336 



southwest parallel to the present outline of the New Bruns- 

 wich coast. The Carboniferous area lying to the westward 

 of Shepody mountain is therefore an integral part of the 

 Cumberland synclinorium, or it represents more properly 

 the extension of the Minudie anticlinorium. 



The remaining strata of the Joggins formation are the 

 most interesting in the Joggins section both on account of 

 their organic remains and their economic importance. 

 The beds differ from the preceding beds of the Boss Point 

 formation chiefly in those characters resulting from depo- 

 sition under more pluvial or swampy conditions. Thus the 

 measures are predominantly grey in color, the sandstones 

 are generally much thinner, and are replaced or interbedded 

 with thick or thin zones of red, grey, or variegated shales 

 in which the coals or carbonaceous beds occur. It will 

 be seen that the division of this formation into unequal 

 zonal groups may be conveniently made in the field, since 

 there is a noticeable monotonous sequence of zones of 

 regularly evenly-bedded shales, thin sandstones, under- 

 clays, coals and thin bituminous limestones, in alternation 

 with massive falsely-bedded sandstones that character- 

 istically channel into the underlying shale zones. The 

 rapid deposition of these heavier sandstone beds is well 

 attested by the fact that they frequently contain the 

 casts of erect trees which occasionally exceed 20 feet in 

 length and whose bases occur in the mudstone soils beneath. 

 That these soil beds are extremely abundant throughout 

 the whole formation, may be seen from the widespread 

 vertical recurrence of shale beds with rootlets {Stigmaria) . 



As a consequence of the presence of such abundant 

 organic material much of the ferric iron contained in the 

 sandstones and shales has been reduced to a more soluble 

 salt. This process has been accompanied by a leaching 

 action and deprivation of iron from these beds, which has 

 been supplemented by concentration and redeposition of 

 the iron in the shales in the form of argillaceous hydrated 

 carbonate (ironstone) concretions. The above characters 

 of this formation are illustrated in the first rocks encountered 

 at the high cliff. The first zone of evenly-bedded red shales 

 has associated with it the first coal group, which consists 

 of three minute seams of coal or coaly matter, each less 

 than one inch in thickness, but each underlain by a distinct 

 Stigmaria underclay. The regularity of these beds is 

 abruptly and unevenly terminated above by the succeeding 



