NYSGA 1981
NEW YORK STATE GEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
53RD ANNUAL MEETING 18-20 SEPTEMBER 1981
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
GUIDEBOOK FOR FIELD TRIPS IN SOUTH-CENTRAL
NEW YORK
Paul Enos, Editor
State University Of New York At Binghamton
Published by the New York State Geological Association. Guidebook available from the executive secretary: Manfred P. Wolff, Department of Geology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, 11550.

A1: THE WEST FALLS GROUP (UPPER DEVONIAN) CATSKILL DELTA COMPLEX: STRATIGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENTS, AND SEDIMENTATION
James R. Ehrets
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York
INTRODUCTION
Since the last meeting of the NYSGA in Binghamton (Coates, 1963), significant advances have been made in the refinement of correlation and environmental interpretation of Upper Devonian strata in south-central New York. One purpose of this article is to summarize the updated stratigraphy in this region and to review how the stratigraphy has been developed. The main theme of the article is the result of recent study in the Binghamton area (Fig. 1). By tracing thin units of dark-gray shale to the east of Binghamton, a stratigraphic framework was developed which permitted further analysis of environmental and sedimentologic relationships of the Catskill delta complex in the area. Through the demonstration of the dark-shale framework and discussion of deltaic environments, a few of the interpretations are presented. The accompanying field trip is designed to illustrate a variety of deltaic environments and how they fit into the stratigraphic framework.

A1: THE WEST FALLS GROUP (UPPER DEVONIAN) CATSKILL DELTA COMPLEX: STRATIGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENTS, AND SEDIMENTATION

STOP 1. Distal Platform.
(Field locality 4) The relatively thin beds of fine-grained sandstone interbedded with gray shale are characteristic of middle- and distal-platform environments. Sandstone beds of approximately one foot in thickness have basal coquinites 1-2 inches thick; thicker sandstone beds have basal coquinites up to one foot thick. The coquinites are typically composed of disarticulated and articulated brachiopod shells with significant numbers of crinoid columnals. Some sandstone beds are graded coarse-to-fine. The shales are generally not very fossiliferous, but localized areas of bedding planes can produce quite a few well-preserved brachiopods and molluscs. A zone of large pillow structures is distinctly visible near the top of the exposure. The zone is laterally persistant for the length of the exposure. These pillows (denoted as type I) are composed of fine-grained sandstone; the distorted matrix of shale in which they are situated suggests that these structures formed as a result of vertical foundering. Smaller, solitary pillows are present at the base of the exposure near the parking area. These are denoted as type II pillows and are probably formed in a similar manner as type I pillows.
This portion of the platform was well-removed from the effects of rivers and streams. Sand which reached this area was supplied in the form of "sheets" from distributaries, which had merged with each other closer to the shoreline. Grading in the sandstones as well as the presence of basal coquinites indicates a "proximal turbidite" origin.

STOP 2. Dark Mud And Proximal Platform Environments.
(Field locality 7) The dark-gray and rust-brown mudstones and shales of the Roricks Glen Member are exposed in the basal portion of this exposure. Outcrops of the Roricks Glen on the delta platform are all about 20 feet thick and are composed predominately of mudstone with smaller amounts of shale. Thin-bedded lenses of fine-grained sandstone and siltstone are present in the dark-shale member; fossils are few in number. Flagstones and sandstone lenses near the top of the exposure indicate a return to normal deltaic conditions. The large block of cross-bedded sandstone at the very top of the bank (although slightly dislodged) is of channel origin in what is inferred to be the subaqueous delta plain. Cross-bedded sandstone is present in the form of scattered blocks on the hillside above the roadside exposure. The Roricks Glen will be seen again in a similar environmental association later in the field trip.

View of Susquehanna River Valley.

STOP 3. Subaqueous Delta Plain
(Field locality 18). The flagstone deposits in the quarry are typical of the subaqueous delta-plain environment. The large-scale crossbedding in the south wall of the quarry is evidence that this portion of the delta plain is gradational with a.distributary-mouth bar within the delta platform. This interpretation is supported by a nearby shale pit which exposes normal delta-platform deposits. Current and wave ripples, low-angle crossbedding and parting lineations are common sedimentary structures at this locality. Orientations of the structures indicates a southwesterly average current direction. With the exception of oriented plant fragments on a few bedding planes, fossils are rare.

