PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND STUDIES. 19 



In 1879 Mr. Warren Upham published his papers on " Terminal Moraines of the 

 North American Ice Sheet/ ,a in which may be found the first comprehensive effort 

 to discuss the most obvious glacial phenomena of the coastal islands, with inci- 

 dental reference to the basal clays and their contorted condition in a number of 

 localities. In regard to the clays on Gardiners Island he says (p. 90): " Further 

 exploration is needed to compare these with the lignitic beds of Block Island and 

 the upturned Tertiary strata of Gay Head." 



In 1881 Dr. N. L. Britton read a paper before the New York Academy of Sciences 

 entitled "On the Geology of Richmond County, N. Y./' 6 in which the probable 

 eastward extension of the Cretaceous strata through Staten Island and Long Island 

 is mentioned and the prediction is made that although "no fossil leaves or shells 

 have been taken from the clays of Staten Island * * * it is not improbable 

 that they will be found at some future time, when the excavations are more advanced 

 than at present.'' 



In the same year the Natural Science Association of Staten Island 6 * was organized 

 and the investigation of local scientific matters was systematized, and the collecting 

 of material and recording of facts was begun. " In the Proceedings of this association 

 for November 10, 1883, may be found a paragraph to the effect that — 



* * * the following objects were presented and discussed: By Mr. Hollick, fossil leaf impressions * * * 

 from the shale and sandstone on the shore at Tottenville. Mr. Britton spoke at some length in regard to this 

 discovery and stated that it was likely to prove the most important one yet made by the association. Geologi- 

 cally it is a link in the chain connecting Glen Cove, Long Island, with Key port, N. J., at each of which locali- 

 ties similar fossils have been found. The age of the rocks containing them is a matter of dispute, some authori- 

 ties referring them to the Cretaceous and some to the Tertiary. It is quite possible that a careful study and 

 investigation of our locality may be of far more than mere local importance. 



In the Proceedings of the same association for December 8, 1883, the matter is 

 again referred to in the following communication by Doctor Britton : 



The occurrence of similar fossiliferous sandstones on the beach near Glen Cove, Long Island, and vicinity 

 has been known for some time. There they are found in precisely the same position as at Tottenville, and are 

 associated with extensive beds of fire clay, kaolin, etc. The Tottenville station is not immediately on these 

 clays, but they are found near by in several directions, notably at Kreischervilb. That the two localities 

 mark outcrops of the same geological formation, and probably approximately of the same strata, is almost cer- 

 tain. The physical structure of the Glen Cove series is exactly parallel to that of certain of the clay beds of 

 Middlesex County, N. J., which are well known to belong to the Cretaceous epoch. In the absence of suffi- 

 cient fossil evidence we can not state with absolute certainty that the two deposits are equivalent, but there 

 is little doubt that this will ultimately be proven and that the New Jersey and Staten Island clays, kaolins, 

 lignites, etc., find another and their most northern outcrop on the north shore of Long Island at or near Glen 

 Cove. 



In 1885 plant remains were found in the Kreischerville clays as had been antici- 

 pated. A number of these were compared with and identified as known species 

 common in the New Jersey Cretaceous clays, and the equivalency of the strata in the 

 two localities was definitely established. d 



In the meantime Mr. F. J. H. Merrill had been at work on the geology of Long 

 Island, and the results of his investigations were included in a paper on the subject, 



a Am. Jour. ScL, vol. 18, 1879, pp. 81-92, 197-209. 



b Annals New York Acad. ScL, vol. 2, 1882, pp. 161-182. 



cNow the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences. 



dProc. Nat. ScL Assn. Staten Island, vol. 1, February 13, 18:6, p. 31- 



