C'KETACAOHS iO 



that (except in the southern part of British Cohunhiii), the Pacific at this 

 time, as in the hiter TrUissic, extended to tlie eastward quite across the 

 Cordilleran belt. In different parts of tlie region tliese rocks liave been 

 inchided under two names — the (^ueen Charlotte Islands and Kootanie 

 formations. Tlie former, applied at first particularly to the Earlier Cre- 

 taceous of the coast, has been extended to cover that of the whole west- 

 ern part and interior of the Cordillera. The latter is used to denote the 

 Earlier Cretaceous of the Laramide range and its vicinity, which differs 

 considerably in character.* 



In the Queen Charlotte islands we have the clearest succession of beds 

 and the largest and best studied representation of marine organic re- 

 mains. The entire Cretaceous section as known on these islands is as 

 follows, in descending order : f 



(A) Upper shales and sandstones 1,500 feet. 



( B) Coarse conglomerates 2,000 * ' 



(C) Lower shales and sandstones (with coal) 5,000 " 



(D) Agglomerates 3,500 " 



(E) Lower sandstones 1,000 " 



13,000 feet. 



It is the three lower members of this section that are regarded as com- 

 posing the Queen Charlotte Islands formation. Subdivision C contains 

 the greater number of fossils, eighty-nine species of invertebrates having 

 now been described from \i,X and most of the forms found in subdi- 

 vision E are identical with these. The intervening agglomerates, of vol- 

 canic origin, may be local, and in any case probabl}^ represent but a 

 comparatively short space of time. The overlying subdivisions, A and B, 

 are believed to be Upper Cretaceous and approximatel}^ equivalent to 

 the Niobrara, Benton, and Dakota of the interior portions of North 

 America. 



. In the southern part of British Columbia, east of the Coast ranges 

 (which are at least in great part of subsequent origin), the Earlier Cre- 

 taceous rocks of the Queen Charlotte islands are represented in the 

 Tatlayoco beds (7,000 feet), Nechacco beds (6,000 feet), Skeena beds, 

 Skagit beds (4,400 feet or more), and Jackass Mountain beds (5,000 feet). 

 These inland terranes of the southwe-stern part of British Columbia are 

 clearly comparable with the "Shasta group " of California and Oregon, 

 and the fauna most abundantly represented in them is that of the Knox- 



*The facts in regard to these rocks are somewhat fully summarized in Am. Jour. Sci,, vol. 

 >xxxviii, p. 120 et seq., and in Annual Report, Geol. Surv. Can., vol. vii (N. S.), 1894, p. 02 B et seq., 

 where numerous references to the literature may be found. t 



t Report of Progress, (ieol. Surv. Can., 1878-'7'J, p. 63 B. 



X Mesozoic Fossils, vol. i, part iv (1900), p. 305. 