STOP 4. Proximal Platform
(Field locality 42). The numerous lenses of sandstone exposed here are subaqueous extensions of distributaries which flowed westward from the subaqueous delta plain. Near the base of the exposure on this road is a zone of organic-rich sandstone that is interpreted to be the result of a rapid regressive (storm) event which interrupted normal progradation of the deltaic environments. A thin stringer of quartz-pebble conglomerate is associated with this sand deposit. This conglomeritic horizon has been found to exist elsewhere in the study area to the west. In addition to a variety of ripple marks which can be observed on the terraces in the upper portion of the outcrop, a lens of large pillow structures and a variety of crossbedding are among the more obvious sedimentary structures.

STOP 5. Proximal Platform And Subaqueous Delta Plain
(Field locality 49). The interbedded flagstones, cross-bedded sandstones, and shales in this exposure illustrate the variety of lithologies which coexist at the margin of the subaqueous delta plain. The beds and lenses of sandstone are small distributary-mouth bars formed as a result of the reworking of sand at the fronts of streams. The relatively dark shale was deposited behind the bars in restricted waters of small bays. Cross-bedded, organic-rich sandstone lenses are the remains of distributaries which migrated laterally in this region. The bar deposits gradually give way to subaqueous delta-plain channel deposits which are composed of more poorly sorted, cross-bedded sandstone. Higher up in the exposure is a 10-foot thick bed of dark shale and mudstone which is correlative with the Roricks Glen Member. This fine-grained deposit grades upwards into drab-colored overbank deposits of the subaerial delta plain.

STOP 6. Subaqueous And Subaerial Delta Plain
(Field locality 46). The extensive exposure in this quarry (formally called the Ostrander quarry) displays a variety of flagstone and cross-bedded sandstone of stream origin within the delta plain. Ripple marks and scour marks are very common on the surface of terraces in the quarry. Burrowed and mud-cracked mudstone forms the floor on the second terrace (west face of mountain). These and similar deposits in the quarry are of floodplain origin. Red-orange, conglomeritic debris scattered around the area are levee deposits which can be seen in place as lenses associated with channel sandstone in the quarry walls. A thin red bed is visible about two thirds up the sheer face on the western wall. Just above the red bed (one of only a few in the study area) is a dark-shale bed that is correlative with the Roricks Glen Member. A thin coquinite at the base of the overlying sandstone bed contains shell material left as a lag deposit resulting from winnowing of the very top of the Roricks Glen.

STOP 7. Distal Platform
(Field locality 35). The conspicuous zone of extremely large pillow structures in the lower section of the quarry is a feature which is cnaracteristic of the distal platform environment. These pillows are referred to as type III and are interpreted to have formed due to repeated foundering of relatively coarse platform sediments which were continually supplied to submarine topographic lows by the reworking effects of waves and currents at the edge of the platform. The mudstone and siltstone matrix of the pillows contains a random distribution of small fossil material consisting mostly of crinoid columnals. The matrix as a whole displays a weak cross lamination in places. The number of lenses and thin beds of sandstones increases upsection indicating the westward progradation of the shoreward environments. Basal coquinites are common in these sandstones. (The top of this section, which is exposed along Farm-to-Market Road at the top of the hill, contains a horizon of dark shale within the Dunn Hill Member).

STOP 8. Distal Platform And Dark Mud Environments
(Field Locality 11). Once again, the presence of extremely large (type III) pillow structures indicates the distal platform environment. Here, the pillows are resting upon and within the Dunn Hill Member. The pillows are compositionally similar to those at STOP 7. Currents on the delta platform were active during the deposition of the Dunn Hill as evidenced by these relatively "coarse-grained" structures as well as lenses of sandstone which display crossbedding. Although not shown here, deposits of fossiliferous, cross-bedded "delta-front sands" can also be fairly well developed only a few feet above a given dark-shale member. Thus, a normal deltaic environments rapidly redeveloped after transgression.

A2: THE MIDDLE AND UPPER DEVONIAN CLASTIC WEDGE IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
W. D. Sevon
Pennsylvania Geological Survey
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
INTRODUCTION
Throughout most of the Paleozoic, much of what presently constitutes the eastern half of North America was part of an inland sea which intermittently received clastic sediment from an eastern source area. The Appalachian basin was the central focus of this sedimentation.
The largest integrated wedge of clastic sediment in this basin was deposited by the Catskill delta system during the Middle and Late Devonian. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of Late Devonian sedimentation, with particular reference to Pennsylvania. The purpose of the field trip is to examine some of the rocks from which interpretations about the Catskill delta system are made. The information presented here derives from the literature as well as my own work. The term "delta system" as used here refers to multiple contiguous deltas operating in the same sedimentary basin at approximately the same time. The Catskill delta system is also a tectonic delta complex in the sense defined by Friedman and Johnson (1966, p. 185-186) for New York State and used by Humphreys and Friedman (1975, p. 369-370) in Pennsylvania: "a deltaic complex built into a marine basin contiguous to an active mountain front and dominated by orogenic sandstone derived from the nearby tectonic highland."

