The Journal of Geology, May-June 1893: A Semi-Quarterly Magazone of Geology and Related SciencesVarious
Science
The Journal of Geology, May-June 1893: A Semi-Quarterly Magazone of Geology and Related Sciences
Various
Geology -- Periodicals
To recapitulate, the results of the post-Cretaceous uplift are seen in
the valleys which have been cut in the peneplain. The narrow valleys
in the gneisses and schists, the upland valleys in the limestones, the
wide open, drift encumbered gaps in the trap ridge,--Cook’s and the
Westfield river gaps,--the broad open lowland on the sandstones, are
all the result of erosion in this cycle. The Quinnipiac gorge in the
sandstone, and the Tariffville gorge in the trap are just as surely of
a later date. They do not at all accord with the work of the earlier
cycle either in size, angle of slope, or depth.
This conclusion is somewhat at variance with an opinion expressed by
Professor J. D. Dana,[40] but it seems justifiable in view of the
successive cycles in the physical development of the region. In another
part of this article I shall consider these gaps again in connection
with their river histories, and shall give additional reasons why I
venture to differ from so eminent an authority.
_Length of this cycle._ This cycle of erosion beginning with the
post-Cretaceous uplift was not so long as the preceding cycle. In
the earlier one the whole state was reduced to a peneplain; in the
later cycle only the soft Triassic sandstones were brought near to
baselevel. It probably lasted through Tertiary times, and was brought
to a close by a slight uplift. The result of this uplift is well
shown in Pennsylvania[41] and New Jersey.[42] It is not well shown in
Connecticut, but there seem to be some traces of it in the trenches the
rivers have cut below the level of the sandstone peneplain. However,
these trenches are so much obscured by drift that a positive statement
is not warranted. It may, however, be spoken of provisionally as the
post-Tertiary uplift. There may have been later oscillations of small
amount, probably were; here and there are shreds of evidence which
point to such oscillations, but only one movement has had an effect
upon the topography, which can be recognized. The fjorded condition
of all the rivers along the Sound--the Norwalk, Saugatuck, New Haven
bay, Niantic and Thames are the best examples--shows that within
comparatively recent time there has been a slight subsidence of the
land. But this movement is not to be compared in amount with those of
the earlier cycles.
_The drift._ Over all the state in varying thickness lies the glacial
drift, either in its typical unmodified development as till, or in its
modified form, as river terraces, kames, eskers and sand-plains. It is
of importance in this connection only as it has affected the topography
of the country and so modified the drainage. Examples of these
modifications will be mentioned later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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