The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 3, July, 1889 — John Shaqi
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 3, July, 1889Various
Science
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 3, July, 1889
Various
Geography -- Periodicals
Silurian except the Medina above named, the whole of the Devonian--in
which however there are two hard beds of subordinate value, the
Oriskany sandstone and a Chemung sandstone and conglomerate, that form
low and broken ridges over the softer ground on either side of
them--and the Carboniferous (Mauch Chunk) red shales and some of the
weaker sandstones (Coal measures).
6. _Former extension of strata to the southeast_.--We are not much
concerned with the conditions under which this great series of beds was
formed; but, as will appear later, it is important for us to recognize
that the present southeastern margin of the beds is not by any means
their original margin in that direction. It is probable that the whole
mass of deposits, with greater or less variations of thickness,
extended at least twenty miles southeast of Blue Mountain, and that
many of the beds extended much farther. The reason for this conclusion
is a simple one. The several resistant beds above-mentioned consist of
quartz sand and pebbles that cannot be derived from the underlying beds
of limestones and shales; their only known source lay in the
crystalline rocks of the paleozoic land to the southeast. South
Mountain may possibly have made part of this paleozoic land; but it
seems more probable that it was land only during the earlier Archean
age, and that it was submerged and buried in Cambrian time and not
again brought to the light of day until it had been crushed into many
local anticlines[9] whose crests were uncovered by Permian and later
erosion. The occurrence of Cambrian limestone on either side of South
Mountain, taken with its compound anticlinal structure, makes it likely
that Medina time found this crystalline area entirely covered by the
Cambrian beds; Medina sands must therefore have come from farther still
to the southeast. A similar argument applies to the source of the
Pocono and Pottsville beds. The measure of twenty miles as the former
southeastern extension of the paleozoic formations therefore seems to
be a moderate one for the average of the whole series; perhaps forty
would be nearer the truth.
[Footnote 9: Lesley, as below.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account