﻿Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Geologist, 
  225 
  

  

  rock 
  left 
  at 
  each 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  shaft 
  was 
  called, 
  and 
  after 
  the 
  sink 
  

   had 
  been 
  cleaned 
  out 
  were 
  " 
  fired 
  " 
  as 
  before. 
  Then 
  the 
  last 
  

   rows 
  of 
  holes 
  were 
  drilled 
  perpendicularly 
  in 
  the 
  corners 
  and 
  the 
  

   ends 
  blasted 
  out. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  blasts 
  the 
  workmen 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  and 
  the 
  

   "dirt" 
  was 
  loaded 
  into 
  an 
  iron 
  bucket 
  capable 
  of 
  holding 
  1,500 
  

   to 
  2,000 
  pounds 
  of 
  rock, 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  steel 
  wire 
  cable 
  one 
  and 
  

   one-quarter 
  inches 
  in 
  diameter, 
  and 
  the 
  sixty 
  horse-power 
  hoisting 
  

   engine 
  brought 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  surface, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  thrown 
  into 
  small 
  

   cars, 
  on 
  narrow 
  gauge 
  tracks, 
  which 
  were 
  extended 
  or 
  moved 
  

   laterally 
  as 
  required, 
  and 
  carried 
  to 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  fill 
  and 
  

   dumped 
  from 
  the 
  side 
  or 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  car 
  down 
  the 
  declivity, 
  

   usually 
  fifteen 
  to 
  twenty 
  feet 
  high, 
  the 
  bottom 
  and 
  slope 
  of 
  which 
  

   afforded 
  good 
  opportunity 
  for 
  the 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  and 
  

   the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  fossils. 
  

  

  In 
  describing 
  the 
  successive 
  geological 
  formations 
  traversed 
  by 
  

   the 
  Livonia 
  shaft 
  I 
  have 
  compared 
  each 
  one 
  with 
  its 
  development 
  

   as 
  observed 
  by 
  me 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  salt 
  field, 
  believing 
  that 
  this 
  

   will 
  be 
  the 
  most 
  effective 
  method 
  of 
  presenting 
  the 
  subject. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  rock 
  formation 
  in 
  the 
  Livonia 
  salt 
  shaft 
  is 
  the 
  lower 
  

   shales 
  of 
  the 
  Portage 
  group. 
  

  

  Besides 
  the 
  Livonia 
  shaft, 
  eighteen 
  wells, 
  or 
  groups 
  of 
  wells, 
  

   which 
  have 
  penetrated 
  to 
  the 
  salt 
  beds 
  at 
  the 
  different 
  localities 
  

   west 
  of 
  Seneca 
  lake, 
  have 
  shales 
  of 
  the 
  Portage 
  group 
  as 
  the 
  

   first 
  bed 
  rook. 
  This 
  group 
  has 
  for, 
  or 
  very 
  close 
  to, 
  its 
  base 
  a 
  

   bed 
  of 
  very 
  black 
  bituminous 
  fissile 
  shale, 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Lower 
  

   Black 
  Band, 
  in 
  which 
  fossils 
  are 
  very 
  rare. 
  Only 
  a 
  few 
  plant 
  

   remains, 
  and 
  fish 
  plates 
  and 
  teeth 
  are 
  found. 
  This 
  black 
  shale 
  

   resists 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  running 
  water 
  better 
  than 
  the 
  clayey 
  shales 
  

   above 
  and 
  below 
  it, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  shade 
  and 
  moisture 
  of 
  the 
  ravines 
  

   it 
  is 
  generally 
  well 
  exposed. 
  Its 
  peculiar 
  jointed 
  structure 
  and 
  

   blackness 
  make 
  its 
  identification 
  as 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  easy. 
  

   It 
  is 
  very 
  persistent 
  in 
  character 
  and 
  thickness 
  and 
  is 
  well 
  exposed 
  

   in 
  many 
  places. 
  

  

  Overlying 
  the 
  black 
  band, 
  in 
  Yates 
  county, 
  and 
  at 
  Naples, 
  

   Ontario 
  coun 
  y, 
  there 
  are 
  nearxy 
  100 
  feet 
  of 
  fine 
  bluish 
  or 
  olive 
  

   shales, 
  not 
  quite 
  firm 
  enough 
  for 
  flagging, 
  though 
  flags 
  occur 
  in 
  

   these 
  beds 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  abundantly 
  to' 
  the 
  eastward, 
  the 
  char- 
  

  

  