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' 1
FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOqlETY OF CANADA

SECOND SERIES— i896.9i

VOLUME II SECTION IV

OBOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIBNCB8

1>
5P

i ■■ :m

PALi£OZOIC OUTLIERS

IN THE

OTTAWA RIVER BASIN

B . W. ELLS, LL.D.

FOR SALB BY

JOHN DURIE ft SON, OTTAWA ; THE COPP-CLARK CO., TORONTO

BERNARD QUARITCH, LONDON, ENGLAND

Z896

sJ'*

.^>

*i>'a'-.iaKkJ

*.i..w».«.^.

T c

^'^'1 IS

Sbotion IV., 1896.

[137]

Tkanb. R. 8. C.

VIII. — Paliiiozoic Outliers in the Ottawa River Basin.

By R. W. Ells, LL.D.

(Read May lil, mw.)

The presenee of fossilif'erous sediments at various pointa throughout
the valley of the Ottawa has been known for many years, and some of
these have been described in considerable detail in the earlier reports of
the Geological Survey. Important and extensive collections of the con-
tained fossils have been made froni time to time, both by oiiicei's of the
Survey and by others interested in the subject, and the horizon of most
of these outliers has thus been ascertained. No regularly arranged tables
of these fossils have, however, hitherto been made and j»ublished.'

The formations recognized embrace the whole range of the Cambro-
Silui'ian (Ordovician) system from the Potsdam sandstone to the Lon-aine
shales, both inclusive, while certain areas of newer strata, found at widely
separated points, show that the ^ledina and Niagara formations of the
Upi5er Silurian are also represented.

The basin of the Ottawa River, as determined by its tributaries, is
extensive, the drainage area probably comprising not far from 130,000
square miles. The Ottawa itself follows a somewhat peculiar coui-se, the
upper part for nearly three himdred miles flowing westward from its
source near the upper waters of the (iatineau, on« of its principal tribu-
taries from the north, to the head of Lake Temiscaming, while the lower
portion flows in a nearly op])osite or southeasterly direction to its junc-
tion with the St. Lawrence, a distance in a direct line from the head of
Temiscaming Lake of about four hundred and flfty miles.

The height of land which separates the drainage basin of the Ottawa
from that of James Bay is J'o\uid a short distance to the north of the
upper stretch of the river. That part of the basin between the main or
lower portion of the Ottawa and the northern divide is occu])ied for the
most part, in .so fur at least as is now known, by crystalline rocks com-
prising limestones, gneisses, granites, etc., of Archu'an ago, which have
always i)eeu regarded as belonging to the Laurentian system. To the
north of Ottawa city the height of land is about two hundi'ed and thirty
miles distant, and the eastern limit of the drainage area is marked by
\hv River du Nord, which after a somewhat irregular course to the
northwest of Montreal enters the Ottawa River about thirty miles west
of its junction with the St. Lawrence. To the west of Lake Temiscaming,
the line dividing the Ottawa waters from those of Lake Huron on the

' The publication of these lists is for tlie present deferred, owinf? to the large
amount of material therein contained. They will, however, shortly appear in the
report of the Geological Survey on the areas adjacent to the Ottawa River.

138

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

south and .Tamos Huv on the north, is detonnincd by the Montreal River
and its trihularios. while from the head wiUers ot' this stream the height
of hind extends soutiioat-terly in an irrcguhirly curving line to the eastern
end of Lake Nipissing.

To tiie south of the Ottawa, the St. Lawrence water-shed, for nearly
one hundred miles, keeps very close Jo the latter river, ahd in the vicinity
of I'rescott and Brockvillo it is soareeiy more than three to four miles
distant. Thence it curves northwesterly to the liead of the Eideau chain
of lakes in Bedford township, continiung northward through the centre
of the county of Addington, and the northern portions of Hastings and
Ilaliburtini, and separating the watei-s of the ^ladawaska and Petawuwa
rivers on the north from those of the Muskoka <m the south, continues on
to meet that already described as reaching the east shore of Lake Nipissing
from the Montreal Kiver basin.

The area to the north antl south of the Ottawa is well watered,
abounding in lakes, often of large size, with many tributary streams, so
that the country is comparatively easy of access by canoes through(nit
the greater part of its extent. Much of this areu. 'specially to the south,
has long been openeil u]» for settlement, the soil where underlaid by the
Pala'ozoic formation iieing of very sui)erior quality. The area to the
north, being more rugged, has been settled principally along the valleys of
its principal streams.

North of the Ottawa the principal attluents are the Kippewa, l>u
Moine, Black, Coulonge and Gatineau, with its mai\y branches, some of
which have their source in lake expansions of great extent, in the vicinity
of the upper stretch of the river, and the Lievre. Nation. Eouge and ilii
Nord. To the west and soutli the Montreal, ]\lattawa. Petawawa. Mada-
waska, Bonnechere, Mississi]ipi, Eideau and South Naticm also drain a
large expanse of country. Over this soulliern area the greater ])art also is
occupied i>y the crystalline rocks of Laurentian and Huronian age. the
Palieozoic areas apparently tilling deeply eroded basins in these underly-
ing rocks.

