139 



CARBONIFEROUS LOWLAND. 



The Carboniferous lowland, which in this area encroaches 

 upon the upland in narrow embayments, is a portion of 

 the Tertiary base-levelled plain. The mildly undulating 

 surface is underlain here almost entirely by Lower Car- 

 boniferous (Mississippian) rocks. These are divided into 

 two formations, the Horton, and the Windsor, whose 

 relations to each other and to the Carboniferous elsewhere 

 have been a matter of considerable discussion. The 

 Horton includes a series of black, plant-bearing shales 

 interbedded with quartzose sandstones and seemingly 

 overlain by coarse arkose grits, sharp quartz sandstones 

 and brick red shales. The supposedly overlying Windsor 

 formation comprises a series of brick red and greenish 

 marls, thick beds of anhydrite or gypsum and of dolomitic 

 fossiliferous limestones. Post-Lower Carboniferous (Mis- 

 sissippian) folding and faulting have greatly deformed this 

 soft yielding series, and good field sections are lacking. 



ANNAPOLIS-CORNWALLIS VALLEY. 



The Triassic lowland lies adjacent to the Horton beds 

 on the north, forming the fertile Annapolis-Corn wallis 

 valley. The slightly rolling surface nowhere rises high 

 above sea-level. Along the shore of the estuary softly 

 rounded divides alternate with fertile stretches of level 

 marsh. The South Mountain plateau or the Horton 

 foothills rises abruptly on the south, whereas the North 

 Mountain escarpment limits the valley on the north. 

 The underlying rock is mainly brick red sandstone, dis- 

 tinctly cross-bedded, in places coarsely conglomeratic, 

 dipping at low angles to the north or northwest away 

 from the highland. Its ferruginous but highly calcareous 

 cement renders it especially susceptible to the attacks 

 of the weather, resulting in a sandy red loam peculiarly 

 adapted to the culture of fruits. 



ANNOTATED GUIDE. 



WINDSOR TO AVONPORT. 



Miles and 

 Kilometres. 



o m. Windsor. — Alt. 26 ft. (7-9 m.). From 



o km. Windsor, the Canadian Pacific railway runs 



west of north, cutting across the mouth of 



