GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE SCHOHARIE VALLEY 159 



this period the near shore sand and pebble beds of the lower 

 Oriskany were deposited in the Rondout region and southward 

 and the lower Oriskany beds of Becraft mountain Avere deposited 

 probably at a greater distance from the shore, so that the 

 silicious element in them became much reduced. As has been 

 shown elsewhere 1 the Oriskany of Becraft mountain is a continu- 

 ous series w r ith the Helderbergian series, the calcareous Port 

 Ewen beds of that locality forming a complete transition from the 

 one to the other. 



Fossils of the Oriskany formation 



Brachiopods are the most characteristic fossils of this forma- 

 tion. One of the most striking is H i p p a r i o n y x proximus 



Fig. 75 Hipparionyx proximus 



[fig. 75] with its extremely convex brachial and nearly Hat pedicle 

 valves, the latter with strong muscular impressions, which have 



stratigraphy of Becraft mountain. 