While much of the country, on both sides of the Ottawa, is greatly
broken l)y mountain masses or sti-ongly pronounced hill features, very
large tracts, more particvdarly as we recede from the river itself, become
comparatively level, presenting the aspect of great sandy plains, out of
which hills of granitic and gneissic rock rise to considei-able t'levations.
So marked is this feature of sand distribution, with its underlying bluish-
gray clay, that one naturally infers the presence of watei- at .some time,
over the greater portion of the entire area, probably tot he height of land
itself. This sandy character is probably best seen on the several tribu-
taries of the Ottawa from the north as well as along much of the Ottawa
itself for nearly a himdred miles below its junction with the Mattawa,
where for many miles the country is covered with a great thickness of

[ells] PAL/I':0Z0IC outliers in the OTTAWA RIVER BASIN 139

sund, supporting at present a growth of small pine. As lor much of
the undcM'lying clay its origin is doubtful. Shi'lls are found only at rare
intervals, but in character the sedinuMits strongly resemble the marine
clays of the lower Ottawa. Organic rcnuiins have, however, been found
at widely separated points in the valley, up to elevations of over four
hundred and fifty feet above sea level. The overlying depo.sits of sand
and gravel are frequently well stralitied, and excellent sections of these,
as well as of the underlying clays, are ])re.s(,>nted along many of the
streams which have cut deep channels in the drift. In these Sa.riraiia
and other forms are found.

While there are no exact determinations as to the altilu<le of the hei<rht
of land north of the Ottawa, several close ai)proximations have been
obtained by means of barometric observations. The elevation of the
Iroquois Chute (liabelle).onthe Ilouge River, has been ti.xed by the survey
of the railway from St. Jerome at 875 feet on tiu- terrace level one hundred
feet above the river, though the elevation of the ridge oast of 8t. Fauslin,
which the railway crosses, is 1 ,520 feet. The elevation of the height of land
to the northeast between the head watei's of the Eouge and the head of the
Mattawin, a branch of the St. Maurice, will not probably exceed three
hundred leet more, as we enter upon a broad extent of plain sandy country
beyond the bend of the river near the Nominingue Lake and Creek, so
that the height of land in this direction would not be far from 1.050 to
1,100 feet. Further west, near the sources of the (iatineau and upper
Ottawa, the height of land has been estimated, by Dr. Eell, at about the
same tigure, the elevation of (<rand Lake being put at about 860 feet.
From observations by A. E. Barlow, the height of tho Abittibbi divide,
north of Lake Temiscaming. is put at 1)23 feet, while that at tho bead of
Montreal lliver is not far from l.HOO feet, the eU'vation of Lake 'J'emi."--
earning being only 585 feet. Continuing round by the south the heigh,
of the divide at Lake Nipissing is only 642 fei't. iiut this gradually rises
till, at the head waters of the Muskoka and Petawawa, it is, according to
Murray, about 1,400 feet. Near the source of the Madawaska River at
Papineau Lake, the same authority gives the elevation at 1.121 feet.
Murray also places the source of the Little Madawaska at 860 feet, and
of Wahsuhze Lake at the head of the Maganetawan at 1,097. Further
east the height of tho divide at the head of the Rideau lakes, accoriling
to the Canal survey, has sunk to 4 17 feet.

The principal ai'ca of fossiliferous sediments in the Ottawa valley, is
that which extends up the lower part of the Ottawa River from its junc-
tion with the St. Lawrence and is continuous with the great area which
occupies the valley of the St. Lawrence for hundreds of square miles.
Prior to the deposition of these sediments a deep depression must have
extended northwestward from that river for many milesand the(lrainage
basin of the Ottawa, even at that early time, was well established. The

140

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

st'dimciitary dcjtOHilN aloni; the nortli sido ol'tlir lower Otlawii at prcseiit
i'onn a narrow margin aloii^ llit> stivain wliicli is <()ntiim()us almost to
till' Chats Falls, nearly one himdrod and Hf'tj' miles from its mouth. Tlie
area is hoimiled 1)}' ranges of hills which rise a short distance haek from
the river ; hut to the south of the Ottawa the country is largely a level
plain. aii<l the Hi-dimentary formations s])read over a very considerahle
extent, whoso wostern limit may bo roughly hounded by a line drawn from
Arnprior. forty miles west of Ottawa city, to Brockville. on the St.
Lawrence, about one hundred and twenly-tive miles west of Montreal,
Several small outcrops of the underlying crystalline rocks appear, how-
ever, from beneath these generally horizontal strata.

