THE GEOLOGY OF THE SYRACUSE QUADRANGLE 2J 



Economic features of the Onondaga limestone. The upper, 

 Seneca, division of the Onondaga limestone, because of its poor 

 weather-resisting qualities, has little or no commercial importance. 

 The middle cherty or " Corniferous portion " is used extensively 

 for crushed stone and locally for rough building purposes such as 

 retaining walls, bridge piers and stone fences; but the scattered 

 chert masses prohibit its use as a stone in superstructures. There 

 are many miles of fences built of this stone in Onondaga county 

 where it has been used largely to get rid of the many boulders scat- 

 tered over the fields. Many of these fences are now being used to 

 furnish stone for the macadamized roads in process of construction. 



The underlying crystalline portion of the Onondaga limestone is 

 among the best building stones in the State. Its durability is shown 

 by its strong relief on all the outcrops and in the buildings in which 

 it has been used. The interlocking crystalline grain has destroyed 

 to a large extent the lamination of the rock, so that under the stone- 

 cutter's tools it acts like a marble. In fact, it is only the absence of 

 bright color that prevents its use as marble. It has the strength, 

 elasticity and somewhat similar structure of the best marbles. 



The Onondaga limestone is as easily cut or drilled as the com- 

 pact limestones of the region, but its texture makes it much more 

 difficult to break. This quality renders it not only desirable for 

 use in the walls of buildings, but especially so for purposes where 

 great transverse strength is required, as in trimmings, sills, lintels, 

 curbing, sewer caps and bridge work. It is the purest lime carbonate 

 in the region and for that reason it was long used almost exclusively 

 by the Solvay Process Company in the manufacture of soda ash. 

 After exhausting the available supply of this stone at the Split 

 Rock quarries, the company opened other quarries at Jamesville 

 where at present it is using the underlying blue limestone. 



The crystalline Onondaga limestone has had a more extensive 

 use for building stone in Syracuse and vicinity than any other rock. 

 It may be seen in the Hall of Languages and the Steele Hall of 

 Physics on the university campus, in the City Hall, in the old Court 

 House, and in many of the dwellings of the city. In most of the 

 better class of dwellings it is used for the part of the foundation 

 exposed above the surface, while the bottom or concealed portion 

 of the foundation is of cheaper limestone. It has been used also 

 in the better class of farm houses and suburban residences around 

 Syracuse, and considerable quantities have been shipped by rail and 

 canal to other points in the State. It has had an extensive use for 

 bridge work, culverts, sewer caps, curbing, manholes and retaining 

 walls. 



