vanhise.]  THE    GREAT   NORTHERN   AREA.  217 
by  C.  F.  Hall,  as  consisting  of  granite,  gneiss,  magnetite-gneiss,  horn 
blendic  gneiss,  mica-schist,  etc. 
Bell,9  in  1885,  describes  on  the  Labrador  coast  gneiss  and  gran- 
ite at  Ford's  liarbor  and  Mission  station,  Nam,  at  Nachvak  inlet,  at 
Skynners  cove,  and  other  points.  The  granite  sometimes  becomes 
syenitic  and  the  gneiss  is  sometimes  well  laminated. 
Boas,34  in  1885,  describes  the  nucleus  of  Baffin  land  as  everywhere 
of  gneiss  and  granite. 
Greely,33  in  1886,  finds  toward  the  head  of  Chandler  fiord  liigh 
cliffs  of  schists  and  slate,  and  in  Buggies  river,  at  the  outlet  of  lake 
Hazen,  large  slabs  of  slate. 
Packard,36  in  1888,  describes  syenitic  and  gneissic  rocks  of  the 
Lauren tian  formation  at  various  points,  among  which  are  Sleupe  har- 
bor in  Gore  island  near  Shallop,  the  bay  east  of  Anse-au-Loup,  Caribou 
island,  cape  St.  Francis,  and  Square  island. 
McConnell,37  in  1890,  mentions  granite-gneisses  east  of  the  Bocky 
mountains  at  the  rapids  of  Slave  river  and  fort  Bae.  These  evidently 
belong  to  the  Laurentian  or  the  oldest  division  of  the  Archean.  West  ot 
the  Bocky  mountains,  crystalline  schists  are  largely  developed  along  the 
valley  of  the  Pelly -Yukon,  occurring  in  numerous  exposures  from  the 
International  boundary  to  fort  Selkirk,  and  they  continue  up  the  Lewis 
about  30  miles.  This  belt  of  crystalline  rocks  has  a  width  of  somewhat 
over  a  hundred  miles.  The  eastern  edge  of  the  area  consists  largely  of 
quartzose  schists,  cklorite-sehists,  mica-schists,  diabases,  and  serpen- 
tines, which  are  occasionally  interbedded  with  bands  of  slate,  limestone, 
and  are  broken  in  many  places  by  igneous  intrusions.  The  green 
schists,  in  ascending  the  river,  are  underlain  by  foliated  mica-gneisses, 
alternating  with  hornblende-gneisses,  which  are  distinctly  Archean  in 
appearance  and  lithological  character. 
SUMMARY  OF    RESULTS  FROM  DAWSON. 
Dawson,38  in  1887,  as  a  result  of  an  exhaustive  review  of  the  literature 
of  northern  Canada,  states  that  Archean  or  Eozoic  rocks  are  dominant 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  continent.    They  also  form  the  greater  part 
Pf  Greenland,  and  doubtless  underlie  at  no  great  depth  the  entire  Arctic 
rchipelago.  While  the  information  available  is  sufficient  to  indicate 
[the  existence  of  the  different  subdivisions  of  the  Archean  which  are 
met  with  in  the  southern  portion  of  Canada,  including  the  lowest  Lauren- 
tian or  granitoid  gneiss  series,  the  Middle  Laurentian,  possibly  the 
peculiar  rocks  classed  as  the  "  Upper  Laurentian  "  and  certain  of  the 
more  schistose  and  generally  darker  colored  and  more  basic  rocks  classed 
as  Huronian,  it  is  far  too  imperfect  to  admit  of  the  separation  of  these 
subdivisions  on  the  map.  It  is  evident  that  the  Huronian  is  represented 
n  parts  of  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  and  it  is  probably  also  recog- 
lizable  on  the  Labrador  coast,  and  on  the  west  coast  of  Hudson  bay. 
Che  occurrence  of  well  stratified  gneisses  with  mica-schists  and  crystal- 