The basal beds of this great series of fossiliferous sediments nrc^ fre-
quently composed of the debris of the Laurentian gneiss an<l limestone,
upon which these arkoso strata rest, and these constitute the lowest
member of the Potsdam sandstone which is now regarded as the base of
Culciferous lormation. The whole series along the lower Ottawa is of
special interest from the geological and jjaheimtological standpoint, from
the fact that wo have here, in unaltered form and undisturbed, a com
pletc series of strata which maj" be regarded as furnishing a ty|)ical
section of the Cambro-Silurian system from the very bottom t<> the over-
lying Silurian. While, however, .several sections are found which enable
us to measur'- the thicknesses of the various formations, this thickness is
found to vary somewhat in diHerent portions of the area; and though the
strata, as a whole, ai'c com])arativoly horizontal in attitude they are at
nriny points atfectoil by local faults, some of which are of considerable
extent, so that the problem of the deterntination of the entire thickness
is th'^'/eby somewhat complicated.

In addition to the ( ■anibro-Silurian formations which occur in this
area, wi; tin<l to the southeast of Ottawa city, in O.sgoode and Rus.sell.
townships, several outcrops of a I'cddish sandy shale, jirecisel}- similar to
what have been described as occurring in the area east of the St. Law-
I'ence, between Montreal and Quebec, and which have there iieon regarded
as belonging to the Medina, iiike the St. Lawrence outliers the.se newer
red beds also appear to rest unconformably upon the Lorraine or titica
shales, while in the western part of the basin, on Lake Temiscaming, the
geological section is still lurlher extended upward by the presence of
several outliers of Silurian fossiliferous strata whicdi represent the Niagara
formation. It will thus be .seen that the fossiliferous sediments of the old
Ottawa basin have a very wide range, and that this area atfords especially
good facilities for the study of these early sedimentary strata.

The Potsdam sandstone is reailily recognized by its ]u'culiar physical
features wherever it t)ccurs. It fills uj) depressions in the underlying
crystalline rocks, is uniformly siliceous in compo.sition and varies in colour
from a gray to a deep red, the latter tint being a])parontly duo to the

[buh] palaeozoic 0I"''LIERS in the OTTAWA UIVER BASIN 141

prcsonci' of u ooiiMid' ruble porcentago of iron (luMnatito) in its componi-
tioii. Its obwTvod .liicknoHs, on Iho Ottawa, is no wIuto nioro than lifty
to sixty fcot and in places is much less. In the upper stretches ol' tho
river it is entirely wanting, tho upper formations such us Calciferous,
Chazy or Trenton resting iipon the Laurontian. In tho development of
the Potsdam sandstone and the Calciteroiis i'ornnitions, as studied at
many points, no line of separation is possihle, the one passing intfi the
other by insensible gradations through the ad<lilion of calcareous matter
to the siliceous beds of the lower member.

The typical Potsdam sandslune has not yot been rccngniz.ed in the
Ottawa Itiver basin, much beyond the township of ^larch or about twenty
miles west of Ottawa city. At the Chats Falls and further west along
tho shore of the Chats Lake between Arnprior and tho mouth of the
Bonnechere, the Calciferous form.s tho lowest member of the series and
tills up the inequalities in tho Arcluean tloor. It is succeedetl directly by
tho greenish-gray shales and sandstones of the Chaz}' which pass upward
liy tho develo])nient of calcareous bands into the upper or calcareous
portion of that formation. The line of the Chats Falls, properly speak-
ing, marks tho western limit of tho great lower Ottawa basin, though tho
sedimentary beds further west, around the lower part of the Chats Lake,
were probably at one time continuous. There is, however, a marked
break in the levels of the deposition of the Calciferous below and above
the fulls ; the Chats Lake bods being at a eonsideral)ly higher level than
tho.sc below.

Tho groat lower Ottawa basin is ati'octed by several low undulations,
though the inclination of tho strata is at a low angle throughout tho area.
The lowest oi' Potsdam sandstone member is very regularly expo.sed along
the western or Ontario margin, the highest members, viz., the Lorraine
shales and the overlying ^[odina, being found nearer the northwestern
angle of the basin but a short distance to the south and cast of Ottawa
city.

Between the Calciferous and the Chazy a somewhat well detincd
change in tho character of the strata is vi.sible at various points. Thus
tlu' entire .series of tlu' former consists of limestones, somewhat siliceous,
but generally highly dolomitic, with a well defined fauna. Occasionally
somewhat thin arenaceous but dohmiitic shales apjiear in tho upper
j)ortion. A ])eculiar feature ot tho limestone, and one iiy which the
formation can be readily recognized, is tho presence of geodes. holding
yellowish-wliito calc-spar, though sonietinu's with quartz crystals or
gypsum. This peculiarity is seen in tho dolomites, from the most
westerly outcrop on Allumette Island in the Ottawa, as well as in the beds
oast of tho St. Lawrence ; and as a whole the strata composing this for-
mation present a marked uniformity in texture and compo.sition through-
out their whole extent.

