Posf-Glacial Terraces of Anticosti Island. 273 



contain so much error as to be of little value. Gravel 

 which appears to be of beach origin lies on this higher 

 land wherever it has been seen. 



Origin of the Terraces. 



In essentially every locality the terraces truncate the 

 structure. On the north side the outer margins are cut 

 on older rock than the inner margins and eastward they 

 truncate younger rock than westward; exactly opposite 

 conditions, however, obtain on the south side. They are 

 cut indiscriminately over weak and strong beds. These 

 facts eliminate any possibility that the terraces may be of 

 structural origin. 



Most and probably all of the terraces bear gravel which 

 is of beach origin and such gravel has been observed on 

 the highest measured terrace. Bowlder beaches or lines 

 have not been seen, but such are not likely to be present, 

 as bowlders are not common on the present coast. Such 

 gravel as has been observed is like that of the present 

 coast except that on the higher and older terraces it is 

 more or less roughened by solution. Shell-bored rocks 

 have been found up to at least 85 feet above sea-level in 

 the region between Ellis Bay and English Bay. Dr. 

 Joseph Schmidt, who lived on the island for many years, 

 considered that ' * marine water had covered the whole of 

 the island within the late geologic past. ' '^ 



Most of the terraces and probably all of them are 

 fronted at some places by steep cliffs or slopes, and where 

 the cliffs are w^ell preserved, they are such as could have 

 been developed only by the waves. Such cliffs of course 

 are most common in connection with the lower terraces. 

 These facts are considered proof that the terraces were 

 cut by the waves. The fact that gravel of beach origin 

 has not been found everywhere can not be adduced as an 

 objection, as it does not occur everywhere on the present 

 beach, the major portion of the reef being without it. 



-Time of Origin of the Terraces. 



In this connection it is necessary to consider the glacia- 

 tion of the island, the Champlain submergence, the depos- 

 its of post-Champlain time, and the age of the river val- 

 leys. The facts developed from the examination of these 



^Joseph Schmidt, Monographie de L'lle d 'Anticosti, Paris, 1904, p. 94. 

 Free translation. 



