130 
GEOLOGY OF THE FIRST DISTRICT. 
beds are seen. It is not more than a half to three quarters of a mile wide, and is frequently 
very narrow. Another narrow belt skirts the part of Twelve-mile marsh, that lies between 
Dresden and South bay of Lake Champlain ; and another, the marsh between South bay and 
the mouth of Poultney river. 
Another lies southeast and south of Whitehall, between the Pawlet river and Wood creek. 
Another extends from Hampton and West-Poultney on the Poultney river, southwest to 
Granville, where it spreads into broad plains. 
Another commences at Fort-Ann on Wood creek,, and extends through the valley of the 
Champlain canal to Sandy-hill, whence this formation extends towards South bay of Lake 
George, and up the Hudson to the mountains west of Glen’s-Falls ; thence southwardly along 
the base of the mountains, and to Saratoga and Ballstdn springs ; thence by a narrow belt 
to Schenectady, where it communicates with the same formation that covers so much area 
in Albany and Schenectady counties. From Sandy-hill, it extends down the Hudson river, 
with a variable breadth, through the townships of Fort-Edward, Greenwich, Easton, Scaghti- 
coke, Berwick, Greenbush, Schodack, Stuyvesant, Ghent, Claverack, Stockport, Greenport, 
Livingston, Clermont, Redhook and Rhinebeck. Here the connection of this deposit is inter¬ 
rupted, and does not communicate with those farther down the river.* Branches or arms of 
*Mr. John Finch, in 1826, described in a general manner the quaternary formations of a part of the Hudson valley, 
under the name of tertiary, and compared it with the tertiary of the London and Paris basins; and but for the fossils of 
the Champlain valley being identical with recent species, and the deposits of the Hudson and Champlain valley being 
undoubtedly contemporaneous, they would perhaps be classed with the tertiary. Mr. Pinch also has mistaken the true 
position of the drift, which he calls diluvion, and which he has confounded with the upper drift, or the deposits of gravel 
and pebble beds that cap the quaternary, though the two are frequently mingled where no clay beds intervene. As 
Mr. Finch’s paper contains local descriptions, some extracts are made. 
“ Immediately superimposed upon the transition clay slate, are the tertiary strata, consisting of an extensive deposit of 
clay marl, containing from twelve to fifteen per cent, of carbonate of Ihne; color blackish blue, bluish grey; sometimes 
contains iron pyrites and fossO wood;* varies in thickness from ten to sixty or eighty feet. The original deposition was 
probably of a uniform thickness, and the irregularilies of its surface may have been produced by diluvial torrents.” 
“ Adhesive slate forms large beds in the preceding stratum; color yellowish grey, greyish white; particles of it adhere 
to the fingers; it occurs in laminre, varying in thickness from half an inch to six inches; fracture earthy; when dry, 
conchoidal. Used extensively in the manufactui’e of bricks.” 
“ Clay somethnes occurs in large beds in the clay marl, or occupies its place; color various.” 
“ Diluvion is the highest of these formations, and is distinguished, as in every part of the earth’s surface, by sand and 
gravel containing detached pebbles of the older rocks.” 
“ At Newburgh, the diluvial strata form numerous rounded eminences, which may be traced to some distance in the 
country. South of the town, the clay appears at the surface. One mile north, on the shore of the river, is adhesive slate.” 
“ At Fishkill landing, on the opposite shore, the adhesive slate forms a continuous stratum extending near two miles.” 
“ Near Marlborough, the clay marl predominates.” 
“ At Hyde-Park, near the residence of Dr. Allen, the clay marl makes its appearance, about half way down the declivity 
of the hill; but it may be seen to more advantage on the estate of William Bond, Esq. immediately on the shore of the 
river, and adjoining the property of Judge Pendleton. When exposed to the action of small torrents of water, the marl 
assumes various singular forms, and becomes indurated by exposure to the air. These figured marls” (the clay stones 
' This is believed to have originated in mistaking this for another deposit. M. 