142

ROYAL SO('IP:Ty OF CANADA

Tilt' Mtc'itiul lormiitioii. viz., llin Cliazy. h si'|turulil»' into IW(( port ions.
tho low*'!' of wliicli is ji sliiily and Miimly series, while tin* iipiuT is lari,'tiy
I'alcari'ous. Kust of Otluwu, tim lowest muiuliei's can Ix- well stiidieil alon^
(lie (Irciivilic and Carillon ('anal, while the nppei' port inn is well develojied
in till' area to the south. K.xeollent seel ions are also e.xpo.sed in the vicinity
of Ottawa eity and uloni; tho whores of the Ottawa Uiver at Aylmer, and
on th») southern haidv in the townships of March and l''itzroy.

The lowest lieds of the ('hazy at these |)laees consist of a somewhat
coarse ^reenish-^ray ifiit or sandstone in places coni^lomeralic in char-
actor, and in general aspect not uidike some of the urilty heds of tho
Sillery formation. Thosi' have a IhieUness of oidy a few feet and they
i^raduate ii)iwards into finer i'.reiiaecnus heds of a liydit iireenish-i^ray
shade, with a consideraMe thickness of shales. Certain hands in this
jtorlion contain fossils and are fucoidal. Intorcalated hods ol limestone
appear in the upper part, which gradually hecomes more calcareous till
(he formation is essentially a limestone. At Aylmer the thickness of the
lower itorlions of the ('hazy, to the haae of the iiniestoni's proper, is
apparently not fai' iVom one hundred to out' hundred and twenty feet.

The tliickne.ss of the ujiper or calcareous portion varies greatly at
ditt'erent ]>laces, rangini;; from Hfly to nearly one hundred feet. In its
ujiper part the limestones hecome nodular, and certain beds of grayish
colour are largely- composed o\' Jilojnionella jilcna.

The ])assage from the up|)er beds of llu' Chazy to the ovei'lying heds
ol'the Bird's Kye and Black Kiver, which lie lietween those just descrihed
and the main mass of the Tronton fornuition. apjiears to he gradual and
to present no well defined break in tho succession of tho strata. The
Black Jiiver, which in ( 'anada includes the Bird's Kye in its lower )iortion.
consists of certain dark brown and black limestones ofteti cherly, break-
ing with a marketl couchoidal fracture, and distinguished largely by the
|)resence of l^ tnu/iuiii fihrafiini. which is in places so abundant as to con-
stitute almost the entire niabs of some of tho heds. Certain other fossil
I'orms. such as Coliuniuirut JIalll ami Orthoccrax Bi</til'i/i are particularly
dovelopod in the strata of this formation bnt from tho dilliculty of clearly
• listinguishing these limestones us a grou]) from the Tronton at many
jilaces, they are now generally included in tho latter formation. Tho
thickness of the Bird's Kye and Black River is giveii in tho (jeology of
(Janada ' as only thirty-eight feet for the area in tho lower Ottawa basin,
near Montreal, but on the u]i|)er Ottawa, as at Eganvillo, Douglas, etc.,
this is increased to over one hujidred feet.

Tho Trenton is essentially a limestone formation throughout. The
lower jiortion consists largely of grayish and black, often bituminous
heds, holding an abundance of fo.ssils, among which Stenopora fibrosd is
very abundant ; tho upjwr .350 to 400 foot are for tho most part dark

' Geology of Cuiiiulii, l.stV.J, ]>. lit".

[EUJ»] I'AI-.KO'/OIC OUTMKKS IN THE OTTAWA RIVKll HA8IN 143

I'oloiinMl, hitiiiniiKnis and cniiiinut. with |iarlin;^8 of dark limwn or hiack
iuxillii<<'<'ii>"^liiil"- '11'"^ tormutioii is parlieulailv ricli in organic reniainH,
liotli <>l coiiiIh. shells ami triloliitoH, and tlii> area lictwuen tlir Ottawa and
St. liawiTiici), (»t('n|iit d \<y it, iH csiinialt'd at ovor liOd H(|Uttrt' niiU's. Tlu'
Idtal tliicUnoHS nf tliis t'oiiniition as di-vi'lnpcd in llic lower Ottawa liasin
is not tar from t>r)(» to T<K) tcct.

