CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Preface 6 



Introduction — Niagara falls and how to see them 7 



Mews from the New York side 9 



\ lews from the Canadian side 12 



The gorge below the falls 14 



Fossiliferous sections 16 



Ch. 1 Physical geography of the Niagara region 25 



Development of the Paleozoic coastal plain 31 



Development of the drainage features 37 



Ch. 2 Life history of Niagara falls 55 



Glacial period 55 



Lacustrine period 57 



Fluvial period 66 



Age of Niagara 82 



Ch. 3 Stratigraphy of the Niagara region 86 



Oswego sandstone 87 



Medina sandstones and shales 87 



Clinton beds 95 



Rochester shale 102 



Lockport (Niagara) limestone 105 



Guelph dolomite 114 



Salina beds 114 



Rondout waterlime 115 



Manlius limestone 116 



The Siluro-Devonic contact 117 



Devonic strata 120 



History of the Niagara region during Siluric time 121 



Ch. 4 Fossils of the Niagara region 130 



Plants 130 



Animals 133 



Distribution of fossils in the Siluric beds 232 



Ch. 5 Post-pliocene fossils of the Niagara river gravels, by 



Elizabeth J. Letson 238 



Appendix 



Bibliography of the geology of Niagara and the Great 



lakes 253 



Glossary 263 



Index 276 



>^So5n Instil,' 