A2: THE MIDDLE AND UPPER DEVONIAN CLASTIC WEDGE IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

STOP 1. Prodelta Environment
Rocks at this stop are exposed in an outcrop along the west side of the road and along the west side of the stream below road level. Stream elevation is 970 feet.
The rocks exposed here comprise dark-gray shales and siltstones of the Lock Haven Formation. The siltstones have sharp bases, overlie shales, and fine upwards into shale. Burrow traces and fossils of marine invertebrates occur. Lateral continuity of beds is good within the extent of the small outcrop.
This is a good problem outcrop. If examined as an isolated entity, how much information can be gained from the outcrop itself? How much does it help to know the relative position of the outcrop in the vertical sequence of Figure 7? How important is context in the study of (1) rock lithology, (2) depositional environment, (3) stratigraphy, and (4) geologic history?

STOP 2. Marginal-Marine Environment
The flagstone quarry at this site was opened into rocks of the lower part of the Catskill Formation. The flagstone derives from the planar-bedded sandstones exposed in the floor of the quarry at elevation 1660 feet. The sequence of lithologies exposed here (Fig. 9) is interpreted to represent deposition in an offshore bar environment and the following information about the stop is from Krajewski and Williams (1971b, p. 13-15) .
"Characteristics of this type of quarry include:
a) a convex upper surface;
b) parallelism of the parting lineation orientation and the down-dip direction of the cross-bedding;
c) a steep front in the seaward direction;
d) replacement seaward (northwestward) by darker, fossiliferous, marine shales;
e) replacement landward (southeastward) by siltstones, small scale rippled sandstones, and red shales; and,
f) uniformness and regularity of the joint systems (the high walls of the quarry parallel the joint systems).
"Two offshore bars are visible in the diagram, the larger lower one, and another smaller one in the south end of the quarry. The long direction, or paleogeographic trend, of these bars would be perpendicular to the parting lineation shown in the diagram, or northeast-southwest and east-west for respectively the lower and upper bars. The rock sequence represents a marine transgression onto the tidal flats and shore zone."
Examine this stop with the following questions in mind: (1) How easily can the depositional environment be determined from the physical properties of the rocks? (2) Does the interpretation of this outcrop aid in the interpretation of the rocks at Stop 1? (3) What information can be gained about the source area from this stop?

STOP 3. Fluvial Environment
Pull off and park on wide berm at south end of road cut and examine the rocks along the terrace above the road.
The rocks at this stop are exposed in the southernmost of three large roadcuts on the west side of Interstate Route 81, all of which expose similar rocks. Elevation here is 1640 feet.
Exposed here are a variety of sandstones, both gray and red, which contain lag gravels, cross beds, planar beds, and ripples (Fig. 10). Interbedded red siltstones are locally burrowed. Lag gravels comprise predominantly calcium-carbonate nodules. Cross-bed foresets are oriented mainly to the southwest while parting lineations are to the northwest. Lateral and vertical relationships are complex, but the whole can be interpreted in terms of a fining-upward cycle formed by a meandering stream (Allen, 1970).
What features of this outcrop are critical to the interpretation of its depositional environment? How many levels of context are involved in studying this outcrop? What information about the source area can be gained from this outcrop?

STOP 4. Nay Aug Park - Lunch
This stop is principally for the purpose of ingesting food, but some interesting things can be seen.
The Brooks Model Coal Mine area has the entrance to an underground anthracite mine and some old coal cars. The sandstones exposed throughout the park are part of Llewellyn Formation of Pennsylvanian age. This formation contains a number of anthracite coal seams which have been mined, principally by underground methods, in the Wyoming-Lackawanna basin (the northern anthracite field). Exposures along the railroad track along the east side of the park allow evaluation of the depositional environment of the rocks exposed here.

Basal Pottsville Formation conglomerate.
Outcrops on both sides of road of basal Pottsville Formation conglomerate. Outcrop to left is upper part of Stop 7.

To right across Roaring Branch is dip slope
Outcrop to left is Spechty Kopf Formation and site of start of Stop 7. To right across Roaring Branch is dip slope underlain by Spechty Kopf Formation sandstones. Shale exposed below sandstone.