Till' I'tita and Hudson River n^oiTuinej t'orniations eonHtitiile the
nplH'r ini-nihers (d' tiit- Cuinliro Silnrian system. While havinj; tlieir
i^reatest development in the St. Jiawreiiee valley, they also up|)ear at
several [loints in the Ottawa hasin. Tlie rooks of tlu' lowei- division, or
the IJtiea. are usually hiaek hrittie l>ituininous shales with thin hands ot°
yellow-weal herini,' limestone. The formation is t hus litholoirically distinct
trom the underiyiiii'- Trenton. The ihitkness as j;iven in tlie typieal
section at the Montmorency Falls, lielow (^iieliec. is '.\\H feet, hut this
tliickne.ss must he ^really reduced for the deposits in the Ottawa hasin
wliere it will prohahly not I'eatdi one hnndri'd ti-et. TIk-i'c is no detined
Itreak hetween the strata of the Utica and lliose ot' the Jiorraine. the
])assai;e heiuii apparently eonlinnoim. Ihi'ouiili the replacement of the
dark liituminons iieds by grayish shales and sandstones and hy an almost
entii'e disappearance of calcareoas matter. T|ie tliiekness of the upper
division is jtiaced at 719 feet in the St. .Lawrence section, but as in the
eas*' of the Utiea this must be also very larj^ely reduced for the western

area.

le on

v k

nown outlier of the Lorraine to the southeast of Ottawa

is rejircsented by a very thin series of beds, probably not more than thirty
or forty feet in so tar as yet ob.'served.

The fornnitions jnst described for the lower Ottawa area< omplete the
CambroSilurian series; but. as already intimated, in the townships of
( ).sir()ode anil lius.scll. certain reddish shales and sandstones' occur whicli
overlie the Lorraine, and presumably represent the Medina division (»f the
Silurian. No fossils have yet been found in these newest outliers ; and
owinii' to the ijreat mantle of drill with which tliev ai

e snri'ounded. anil

for the most part concealcil, their thickness cannot be ascertained.

In order to com]ilele the series of I'aheozoic formations which occur
in the area now beiiiijf discu.s.sod we may hero refer to the peculiar outlier
of Niagara rocks whieh occurs near the up|)er end of Lake Teiniscaming.
A description of these is given in tlie (leology of ('aiiada, IStDJ, from
Avhicli we learn that the formation lies unconformably ujion the sand-
stones (i|uartzites) of liie Iluroniaii of that district. The lower part of
tlie outlier is generally arenueeous. and very often a conglomerute, con-
taining large boulders of the underlying rock. Mr. A. K. Harlow, who
has recently studied these rocks, describes them as occui'ring on both
sides of the lake as well as on ("liief's Lsland and on several smaller islands
near by. The base of the deposits is said to •■ consist of vast boulders and

' Geology of Ciiiiii(ia, 1H(W, p. 21it.

144

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

fragniiTits of the undorlying sandstone, in a ealcaroo-aronaccons fossilif-
eroiis matrix ; some of the inelosed masses being nine feet in diameter.
Xear by are seen llie Huronian sandstone strata, great craeks and worn
fissures whicli are filled witli tlie fossiliferous cement." '

Tiie limestones whieh make up the bulk of tliis outlier are mostly
butl' or ereum-coloui'ed with thin intoi-stratitied shales. Some of the beds
are hard and cherty, resembling lithographic stone, and the whole series
contains an abundance of coi'als with other fossils which clearly indicate
tlieir horizon.

The thickness as exposed in the sections is stated to be about one
hundred and fifty feet, and this is probably increased by t lie series of beds
near the centre of the deposit, so that the whole thickness is estimated
by Mr. Barlow as not more than three hundred feet.

In regard to the several fossiliferous outliers which occur at often
widely separated points throughout the basin of the Ottawa, it may be
said that in none of these can the same succession of formations as we
have Just dcsci-ibed be observed. Some an^ represented by but one, the
others having been presunuibly removed by denudation of the overl^'ing
strata.

On the niM'th .side of the Ottawa Eiver, with the exception of the
small fringe which is found between the ijaurentian hills and the river
itself, only two, or at most three, distinct areas of small size have yet been
recognizeil. The most easterly of these is the small outlier of Calciferous
strata lying to the east of the North l?iver about .seven miles northwest
of St. .lerome to the north of ^lontreal. where characteristic fossils of this
formation are found. Further west at the village of Lachute, a hill of
Potsdam sand.stone occurs just east of the village with an exposed thick-
ness of about forty feet, and is directly overlaid by the Calciferous, which
is seen in the bed of the North River at the cro.ssing of the Canadian
Pacific I'ailway ; but these outcrops ])resumably rei)re.sent the northern
margin of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence basin. The succession of for-
mations seen in the city of Hull and thence to Aylmer and for several
miles bcyonil. representing roeks ot' Calciferous, Chazy. Black JJiver and
'J'renton age. also lu'long to the same basin, the northern nuirgin of
which is seen in thin strata of the ('alciferous and ('hazy near the village
of (^uyoii, as \\v\\ as in a small margin of the former on the north side of
the river near the old villagi' of Pontiae at the foot of the Chats Fails.

