W. M. Fontaine— Vespertine Strata of Virginia. 43 



so gradually, that, in subdividing this great mass of sediment, 

 one is forced to select the dividing flam's smiiewhat arliitrarily, 

 and to take for his guide, physical changes in the strata. The 

 most natural horizon, to select as the upper boundary of the 



"Lewisburg," or "Lower Carboniferous Limestone." Yet, as 

 we proceed north into Pennsylvania, this rock is absent This 

 is also the case in the eastern exposures in Virginia. Along the 

 Greenbrier River there are certain red beds, underlying the 

 limestone m question, and resting on the coal-bearing member 

 of the Vespertine. Professor Wm. B. Rogers, if I understand 

 his measurements correctly, places these in his Umbral, or No. 

 XI, as he does the Lower Carboniferous Limestone, here exposed. 

 There are two objections to this, I think. The physical charac- 

 ter and composition of these red beds assign them more 

 naturally to the Vespertine than to the limestone. 



Another, and more important objection is, that if the lowest 

 of these beds be made the base of the Umbral, then the great 

 limestone formation must be considered as a subordinate mem- 

 ber of the comparatively restricted Umbral series. For these 

 reasons, I include the beds in question, in the Vespertine series. 

 The Umbral series naturally begins at the top of the "Lewis- 

 burg," or " Lower Carboniferous Limestone," at least in the 



The Vespertine Strata on Greenbrier River. 



Commencing at the fault above described, which occurs a 

 little west of Caldwell Station, on the Chesapeake & Ohio R R, 

 and about six miles west of the White Sulphur, we find on the 

 east side of the deep channel cut by a small stream, highly con- 

 torted, aud overturned, strata of the Catskill '.', while on the 

 western side, and only 100 yards distant, the upper red beds of 

 the Vespertine are seen dipping at an angle of only three or 

 four degrees eastward, toward the contorted strata. These 

 compose the base of the high hill there seen. The middle and 

 upper portions of this hill are composed of the Lower Carbon- 

 iferous' limestone, into which the red strata pass gradually, by 

 several alternations of red marlite and limestone. Passing 

 west, along tbe railroad, the cuttings show that the red rocks 

 rise gradually with a steepening easterly dip, until within 100 

 the first exposure of the coal-bearing or middle mem- 

 ber of the Vespertine, when they rise suddenly, at an angle 

 of 45°. 



These strata are composed almost entirely of deep red 

 crumbling marlites. Some insignificant bed 

 and gray sandstones, occur in r the base of 



the limestone, and toward the middle of the series. Some of 