STOP 5. Fluvial Environment
The rocks at this stop are exposed in cuts on both sides of Interstate Route 84 east at the point where entrance ramps from Interstate Route 380 east and west join. Park on wide berm on the south side of the road and examine the rocks in the cut on the north side of the road. Cross the interstate with care!
The rocks exposed here are near the uppermost part of the Poplar Gap-Packerton Member of the Catskill Formation (Fig. 8). The sequence (Fig. 11) comprises mainly gray sandstones with some red mudstones. Sandstone and siltstone contacts are sharp. The gray sandstones are cross bedded, contain some lag gravels, and are locally calcareous (calcareous cement weathers brown). Scattered red-shale clasts are common near the bases of some sandstone bed sets. The lag gravels contain some quartz pebbles, but mainly calcium-carbonate nodules, many of which look like oncolites. Root traces occur locally in the sandstones.
The lower red mudstone is burrowed in part and contains abundant calcium-carbonate nodules. Note the thinly laminated character of some of the mudstone enclosing the nodules.
There are many questions to be asked about these rocks. Would information on context be useful in making an environmental interpretation? What information can be gained about the source area? Is source-area information at this outcrop more or less abundant than at Stop 3? What is the significance of the presence of calcium carbonate? How were the calcium carbonate nodules formed in the red mudstones and in the gray sandstones? What is the evidence for a fluvial origin for this sequence? What specific fluvial environment best fits these rocks?

STOP 6. Fluvial Environment
The rocks exposed here are near the lowermost part of the Duncannon Member of the Catskill Formation (Fig. 8). The rocks comprise one complete and two partial fining-upward cycles (Fig. 12). Two cycles have a sharp base with gray sandstone overlying red mudstone. Above the base there is an upward decrease in grain size from sand to clay and change to red color.
The lower sandstone has some calcium-carbonate cement, a few root traces, and bedding changes upward from crossbedding to planar bedding. The overlying red mudstones contain repeated zones with abundant burrows and root traces. The mudstone between these zones is generally thinly laminated. The upper third of the lower major cycle is a smaller cycle which has a grayish red sandstone above a sharp base. Calcium-carbonate nodules are abundant in the mudstone below the sharp base of the upper major cycle. Several large channel cuts occur in the gray sandstone of the upper cycle.
What is the probable origin of the excellent fining-upward cycles displayed in this exposure? How do these cycles compare with that at Stop 3? What is the significance of the alternating burrowed and nonburrowed zones in the mudstone? How do the calcium-carbonate nodules in the red sandstone compare with those at Stop 5? What differences in depositional environment are suggested by the differences in the rocks exposed here and at Stop 5? Is context of particular value in interpretation of the depositional environment of these rocks? What information about the source area do these rocks provide?

STOP 7. Spechty Kopf Formation And Local Subsidence
Park well off road on berm to right before guard rail starts and just after junction of entrance ramp to Interstate Route 380 west. Bus will proceed 0.8 farther to end of upper outcrop for pickup.
This stop occurs at roadcuts on the east side of Interstate Route 380 just south of Dunmore and consists of two parts: a long, high roadcut just north of the entrance ramp (lower outcrop) and a long, low roadcut about 0.7 miles farther north (upper outcrop). The exposures are separated by a covered interval.
The identification of the rocks at this stop is different from that indicated on the 1960 edition of the geologic map of Pennsylvania (Gray and others, 1960), but is in agreement with the 1980 edition of that map (Berg and others, 1980). The changes result from the work of Sevon (1969) and subsequent reconnaissance mapping. The Pocono Formation occurs in the covered interval between the lower and upper exposures.
The lower outcrop (Fig. 13) consists of dark shales and sandstones of the Mississippian-Devonian Spechty Kopf Formation. The shales are here about 300 feet thick and are underlain (in exposures along Roaring Branch) by polymictic diamictite. Interbedded thin siltstone layers exposed in the lower third of the shale in the former Nay Aug quarry across Roaring Branch have bottom-surface flow structures and upper-surface ripples which indicate current flow of N12E. Very large and relatively small slump structures occur in the upper third of the shale and are very well exposed here. The contact of the shale and sandstone is gradational through a zone of interbedding. A zone of load casts occurs just below the first sandstone interbed.
The sandstone comprises relatively uniform and moderately well-sorted grain size throughout, is very light gray in color, weathers tan, and is about 160 feet thick. Bedding in the lower part defines wedge-to-irregularly lens-shaped bed sets which dip northwestward at a steeper inclination than the overlying planar beds. The planar bedding is remarkably uniform and persistent. Some beds have ripples, but most are apparently structureless.
What are the environments of deposition of the rocks exposed in this outcrop? The rocks underneath the basal polymictic diamictite are those of the Duncannon Member seen at Stop 6. Does this aid or complicate the interpretation? Also of importance is the fact that 5 miles to the north on the other side of the basin, this sequence is compressed to 110 feet in thickness and is totally absent along all margins of the basin within 20 miles of this locality. The unusual thickness of this sequence and its lateral variation is interpreted to indicate local subsidence at the time of deposition. The regional aspects of these facies (Sevon, 1969; 1979b) are interpreted as part of the demise of the Catskill delta (see earlier text).
The upper outcrop (Fig. 14) is capped by a white conglomerate of the Pottsville Formation of Pennsylvanian age. The conglomerate is underlain by a sequence of siltstone, sandstones, and limestones which are unlike any other rocks at similar stratigraphic positions anywhere in eastern or central Pennsylvania. The sequence is correlated with the Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation on the basis of stratigraphic position, but the rocks are very dissimilar from the red siltstones and sandstones which characterize the Mauch Chunk as near as 20 miles to the southwest. However, known facies changes along the southeastern margin of the Wyoming-Lackawanna basin and the abundance of calcium carbonate suggests that such correlation is valid. What environments of deposition may be represented by these lithologies--particularly the thin limestone? Do these rocks, including the Pottsville conglomerate, tell much about the source area?

