264 
The American Geologist 
April, 189& 
The second paper of the evening was by Mr. R. E. Dodge 
on “ The Cretaceous and Tertiary peneplains of eastern Ten¬ 
nessee,” on the basis of observations accumulated during two 
summers’ field work in the region under Dr. C. W. Hayes of 
the U. S. Geological Survey. The speaker described the geo¬ 
graphic development since the Cretaceous period of the* 
country lying west from Chattanooga and across the Sequat¬ 
chie valley to the Mississippi river. By means of maps and 
sections Mr. Dodge set forth the geology of the old Cretaceous 
peneplain now forming the Cumberland plateau with a few 
monadnocks projecting above it; next the Tertiary peneplain 
that shows like a great shelf on each side of the river valley; 
and then the present river valleys and the plains to the west 
of the plateau region which are now being still further notched 
by the active streams. A map of the region that the speaker 
had prepared and colored so as to show the extent of each 
peneplain, or in other words the geographic development, was 
exhibited and commented upon. In discussion Prof. Stevenson 
remarked upon the high terraces that he had met along the 
Monongahela, Alleghany, Cheat, and New rivers in Pennsyl¬ 
vania and West Virginia. He referred to their uniform alti¬ 
tudes over wide areas and to their occurrences above the river 
terraces. He seems to favor, however, the view that they 
were wave cut terraces remaining from a period of submer¬ 
gence, but remarked that they were wonderfully well preserved 
for ones of ancient date. 
The section then elected for the ensuing year the same 
officers that had held the last vear, viz.: J. J. Stevenson 
chairman, and J. F. Kemp, secretary. J. F. Kemp, Sec’y. 
Geological Society op Washington. 
At the regular meeting of this society, held on February 
26, the following communications were presented: 
Mr. W J McGee exhibited the geologic map of the state of New York 
which was recently printed by the U. S. Geological Survey for Prof. 
Hall the state geologist. Mr. McGee stated that the map had been in 
preparation for the last ten years and its preliminary draft was a com¬ 
pilation by Prof. Hall and himself in greater part from old data. Find¬ 
ing that these were very incomplete and unsatisfactory in many areas, 
new field work was begun and continued at intervals for several years. 
In the meanwhile a new base was compiled. The larger part of the 
field work was done by Mr. N. H. Darton of the U. S. Geological Sur¬ 
vey. Dr. F. J. H. Merrill contributed data for Westchester, Putnam 
and New York counties, and Prof. J. F. Kemp mapped much of the 
region lying along the eastern side of the Adirondacks. Data for 
smaller areas were obtained from published or manuscript maps by 
Messrs. C. D. Walcott, T. N. Dale, J. M. Clarke, W. M. Davis, W. B. 
Dwight, and others. 
“ Notes on the Geology of the Black Hills of Dakota '’ were presented 
by Mr. N. H. Darton. The region was visited last autum for a study 
of the outcrops of the Dakota sandstones and the associated formations 
in connection with an investigation by the Geological Survey of the 
