392 New York State Museum 



and Cryphaeus boothi var. callitelcs). The Cardiff shale 

 (Clarke and Luther '04) was named from Cardiff, On- 

 tario county. It represented the upper Marcellus of 

 Vanuxem, recognized as a division from Schoharie west- 

 ward, overlying the Marcellus black shale or Stafford 

 limestone, where present. It is now regarded as a modi- 

 fied Marcellus facies of the Skaneateles shale. In the type 

 locality it is dark calcareous and black slaty shale with 

 thin layers of fossiliferous limestone. Its grayer aspect 

 and higher calcareous content distinguish it from the 

 black shales below. Thicknesses varying from 50 to 175 

 feet are recorded. These shales farther east in central 

 New York are not very fossiliferous. They grade above 

 into the Skaneateles shale (Vanuxem '40), named from 

 Skaneateles lake in Onondaga county and recognized 

 from east central New York to the western limits of the 

 State. At the base the shale is hard, dark bluish or black 

 and calcareous, passing into somewhat lighter and softer 

 beds above, and containing several rows of small concre- 

 tions. In the extreme western part of the State along 

 Lake Erie it has a thickness of 40 or 50 feet. The thick- 

 ness increases eastward being recorded as 125 feet in 

 Ontario county and 385 feet in the Onondaga valley in 

 Onondaga county. Fossils occur more abundantly in the 

 lower calcareous shales. 



The Ludlowville shale (Hall '39) and Moscow shale 

 (Hall '39) constitute the upper part of the Hamilton beds 

 and both are very rich in fossils of the typical Hamilton 

 fauna. The Ludlowville shale received its name from 

 Ludlowville, Cayuga county, and is recognized from east 

 central New York to the western limits of the State. 

 The shale is mostly fine and soft, evenly bedded, light 

 to dark bluish gray in color and but slightly calcareous. 

 In the lower part there are several thin layers of lime- 



