227 



Miles and \^[\i country occupied by Silurian and Ordovician 



Kilometres. •' . i • t i i 1 1 i i • 



Strata associated with large and small bodies 

 of igneous rocks varying in character from 

 granites to fine-grained acid and basic volcanics. 

 Associated with the Silurian and other strata 

 are deposits of spathic and hematitic iron ore. 

 These deposits have been mined and at one 

 time were smelted in furnaces at Eureka which 

 are visible from the railway. 



37-3 m. Ferrona Junction — Alt. 129 ft. (39-3 m.). 



60 -o km. The reddish strata of the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone series are exposed along the river for 

 about I mile (i -6 km.) below Ferrona Junction, 

 where for a short distance they are replaced 

 by hard, reddish sandstones and slates thought 

 to belong to an underlying series of Devonian 

 age. These measures form a ridge rising to a 

 considerable height on the east side of the 

 river. The ' Devonian ' strata are bounded by 

 east-west faults and on the north side, the 

 Devonian Limestone series is repeated. 



After passing the narrow band of ' Devonian ' 

 the country lowers and becomes broadly rolling 

 in character. Before reaching Stellarton, the 

 railway leaves the Carboniferous Limestone 

 area, crosses a mile-wide strip of Millstone Grit 

 and enters a district occupied by Coal Measures. 



40-8 m. Stellarton — Alt. 58 ft. (7-7 m.). Stellarton 



65-6 km. is one of the mining centres of the Pictou 

 bituminous coal field. The Coal Measures in 

 this field occupy an irregular oval-shaped area, 

 io| miles (16-9 km.) long in an east and west 

 direction and, at the widest point, about 3 miles 

 (4-8 km.) broad. The total area of the Coal 

 Measures is in the neighbourhood of 20 square 

 miles (50 sq. km.) . The irregular oval or lozenge 

 outline of the area is marred towards the centre 

 of the field by a tongue-like area of Millstone 

 Grit projecting from the southern boundary 

 along an anticlinal axis. Except at the western 

 end of the field and in the neighbourhood of the 

 above mentioned tongue-like projection of 

 Millstone Grit, the area of the Coal Measures 

 is bounded by a system of faults whereby the 

 35063— 2 |a 