A3: MIDDLE AND UPPER DEVONIAN SHALES AND ADJACENT FACIES OF SOUTH-CENTRAL NEW YORK
Brent K. Dugolinsky
State University College - Oneonta
GENERALIZED STRATIGRAPHY OF MIDDLE AND UPPER DEVONIAN SEDIMENTS OF NEW YORK
The Devonian section in New York is the standard reference section for eastern North America. Early workers recognized that major facies changes occur in the Middle and Upper Devonian sequence as a result of deposition of the Catskill delta. Consequently, older units originally mapped as formations or groups in a particular area were recognized as portions of major facies (Catskill, Chemung, Portage) cutting across time lines. Later workers concentrated on finding thin, widespread key beds within the thick deltaic sequence that are unaffected by rapid facies changes characteristic of rocks above and below. These key beds, which are believed to represent time planes, divide the deltaic sediments into several time-stratigraphic units.
The main purpose of this field trip is to observe the field relationships and subtle lithologic changes within and between the shales and adjacent facies in the "Catskill Delta" sequence and to interpret these characteristics in terms of the depositional environment. By the end of the trip, you should have a better understanding of why detailed mapping and identification of facies relationships remains complex and problematical in spite of exhaustive study by numerous workers for over a century.

A3: MIDDLE AND UPPER DEVONIAN SHALES AND ADJACENT FACIES OF SOUTH-CENTRAL NY

STOP 1. East Beecher Hill Roadcut, Owego, N. Y.
(Description partially from Woodrow and Nugent, 1963, and Patchen and Dugolinsky, 1979).
Exposures of Beers Hill and Roricks Glen Members of the Rhinestreet Formation. Elevation at bottom of exposure is 950'.
The Rhinestreet Shale defines the base of the West Falls Group from Lake Erie eastward to Seneca Lake. East of Seneca Lake workers at the University of Rochester under the direction of Robert Sutton have traced fingers of dark-gray shale that define the eastern Rhinestreet equivalent. In the area from Elmira to Binghamton, four dark shales and three intervening lighter colored shales and siltstones (including the Beers Hill Member exposed here) are defined as members of the Rhinestreet Formation (Sutton, 1963; Woodrow and Nugent, 1963).
The Roricks Glen is represented by scattered, very dark-gray shales at the upper end of the exposure. However, many of the darker shale layers have been covered and are difficult to locate. Also, the land above the roadcut is posted and it is therefore recommended that you limit your observations to the exposure along the road. Most of the exposure is in the Beers Hill Member, with flow rolls well developed in the section near the bottom of the hill, just above a landslide scar. Fossils are scarce, but worm burrows and trails (Fucoides graphica) are often found, particularly on the base of the thick, resistant coarser-grained beds. Flute casts, cross bedding and other current indicators are also found.

