LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



New York State Museum PAR ^ 



HANDBOOK OF PALEONTOLOGY 



FOR BEGINNERS AND AMATEURS 



PART 2: THE FORMATIONS 



By Winifred Goldring 

 Associate Paleontologist, New York State Museum 



PREFACE 



The present handbook is a companion to Handbook 9 

 on Fossils and completes the Handbook of Paleontology 

 For Beginners and Amateurs. As in the case of part 1, 

 this handbook is written with special reference to New 

 York State. The introductory chapter has three sections : 

 one deals with the rocks, their origin, character, struc- 

 tures etc. ; the second with conditions of life in the sea 

 today; and the third with plant and animal associations 

 along the shore. It has been deemed essential to a proper 

 interpretation of the geologic formations, with their fos- 

 sils, to have a general knowledge of these subjects. The 

 chapters on the geologic formations are prefaced by a 

 short discussion of the nomenclature, classification and 

 correlation of geologic formations and the geologic time 

 scale. 



The material for this handbook has been drawn from 

 many sources. At the end of each chapter and in the 

 bibliography is listed such literature as is thought to 

 be of interest to and within the scope of the reader. 

 Numerous references will be found in the literature cited. 

 The maps and sections used here have been adapted from 

 those made by the writer for the case "What is a Geo- 

 logical Formation ?" on exhibition in the New York State 

 Museum. The maps show the general distribution of the 

 [13] 