The northern margin of the Ai'nprior and Sand Point outlier is also
seen above the Chats, along the north sliore of the Ottawa for several
miles, as well as in .•several islands in the river below Bristol ; but on the
roads, a mile or so east of Portage du Fort, isolated outcrojis of dolomitic
( 'aieiferous strata occur whieh have been broken up and, in ])laees, altered
bv the action of <tM"tain intrusive masses of o-reenstone which have cut

I (ieolofiv of Caiiiuia, 18(»:t, i)p. :m'M.

[BLL8] PAL/EOZOIC OUTLIERS IN THE OTTAWA RIVER BASIN 145

the undcrlyintr Luurentian limostono jind iissooiatocl gneiHs. Tliese out-
liers are small in extent covering only a few hundred square yards.

With the exception of a narro"/ fringe of fossiliferous strata of (^al-
ciferous and Chazy age along the shore of Coulonge Lake, which is an
expansion of the Ottawa above the village of Fort Coulonge, and well
seen at Seche Point, as well as at the point above, no otlier deposits of
sedimentary fossiliferous rocks were observed in this area. The I'otsdam
sandstones iuivc evidently not been deposited along these upi)er stretches
of the river basin, as tiie Talcifei'ous and Chazy rest direct l}- upon the
crystalline rocks.

The largest area of the Pahcozoic strata in this direction is presumably
that which occupies the greater part of Alhunette Island and extends
eastward across the channel of the Ottawa, comprising a very consider-
able portion .)f the township of Westmeatli. The formations here repre-
sented are the Calciferous. on the west end of the island, ( 'hazy and Black
River, the latter ot wliich has been particulat-ly studied at I'aquette's
Itajtitls near the jimction of the south or rei.:^ roke channel with that
which continues down the north side of the island. The fossils occur in
the usual dark-grayish limestone and are frequently silicitied. causiuii-
them to stand out distinctly from the weathered or water worn surface of
the containing rocks. The €haz\' i's represented by the lower u-reenish-
gray shales and sandy beds and by the upper or limestone fornuitions,
the ui)per beds presenting the same nodular character as .seen on the
lower Ottawa.

The western etiife of this outlier shows a verv narrow martrin of
Calcifer(nis on the shore about four miles above the town of Pembroke,
while the Chazy portion is represented in the town it.self and for several
miles to the southeast. The Westmeath area, which is the eastward
I'xtension of that on the island, shows but few outci'oi)s of solid rock, the
country being generally low and dritt covered, but large masses of the
characteristic «^'hazy and Black liiver limestone are seen at several points
indicating tlie existence of the basin ovei- a considerable area. The
elevation of the Alhunette Lake is about 370 feet above sea level which
would be about the same as tor the Chazy and Black River ridge at
Sand Point near Arnprior.

Another area of considerable size, but apparently separated from
that just described, is seen to the south of the lower end of Miiskrat Lake
in the townships of Staflbrd and Bromley. The outlier embraces nearly
twenty .square miles and consists of the Chazy and Black Piver for-
mations (mly, in so far as can lie determined, the latter being particular!}'
well exposed. Like other Paheozoic outcrops in this basin, the strata lie
in a nearly or quite horizontal attitude, the inclinations observed being
only from 1° to ;{°, the principal area rising in a somewhat bold escarp-
ment from the vallev of the Muskrat IJiver to a height of seventy-five or

146

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

1 1

III

eighty feet. Tlieslialy liedsof the Cliazy do not iippour in this direction,
but the upper part of the plateau is oceupied l)y tlie lower portion of the
Trenton proper.

A aomewhat extensive and important outlier is that found on the
Bonnechire and extending on both siiles of tiiat stream for several miles.

To the east of Lake Dore. a ridge of a hundred feet or so in height is
thickly strewn with large blocks of Black liiver limestone and with
boulders of Laurentian gneiss, the former holding characteristic fossils of
the formation. Well defined ledges, however, rarely appear, though
they are found at several points, rendering it probable that they underlie
the area over a very considerable extent. These massive blocks of the
Black Hiver limestone form a peculiar feature, not only here but at
several widely separated points and show that the Hhick liiver formation
has liad a very considerable development, being probably s))read in a
regular sheet at about the same elevation over long distances, throughout
that part of the Ottawa basin above the Chats Falls in the vicinity of
Arn]irior, the beds near which place would seem to mark a second stage
of elevation in the deposition of this formation.