STOP 2. Richford, N. Y.
The base of the Middlesex Shale Member of the Sonyea Group may be seen exposed in the stream bed across the road from the parking area. The basal few feet of stream exposure is West River Shale, followed by brownish-black shale and siltstone of the Middlesex. Only a few feet are clearly exposed at this location.
Well-developed groove casts and burrows may be found on the base of silty beds. Most of a steep roadcut on the same side of the road as the parking area is covered, but a little digging will expose the Middlesex.
The Middlesex Shale gets progressively finer grained and darker farther west, towards the type section. This facies relationship is generally true for all Upper Devonian shale units.

STOP 3. Finger Lakes Stone Co. Quarry,
(Descriptions from Chute, 1970 and Dugolinsky, 1972)
The entire quarry exposure is within the Rock Stream Formation (previously named the Enfield Formation) of the Sonyea Group. Layers of sandstone alternate with layers of shale and siltstone. The Rock Stream has been interpreted as representing a shelf deposit (300-500 depth), although much shallower depths are likely. Its westward equivalent, the Cashaqua Shale, represents a slope and basin environments in deeper water.
Many of the silty and sandy beds pinch out rapidly. Fossils and sedimentary structures are very common and well developed. Sole marks may be best seen on the base of silty layers. Worm burrows are common. Excellent sole marks, including flute and groove casts, are usually most accessible on quarried slabs.
The quarry is presently operated by the Finger Lakes Stone Company. Slabs of sandstone are obtained without blasting by drilling holes on seams and separating them with wedges. The slabs are cut to the desired sizes in the mill by diamond and wire saws. Pieces with good joint surfaces are used for special surface effects. The stone is laid in various patterns with different finishes, as illustrated by the exterior of the company's office at the quarry.

STOP 4A. Railroad Cu
Railroad Cut Between Salt Company And Abandoned Cement Plant, North Of Ithaca
Exposure of the King Ferry Shale of the Ludlowville Formation.
About 25 feet of the King Ferry Shale is exposed here, with a noticeable dip to the south. Many concretions may be seen in the siltstone beds, which are lighter colored than the shales. The darker shales are commonly cross-laminated. A coquina (fossil-rich layer) is evident at the base and top of the siltstone unit.
Much of the unusual weathering characteristics of this exposure is thought to be due to salt contamination from passing railroad cars coming from the salt plant just to the north of the exposure.

STOP 4B. Gulf Stream (Shurger Glen)
Exposured are the upper King Ferry Shale, the Portland Point Limestone, Moscow Shale and Tully Limestone.
The upper King Ferry Shale of the Ludlowville Formation may be seen in the exposures in and below the lower falls in Gulf Stream. The overlying Portland Point Limestone, near the lip of the lower falls, is very fossiliferous. Note the peculiar curved fracture pattern in the shales just below the falls.
The lower falls may be scaled on the left side (facing upstream) with care, where the approximately 5 feet of Portland Point Limestone may be examined. The Portland Point is coarsely crystalline and weathers brown. Slickensides may be observed in the lower 8 inches of the member.
Float at the base of the lower falls includes samples of Tully Limestone, which is finer-grained and less fossiliferous than the Portland Point limestone.
The Moscow shales overlie the Portland Point and are roughly 100 feet thick in this area. They are well exposed upstream from the lower falls. A nearly complete exposure of the entire 100 feet may be seen about 5 minutes upstream. The overlying Tully Limestone is visible at the top of the cliff exposure and forms the lip of the upper falls which is about another 20-minute walk farther upstream. Dark shales (Geneseo) may be seen in the float below the upper falls and are probably exposed above the upper falls. There is excellent joint control in the stream at and immediately below the upper falls.
The gray silty shale and siltstones of the Ludlowville and Moscow demonstrate a high diversity fauna and represents sediments deposited in a subtidal shelf-delta platform (Grasso, 1978).

STOP 5. Buttermilk Falls State Park
A recent study (deWitt and Colton, 1978) has revealed that 14 feet of Renwick Shale are exposed at the base of the lower falls, overlain by 478 feet of Ithaca shales and sandstones, which in turn are overlain by 135 feet of West River Shale. The Renwick Shale is easily accessible here, particularly for large groups. Note the darker color of the shale with the interbedded lenticular silty beds exposed. The precise contact of the Renwick with the overlying Ithaca is not easy to pick out.
The Renwick here separates coarser-grained clastics: the underlying Sherburne and the overlying Ithaca Formation. Westward, the Renwick merges with the Penn Yan Shale, which is the lower of two shales in the finer western facies. A travertine deposit may be seen on the vertical exposures at the left of the main swimming pool (looking upstream). It is assumed that these deposits are very recent (post-glacial) and result from the deposition of materials in groundwater.

