HISTORY OF
ORANGE COUNTY
CHAPTER 1
THE ROCKS OF THE COUNTY
The rocks of the county belong to the carboniferous and subcarboniferous periods. The strata all dip toward the west, slightly bearing toward the south. The oldest rocks, therefore, are in the northeast part of the county, and the more recent on the west or southwest. The following is the perpendicular section of the county:
QUATERNARY AGE
FEET |
||
1 |
Alluvium and soils |
10 |
2 |
Lacustral and drift |
25 |
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
3 |
Conglomerate, or millstone epoch—Coarse sandstone locally filled with pebbles, heavy-bedded or friable |
40 |
Coal, probably Coal A |
1 |
|
Sandstone or shale |
60 |
|
Siliceous iron ore |
5 |
|
Massive sandstone irregularly bedded and at the base filled with leaves and stems of Stigmaria |
20 |
|
Whetstone grit, fine grained, even bedded, with shaly partings, the lower member highly fossiliferous: Paoli retusta, Lepidodendron obovatum, L. Valtheimianum, L. dichotomum, Sphenopteria latifolia, S. tridactylis, Neuropteris Smithii, N. Elrodi, Stigmaria, Cordaites, etc |
24 |
|
Shale, with fossils |
2 |
|
Coal with underlaying fire-clay |
1 |
|
Shaly sandstone |
3 |
|
Massive sandstone, locally glass-sand; where sufficiently firm, grindstone grit |
35 |
SUBCARBONIFEROUS PERIOD—CHESTER GROUP
4 |
Chester limestone, No. 3, upper—limestone, cherty at the top: fossils—Athyris subtilita, A. Royissii, Pentremitis pyriformis.Archimedes Wortheni, Zaphrentis spinu losa, Spirifer lineatus and Producti |
17 |
5 |
Chester sandstone, No. 3, upper—heavy-bedded and massive, locally the true grindstone grit, in some places red and blue shales near the base |
105 |
6 |
Chester limestone No. 2, middle—massive and heavy-bedded, fossils same as above |
25 |
7 |
Chester sandstone No. 1, lower—heavy-bedded or shaly, red or blue |
5 |
Sandstone or shale, locally quarry stone and flagging. Fossils - Stigmaria leaves and stems |
30 |
|
8 |
Chester limestone, No. 1. lower—limestone, massive and heavy-bedded, locally quarry stone. Fossils—Pentremitis pyriformis, Terebratula bovidens, Bellerophon carbonarius, Rhynchonella subcuneata, R. mutata, Trilobites |
50 |
Chester chert, non-fossiliferous |
1 |
|
Limestone, locally lithographic. Fossils—Spirifer striatus, Terebratula bovidens, Rhynchonella subcuneata. Syringopora mult-attenuata, Producti, etc. |
40 |
ST. LOUIS GROUP
9 |
Chert highly bryozoic. Fossils—Productus cora, P. semi-reticutatus, Bellerophon levis, Dentalium primarium, Athyris ambigua, Platyceras (sp. ?), Zaphrentis Spinulosa, Hemipronitis crenistria, Spirifer striatus, Allorisma, Pinna, Lithostrotion Canadense, L. proliferum, and Chaenomya rhomboidea? |
3 |
10 |
Concretionary limestone.—Locally an even bedded and magnesian fire-stone, or a massive, concretionary stone. Fossils about the same as 9 above |
50 |
11 |
Limestone, locally cement |
3 |
12 |
Porous limestone |
4 |
13 |
Argillaceous limestone, hydraulic |
15 |
14 |
Cannel coal |
a trace |
15 |
Bituminous limestone |
10 |
Total |
584 |