In the bed of the Bonnechere liiver near the village of Douglas, well
defined ledges of the ('hazy shales and sandstones are seen which dip at
angles of ii° to 20° and these pass upward into the characteristic Chazy
limestone which at the summit of the ridges to the north and south
graduates into the Black liiver formation. What arc regarded as Trenton
beds are stated to occur at Jessup's Rapids about seven miles west of
Douglas and not far below the town of Kganville ; but as the lower
(jhazy occu]ties the bed of the stream at that place, dislocations must
occur which have broken the regular succes.sion of strata. The beds of
the Black liiver are well exposed at this place, both along the stream and
on the hills to the south, the thickness of the formation here being
apparently not far from one hundred feet. Sections of the formations at
these places on the Bonnechere were published by Murray in 1854.'

The elevation of t he I Jiver Bonnechere at Douglas, is given by Murray
at 383 feet The area along the stream is separated to the nortli by a
ridge of crystalline limestone and gneiss, on which Douglas village is
built, from a more extensive area which occupies a very considerable
portion of the townships of Bromley and Wilberforce. and extends from
the eastern side of I )or6 Lake for some fifteen miles in a southeast direction
with an average breadth of from four to five miles. The upi)er beds of
this outlier clearly belong to the Trenton formation, while to the south
of the Bonnechere, Black Elver beds have a breadth of over one mile a.id
extend for several miles eastward in a ridge along the .south .siiU' of the
stream. The two areas presumably connect in the tiat-lying country to
the east of Douglas. To the south of Lganville also an exten.sion of the

I Report of Progress, lS.53-.5(), pp. !tt!»H.

lirection,
mx of the

(I on the
ml miles,
height is
and with
J fossils of
I-, thounh
Y underlie
;ks of the
■re but at
formation
read in a
u'oughout
i-ieinity of
:'ond stage

iiglas. well
ich dip at
Stic Chazy
and south
IS Trenton
es west of
the lower
Lions must
'he beds of
tream and
lere being
mat ions at
854.'

ly Murray
)rth by a
village is
)nsiderable
tends from
*t direction
ler beds of
the south
I' mile a.id
sidi' of the
country to
sion of the

-i

l^BLLs] PALvEOZOIC 0UTLIEP:< the OTTAWA RIVER BASIN 147

upper Bonneehtire outliers is sjoii witii a breadth of more than a milo
resting upon the liaurentian gneiss.

Owing, however, to the very considerable extent of the drift deposits
over much of this country, it is obviously very ditticult to detei'mine with
^lecuraey the limits of these outcrops, since largo areas are covered with
blocks of the HlacU River formation, which rest i)re8umably in many
cases upon the underlying gneiss and granite.

On the line of the Ottawa. Arnprior and Parry Sound railway, about
three miles west of the station of Killaloe, which is near the southwest
angle of Golden Lake, a small outlier of grayish sandy-looking limestone,
possibly a part of the Chazy formation, has been cut through. The
ox|)Oscd outcrop is only a few hundred yards in extent lying among the
hills of giieiss and granite. The elevation of the spot on the railway 'vas
not ascertained, but is not far from 750 feet.

To the south of this, on the southwest portion of Clear Lake, dejiosits
of Trenton limestone are overlaid near the shore by typical Utica shales
containing fossils' characteristic of that formation. The elevation of
Clear Lake is 745 feet above the sea, and this is the only observed out-
crop of the Utica west of the city of Ottawa. Its elevation above the
lake is about one hundred feet, but on the road which extends along the
mountain at a further height of 500 feet c)r about l,3.jO feet above the
sea. great quantities of large blocks of the Black River limestone are
scattered about. These do not. however, represent an outlier in place,
the jiresent position of the blocks being evidently due to ice action in
some form. On the Opeongo road, however, about tive miles east of this
place, a large outlier of the Black River tbrmation is seen.

In the vicinity of Calabogie Lake, which has an elevation of 503 feet,
outliers of Chazy and Black J{iver rocks occur, both on the north and
south side. The exposed outcrops are but small, much of the area being
drift covered. Chazy blocks are also numennis on the Opeongo road
aliiiut eight miles west of JJcnfrew, indicating a jjossible outlier of the
formation in ihis direction. To the southwest of Clear Lake in the
township ot Lvndoch. an outlier of Silurian rock was also discovered by Dr.
F. D. Adams in l,s94. This is not far from the Madawaska River, but in
the aliscnce of fossils from this locality, its exact horizon cannot yet be
stated.

On the up|)er Ottawa an interesting (jutlier is seen on both sides of
the river at Deux Rivieres, about twenty miles below the mouth of the
Matlawa. The exposure is seen along the stream for about three miles
and consists for the most part of an impure limestone, which liecomes
more sandy in its lower ])ortion. It is a buff gray in colour, and sutti-
ciently siliceous to be used for grindstones. Throughout the entire
thickness of the outlier orthoceratites and other fossils occur which fix its
horizon as that of the Mlack Hiver formation, though in lit hological char-

148

ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA

iictor tho strata are (luito ditforcnt from tlioHC of the typical Hlaclc IJivor
of the lower Ottawa. Tlu'.se beds extend along the stivam to fi'liveille
Rapids, a distance of aliout tlireo miles, and the elevation of this point is
480 feet ahovc sea. Interestinn' outliers also occur on some of tlie islands
in Lake Nipissing, at an elevation of 642 feet. These are also of Black
lliver ai;e. but like those last mentioned the strata differ in aspect from
those of the lower Ottawa, tliou^-h the contained fo.ssils are similar.