STOP 6. Taughannock Falls State Park
Park on left (before bridge) in Taughannock Falls State Park. Walk into gorge, using trail on the left bank.
(Descriptions from Cornell University Department of Geology, 1959, and from deWitt and Colton, 1978).
Note: At 215 feet, Taughannock Falls is the highest falls in North America east of the Mississippi River.
The main falls is at the head of a deep post-glacial gorge one mile long, with walls from 200 to nearly 400 feet high. The falls is determined partly by the superior resistance of the Sherburne sandstones and partly by the jointing pattern within the rock units. The upper 90 feet of the Geneseo Shale is exposed in the gorge walls from the level of the plunge pool to a point marked by a change in lithology and color. Much of the Geneseo is covered with talus in places. The entire Penn Yan (about 80 feet thick at this locality), the overlying Sherburne (also about 80 feet thick) and the Renwick Shale (about 35 feet thick) are exposed here, along with the lower portion of the Ithaca. At the mouth of the gorge, near the lake, is the lower falls (about 15 feet high), over the resistant Tully Limestone, (also about 15 feet thick here), between the weak basal Geneseo shales above and the shales of the Moscow Formation below.
Both the Sherburne and the Renwick facies are lost only about 15 miles west of this location, where they merge into the Penn Yan Shale.
Note particularly the interfingering nature of the contact between the Tully and the overlying Geneseo, easily seen in the stream bed above the lower falls. This indicates that although there may be an unconformity at the top of the Tully Limestone farther west, there is none here.
Joint control is well developed, particularly within the Geneseo Shale, and is best seen in the cliffs below the main falls and in the stream bed just below the main falls. Alnoite dikes, each less than one inch thick, are present in the stream bed beneath the main falls.
We are now on the northern flank of the Fir Tree Anticline and a slight northern dip may be seen easily if you look at the water flowing over the Tully Limestone, following a bedding plane, just above the lower falls where the stream bed is wide. En echelon fractures are well developed in the Tully Limestone exposed in the stream bed.
This gorge was used in pre-World War II days for sets in "western" movies and some of the wooden shacks precariously perched on the face of some of the cliffs were used to house the cameras during filming.

STOP 7. Fayette Town Dump
(Description partly taken from Cornell University Department of Geology, 1959).
This quarry was originally operated by the Town of Fayette for road material and is now used as a dump. The upper 40 feet of the Levanna Shale and lower 20 feet of the Centerfield Limestone are exposed here. The Levanna is the upper member of the Skaneateles Formation whereas the overlying Centerfield Limestone is the basal unit of the Ludlowville Formation of the Hamilton Group.
We have observed the upper of two general facies within the Hamilton Group at Stops 4-A and 4-B: The Ludlowville and Moscow Formations. Here, we can see a different gross facies represented by the dark, fissile Levanna Shale Member of the Skaneateles Formation, which represents an anaerobic, distal basin (Grasso, 1978). The overlying Centerfield Limestone separates this facies from the lighter colored, silty Ludlowville.
This is a good fossil-collecting site, particularly near the base of the Centerfield Limestone. Most common fossils are brachiopods, pelecypods, gastropods, plant fragment and fish remains. Mineral-filled fractures are common and asphaltic-filled fractures are occasionally found. Pyrite is commonly seen, particularly in the dark Levanna Shale. Large septarian concretions are seen in several layers within the Levanna Shale.

