16 



forms an isolated outlier of the Laramie formation, and as indicated on the geological map it 

 appears to measure thirty-six miles east and west, and twenty-eight miles north and south. 



McConnell (OS) who examined this area in 1888, describes it as located about twenty miles 

 south of Old Fort Norman, where the soft clays and sands of the Bear River Tertiary beds are 

 first seen. Thelowest beds consist of indurated sands of a yellowish and greyish colour. These 

 are overlaid with 30-40 feet of bluish and yellowish sandy shales, above which there are 3-4 

 feet of lignite. This latter is succeeded by 15 feet of whitish-weathering arenaceous shale 

 which is very soft but rich in fossil leaves. The total thickness of the Tertiary beds is one 

 hundred feet and five inches. He directs attention to the fact that the lignite beds were on 

 fire at the time of his visit, and that " they have been burniug since the locality was first 

 visited by Sir Alexander Mackenzie just a century ago." This combustion has produced an 

 alteration similar to that observed in the region of Porcupine creek and elsewhere, with the 

 result that the enclosing shale is hardened and reddened. In these baked shales there are 

 many beautifully preserved specimens of leaves (OS, 95-96D). 



From Bear river, the Tertiary beds extend along the Mackenzie river almost to the 

 foot of Bear mountain where they are replaced by Devonian limestones and shales, but on the 

 south they reappear at a point about twelve miles below Bear river and present an exposure 

 along the valley for about half a mile when they disappear, though their actual extension 

 may be somewhat greater. The total thickness of the formation, as a whole, is held to be not 

 less than 600 feet, and the area itself is given a somewhat greater value than originally 

 assigned — forty miles along the Mackenzie from north to south, and a width of thirty to forty 

 miles (88,1000). The Tertiary beds to be seen at Old Crow river and at Fishing river are 

 regarded as of the same age, forming a part of the same basin. At the head of the Ramparts , 

 these rocks overlap the Cretaceous and rest directly upon hard limestones and quartzites 

 which are probably Palaeozoic. Below IIowling-Dog-Rock, at the mouth of the Porcupine, 

 the roL-ka are similar to those of the Ramparts. The width of the Tertiary basin at this point 

 does not exceed seven miles, though the appearance of the country indicates that it extends 

 much farther (68,127-132). 



Discussing the age and formation of these beds, McConnell regards them as lacustrine 

 in origin, and in their lithological and stratigraphical aspects they "have a much closer 

 resemblance to the Miocene of the Cypress hills and neighbouring areas than of the Laramie 

 with which their fossils correlate them." 



At the mouth of the Bear river, instead of a conformable passage from the Cretaceous 

 to the Tertiary, as in the area of the Great plains, there is evidence that the former was 

 elevated and subjected to a prolonged denudation before the latter was deposited. In order 

 to reconcile the stratigraphical position of the Bear River beds with a Laramie age, it will be 

 necessary to assume that this part of the continent was, towards the end of the Cretaceous 

 period, aftiected by extensive movements of elevation and depression in which the central part 

 did not participate. (68, lOOd.) 



The collection of plants made by Sir John Richardson was placed in the hands of Prof. 

 Oswald Ileer, for determination. Four specimens of fossil wood were in the collection. 

 These were handed to Dr. C. Schroter for determination by microscopical study, and he 

 found them to embrace a Sequoia, a Larix, a Gingko and a Platanus. They are all illustrated 

 by accurately drawn figures from which it is possible lo confirm the general conclusions 