The formations recoifnizi-d in all these I'alico/.oic outliers, are for the
most j)art. hiifhly fossiiifertius, with the exception of the Potsdam sand-
stone. Ill this, as deveIo|)ed in the lower Ottawa hasin. the ])rinci[ial
traces of oru;anic remains are seen in the peculiar markini^s known as
Scidif/tus. which, on weathcri'il surfaces, present the form of nearly
cylindrical holes from the twentieth to the eighth of one inch in diameter.
Some of the strata aiv thickly studded with these markings which pene-
trate the I'ock to a depth of several inches, sometimes in a direct course
luit frerpieiuly curved, and often irregularly contorted. The origin of
tliese is. as yet. douiitful. Other jieculiar markings found on the surfaces
of certain \<v(\:< of the sandsloui' have apparently hoen caused by the
passaii'e of some crustacean across them, of which, however, no trace has
j-et hei'n found in the rock itself. These have received the name of
Priitii:linites. As we approach the transition beds between the sandstones
and the calcareous members of the Calciferous, however, several well
dcHned forms of lirac hiopods. gasteropods aiul cephalopods occur, among
which species of Jjiiiijidn and Oiihilcta are recognized. These are well
.seen on the .southern nuirgin of the main Ottawa basin at Beverly, in the
township of Bastard, not far from the head of the chain of the Jlideau
lakes, and these fossils may be held to mark the lowest well defined forms
of organic life yet found in the Cambro-Silurian system of the Ottawa
basin and that of the St. Lawrenci- basin adjacent.

While the strata in all the areas described tire for the most ])art
nearly horizontal, indications of faults are (clearly visible at a number of
poiiUs and tend to render uncertain the calculations made to determine
the thickness of the several geological divisions. Several of these can be
well seen about the city of (Jttawa and in the country to the west
between that place and Arnprior. Along the lower ( )ttawa also, tibout
llawkesbury and L'Orignal. several breaks can be observed which affect
tlie strata of the Chazy and I^lack JJivcr formations.

The jiresence of intrusive masses is also clearly seen at several points,
among which nuiy be mentioned the Pot.sdam area of Nepeaii, near the
line of the township of .March, where dykes cut the underlying hau-
rentian as well as the overlying Potsdam sandstone. These are particu-
larly well seen in the cuttings of the Ottawa and I'arrv Sound railway ;
while further west near i'oi'tage <lu Fort the Calciferous beds ii'-e also
similarix' affecti'd.

[ELL8] PALAEOZOIC OUTLIERS IN THE OTTAWA RIVER BASIN 149

As alroiuly intiinatod very considorahlc collections of" tlio contained
organic remains have lu-en made at, various times. These have now been
determined and have been ])roporly classitied and arranged under tiicir
respective localities by Br. H. M. Ami and by Mr. L. M. Lumbe. As
these lists will be of great benefit for the purpo-ic of determining exact
horizons and for assisting in the future study of these interesting out-
liers, a number of them have been ])repared, which will shortly' appear in
the Geological Survey's rei)ort on this area, now in course of publication.
It may be remarked, however, that the fossiliferons sediments of the
extreme western portion of the basin ditfer very considerably froni liiose
of the tj'pical areas as developed along the lower Ottawa in lithological
character ; and in this I'espect thoy approach somewhat the sediments
founil in the basins of Lake Ontario, Krie and Huron, Avliere apparently
somewhat different conditions of dei)osition have prevailed. The deposits
are somewhiit more sandy and dolomitic in their character, resembling
the peculiar deposits of similar horizons seen in the valley of the Red
Jiiver in Manitoba ; so that those of the upner Ottawa ajjparently par-
take of the character of both, or are intermediate between those of the
two districts, so widely separated by distance. Those of the lower Ottawa
are for the most part clearly due to conditions of deep water deposi-
tion, while the western deposits are apparently more littoral in character
or have been laid down in shallow \yater8. The evidence therefore seems
fairlj' conclusive that over a very large portion of the Ottawa River basin
the Paheozoic fi>rmations were at one time continuous over its greater
part. The subsequent denudation must, hovvever. have l)een enormous,
since not only has the greater jiart of these been removed, the evidence
of such removal being readily seen in the many bold escarpments at
widely separated jtoints throughout the area, but there are also great
depo.sits of clays, sand and gravel, which constitute a marked feature
over many portions of the basin itself.

See. IV., 18J«. 9.