292 
GEOLOGY OF THE FIRST DISTRICT. 
sedimentary matter would of course assume an unusual direction in its gently inclined sur- 
faces of deposition. Proceeding east from the Round Valley mountain, we find the dip at 
the White Horse to be nearly northeast; then east; and near the mouth of the Lamington 
river, southeast; and beyond Somerville, nearly south, affording an almost convincing proof 
that'such an eddy prevailed, and presenting ample evidence, if such were wanting, that the 
inclined posture of the strata is not the result of an elevatory action. 
“ Respecting the variegated calcareous conglomerates which overlie the red sandstone for¬ 
mation, but little difficulty exists in explaining both their source and the nature of the circum¬ 
stances which accompanied their production. The fragmentary materials of which they con¬ 
sist, can be traced in every instance to the older rocks of the neighboring hills immediately 
bordering the middle secondary plain on the northwest; and we can discover a relation be¬ 
tween the amount of the several kinds of pebbles, and that of particular sorts of easily abraded 
strata along the flanks of the valley. Thus, in every case where calcareous pebbles and 
a calcareous cement are abundant in the conglomerate, the older secondary limestone (For¬ 
mation II.) may be seen at the base of the adjacent hills, and usually at an elevation that 
indicates it to have been sufficiently above the waves to undergo extensive destruction from a 
sudden and powerful rush of waters.”* 
I agree to the views of Prof. R. in the main, but would ascribe the deposition of the red 
sandstone to the operation of a cause more general; one that I believe will reconcile the facts 
perhaps better, and apply to other formations similar to this in other parts of the country. 
It has been shown that the phenomena of the drift, and the deposits between that and those 
now under consideration, could be explained — in fact almost demonstrated that they must— 
by the operation of the laws of nature, have been caused by the action of branches of the 
polar and equatorial currents. 
It can (and will in the proper place) be shown that the Blue ridge, Highland and Green 
mountain chain was elevated to the same general contour and relief as it bears at present, 
long before the deposition of the strata of the red-sandstone epoch. 
It has been shown in the article on the drift deposits, that the polar and the equatorial cur¬ 
rents must have existed as long as the ocean has occupied its bed; and flowing as it must, 
regulated by known dynamical laws, and mountain chains occupying positions the same as 
they now do, and as we know that they must have done at the period of the deposition of the 
red sandstone strata, the current that we call the Gulf stream must have flowed along the 
eastern coast of the United States, where the red-sandstone formation now is, and to the east¬ 
ward of it. 
It has also been shown that the general tendency of that current, as it progresses farther to 
the north, is to bend off slightly to the eastward, in consequence of the greater velocity of 
rotation at the equator than it has where distant from it, and nearer the axis of rotation. The 
reverse holds true with regard to the polar current. 
* Prof. H. D. Rodgeks’ Geological Report of New-Jersey, 1840, pp. 166, 171. 
