich 
  in 
  thinking 
  that 
  much 
  of 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  later 
  date 
  

   and 
  possibly 
  very 
  much 
  later. 
  

  

  MESOZOIC 
  HISTORY 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  entire 
  Mesozoic 
  the 
  Saratoga 
  region 
  remained 
  a 
  land 
  

   area. 
  During 
  the 
  earlier 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  certain 
  troughs 
  along 
  

   the 
  east 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  Appalachian 
  region 
  subsided 
  and 
  received 
  a 
  

  

  1 
  .Geol. 
  Soc. 
  Am. 
  Bui., 
  22 
  -.436-42. 
  

  

  