67 



are cut off abruptly at the top and that the fine gravel 

 and sand of the Iroquois beach proper overlie them 

 in an unconformable manner. About ioo yards to the 

 southeast just west of the high school, the beach ridge, 

 which is here in its original state, shows the form of the 

 ridge very clearly. The coarse gravels in the south part 

 of the village rise a few feet higher than the top of the 

 Iroquois spit and show no evidence whatever of shaping 

 or modification by wave action. 



Directly south of these gravels and of the village 

 there is a remarkable depression or basin which, from 

 its general form and relations and from its* situation just 

 opposite the mouth of the gorge, seems explicable only 

 as the result of the first plunge of the cataract over the 

 escarpment. The terrace of Whirpool sandstone just at 

 the mouth of the gorge was swept clean of all drift, while 

 half a mile east it is covered with till, and many large 

 blocks lie along the edge just below the sandstone terrace 

 and the floor of the depression near the terrace. A knoll 

 about 30 feet (9 m.) high which stands just north of it is 

 literally paved with boulders set close together over the 

 whole surface. The boulders grow fewer and smaller 

 north and northeastward from the terrace, ending in 

 coarse gravels. Farther north the great deposit begins 

 at the pits opposite the station and extends half a mile 

 north, with a smaller deposit also on the Canadian side. 

 The outline of the basin, especially on its east side, is 

 sharply defined by a bluff of drift 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 m.) 

 high which marks the eastern limit of excavation by the 

 powerful currents from the cataract. On the Canadian 

 side a channel runs through Queenston to the northwest 

 and turns northeast to the river, completing the symmetry 

 of the excavated basin which spreads in the shape of a 

 fan from the mouth of the gorge. The basin is 30 to 40 

 feet (9 to 12 m.) deep in its deeper parts and the coarse 

 gravels referred to form bars in its northern part and 

 extend beyond its northern side. From these relations 

 it might be concluded that the gravels were accummu- 

 lated in their present form by the powerful currents 

 which issued from the base of the cataract when it 

 first plunged over the escarpment, and are therefore, 

 true cataract gravel bars. Thus the inclined beds face 

 towards the mouth of the gorge, as though powerful out- 

 rushing currents had rolled the gravel out from the base 



35065—5! 



