QUARRY MATERIALS OF NEW YORK 93 



situated. The rock outcrops in a series of low hills and ridges 

 which are mostly bare of soil and afford natural quarry sites. It 

 is of medium to light gray color as seen in exposures, or in rough 

 dressed surfaces, about the equivalent of a gray granite, for which 

 it serves well as a general building material. The anorthosite be- 

 longs, of course, to the border phase of the intrusion, characterized 

 by a granulated feldspar ground mass with rather more than the 

 usual percentage of dark silicates. 



The syenite which is quarried principally for monumental pur- 

 poses occupies an area between the anorthosite on the south and 

 the red gneisses that extend over most of the county immediately 

 north of the Ausable river. It outcrops in the first ridges just 

 north of the village, and also on the west side of Ragged mountain 

 on the south bank and in the triangle formed by the two forks of 

 the Ausable. The different exposures belong very likely to a single 

 boss of the syenite which has forced itself up along the gneiss- 

 anorthosite contact. The rock is of medium grain, massive. In 

 color it varies from dark to very dark green as seen on rock face 

 and polished surfaces, but grayish green on hammered work. Its 

 perfect polishing qualities and ability to take the finest tracing which 

 it shows in strong relief, combine to make it one of the most attrac- 

 tive monumental stones on the market. 



The Moore quarry 



The syenite quarries are located on both sides of the river. Those 

 on the north side are situated along the ridge that lies a little 

 distance from the town and north of the railroad. The Moore 

 quarry is near the base of the ridge which rises steeply at first so 

 as to afford a good working face of ioo feet or more, and then 

 more gradually to the summit which is over 400 feet above the 

 railroad. There is practically no soil covering on the rock and 

 weathering has produced no more than a slightly bleached layer, 

 which at a few inches depth passes into the normal rock. No sap 

 or stain is apparent. The rock is broken into large blocks by two 

 vertical joint courses running N. 40 E. and N. 50 W. An in- 

 clined course cuts across these in a direction N. 20 W. and dips 

 45 northeast, in conformity with the surface slope, giving the 

 effect of a sheeted structure. The rock is said to split easiest in a 

 direction parallel to the inclined joint systems. Several trap dikes 

 from 10 inches to 2 feet thick intersect the ledge in a northeast- 

 southwest direction. They have exerted little contact effect upon 

 the syenite and in some respects are an advantage to the quarry 



