﻿l6 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  The 
  ferruginous 
  minerals 
  were 
  set 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  containing- 
  

   rocks 
  by 
  the 
  processes 
  of 
  weathering 
  and 
  denudation 
  which 
  were 
  

   operative 
  during 
  a 
  vast 
  time 
  interval. 
  The 
  Adirondack 
  region 
  ex- 
  

   isted 
  as 
  a 
  land 
  area 
  throughout 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Precambric 
  

   and 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  Cambric 
  eras. 
  In 
  the 
  Lower 
  Siluric 
  era 
  it 
  was 
  de- 
  

   pressed 
  and 
  encroached 
  upon 
  by 
  the 
  sea, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  Taconic 
  

   revolution 
  it 
  was 
  again 
  upraised 
  to 
  remain 
  as 
  a 
  land 
  surface 
  to 
  the 
  

   present 
  time. 
  The 
  weathering 
  sufficed 
  to 
  break 
  up 
  the 
  ferromag- 
  

   nesian 
  constituents, 
  the 
  iron 
  going 
  into 
  solution, 
  while 
  the 
  magnetite 
  

   and 
  pyrite 
  were 
  also 
  changed 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  completely 
  into 
  soluble 
  

   compounds. 
  Very 
  little 
  magnetite 
  and 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  pyrite 
  

   are 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  sediments 
  formed 
  from 
  the 
  decay 
  of 
  the 
  

   crystallines. 
  While 
  it 
  appears 
  reasonable 
  that 
  the 
  magnetite 
  may 
  

   have 
  been 
  brought 
  down 
  partly 
  as 
  sand 
  and 
  subsequently 
  altered 
  

   to 
  hematite, 
  producing 
  the 
  red 
  sandstones 
  of 
  the 
  Potsdam 
  and 
  

   Medina 
  formations, 
  there 
  is 
  much 
  reason 
  for 
  believing 
  that 
  the 
  

   Clinton 
  ores 
  were 
  deposited 
  from 
  solution 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  iron 
  existed 
  

   for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  as 
  ferrous 
  carbonate 
  but 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  possibly 
  

   as 
  sulfate. 
  The 
  conditions 
  under 
  which 
  the 
  ores 
  were 
  formed 
  are 
  

   set 
  forth 
  more 
  fully 
  in 
  a 
  subsequent 
  chapter. 
  

  

  General 
  structure 
  

  

  The 
  Clinton 
  beds 
  are 
  uniformly 
  inclined 
  toward 
  the 
  south, 
  the 
  

   direction 
  of 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  coastal 
  plain 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  

   deposited. 
  Their 
  uplift 
  from 
  sea 
  level 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  taken 
  place 
  

   gradually 
  and 
  with 
  little 
  disturbance 
  of 
  their 
  relative 
  position. 
  They 
  

   are 
  nowhere 
  displaced 
  by 
  faults, 
  apparently, 
  and 
  only 
  in 
  a 
  broad 
  

   way, 
  as 
  will 
  be 
  explained 
  later, 
  can 
  they 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  show 
  evidences 
  

   of 
  flexure. 
  

  

  The 
  lowest 
  dips 
  are 
  encountered 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  belt, 
  

   in 
  Wayne 
  and 
  Cayuga 
  counties. 
  From 
  the 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  deep 
  wells 
  

   driven 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  outcrops, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  possible 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  

   dips 
  for 
  this 
  section 
  with 
  great 
  exactitude. 
  Beginning 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  

   part, 
  along 
  the 
  meridian 
  of 
  middle 
  Wayne 
  county, 
  the 
  strata 
  have 
  

   an 
  inclination 
  amounting 
  to 
  820 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  18 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  

   Alloway 
  well 
  to 
  the 
  outcrops 
  on 
  Second 
  creek, 
  or 
  an 
  average 
  of 
  

   45 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  mile. 
  In 
  the 
  13 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  Clyde 
  well 
  to 
  the 
  line 
  

   of 
  outcrop 
  due 
  north, 
  as 
  near 
  as 
  it 
  can 
  be 
  located, 
  the 
  aggregate 
  

   is 
  640 
  feet 
  or 
  49 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  mile. 
  Between 
  the 
  well 
  at 
  Seneca 
  

   Falls 
  and 
  the 
  Wolcott 
  exposures, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  25 
  miles 
  along 
  the 
  

   meridian, 
  the 
  average 
  is 
  48 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  mile. 
  From 
  the 
  Auburn 
  

   well 
  to 
  Sterling 
  Station 
  on 
  a 
  line 
  slightly 
  west 
  of 
  north 
  the 
  mean 
  

   dip 
  for 
  the 
  25 
  miles 
  is 
  51 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  mile. 
  

  

  