A4: SUBMARINE DISCONTINUITIES, ETC., IN THE UPPER HAMILTON GROUP
Gordon C. Baird
Field Museum of Natural History
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Carlton E. Brett
University of Rochester
Rochester, New York 14627
INTRODUCTION
As defined by Jenkyns (1971) condensed sedimentary sequences are differentially thin deposits recording minimum rates of net sediment accumulation. Such sequences are shown through correlation to be greatly condensed equivalents of thicker deposits; these latter typically display convergence of coeval zones or beds along their lateral periphery. It is possible for stratigraphic sequences to thin from hundreds or even thousands of feet to tens of feet or less while preserving or partly preserving the internal sequence of fossil zones or lithologic subunits. Stable depositional settings such as oceanic-rises and seamounts, regions of the open ocean floor, and broad epeiric shelf areas are commonly characterized by condensed sedimentary sequences. Selective winnowing of fines by currents and bioturbation effects, periods of nondeposition, inorganic degradation and biocorrosion of carbonates, exhumation and reburial of concretions and fossils, and juxtaposition or commingling of fossil zones are all variably characteristic of such condensed sedimentary sequences. Association of these sequences with local and regional discontinuities is also common as will be shown for part of the New York Middle Devonian section in this paper.
The upper Hamilton Group (Ludlowville and Moscow Formations) of the Cayuga Valley includes a thick sequence of marine mudstone characterized by widely spaced, thin limestone units and numerous mappable fossil zones. Several of these are associated with a widespread paraconformity and condensed sedimentary sequence at the base of the Moscow Formation; the differentially thin strata include the Portland Point and Kashong Members which are most compressed stratigraphically in the southeast part of the Cayuga Valley. These units thicken northwestward across the Cayuga and Seneca Valleys, 9.5 feet of strata (Portland Point and Kashong Members) at the Portland Point type section expanding to 100-110 feet in the Canandaigua Valley. The Tichenor-Portland Point Members disconformably overlie the King Ferry Shale in the Cayuga Valley, although evidence of erosion is lacking in most outcrops.

A4: SUBMARINE DISCONTINUITIES, ETC., IN THE UPPER HAMILTON

Cross mouth of Taughannock Creek
Cross mouth of Taughannock Creek at Taughannock State Park. To the left (upstream) from the road bridge a low waterfall is visible; this section includes the Tully Formation (limestone) overlying the uppermost Hamilton Group (Windom Member). Farther upstream is a splendid gorge-waterfall section exposing sediments of the lower Genesee Group (Upper Devonian: Frasnian Stage).

Cross Sheldrake Creek.

Cross Barnum Creek

Cross Bloomer Creek

STOP 1. Big Hollow Creek Section
(1 hour): At this stop we will examine both the Barnum and Bloomer Creek beds; these can be seen in the creek bed below the small farm north of the creek. The Barnum Creek bed is thin, but characterized by abundant flattish to ovoid hiatus concretions which are encrusted by Cladochonus and small bryozoans. The Bloomer Creek bed occurs about 150 feet upstream from the lower discontinuity and 12 feet higher in the section. This 8-inch-thick mudstone bed has numerous small corals (Pleurodictium, Stereolasma) which are commonly attached to phosphatic nodules and hiatus concretions. Above this unit is 25-30 feet of dark-gray and black shale. In a borrow pit upstream from the road crossing, the black shale grades upward to calcareous mudstone marking the base of Jaycox-equivalent King Ferry Member.

STOP 2. Bloomer Creek Section.
(1 hour and 20 minutes): We will walk north for 1500 feet crossing the main branch of Bloomer Creek to a more accessible section on its northern tributary. At this section we will observe the Mack and Bloomer Creek beds below the small waterfalls and study basal Moscow beds both at and slightly above the falls. This is one of the northernmost sections at which the Mack Creek bed can be observed. The Bloomer Creek bed occurs 8 feet above this unit; it is rich in brachiopod and molluscan debris and hiatus concretions are common; these display abundant epizoans.
The Tichenor Limestone Member occurs in the recess under the falls; it yields abundant pelmatozoan material including articulated crinoids. The Menteth and overlying Kashong Members occur upstream from the falls. Fossils are plentiful in the Kashong sequence, and they can be easily extracted from the Rhipidomella-Centronella Bed. The phosphatic pebble bed of the upper Kashong is inconspicuous, but it yields phosphatic pebbles and occasional phosphatic brachiopod and trilobite steinkerns. Return to vehicle and proceed back to main road.

STOP 3. Barnum Creek, Upper Ludlowville Section.
(2 hours, lunch first before examining the rocks): We will proceed around the waterfall, which is capped by the Menteth Member, and reach the creek by a safer downstream route. Wading up the creek, we will examine, in order, the Barnum Creek bed, Mack Creek bed, and Bloomer Creek bed. This is a classic complete profile shown schematically in Figure 2. Both the Barnum and Bloomer Creek beds yield a rich, shelly biota and numerous hiatus concretions. The disontinuities overlie intervals of mudstone bearing numerous in situ concretions which are the erosional source of hiatus concretions. Of particular interest is the occurrence of reworked, prefossilized conulariids in the Barnum Creek bed. Moreover, large differentially bored hiatus concretions occur in the Bloomer Creek bed; these show intense Trypanites borings on their upper surface and no boring underneath (Figure 6A). The nodules have different epizoan assemblages on their upper and lower surfaces, indicating development of microhabitats along their exterior.

STOP 4. Sheldrake Creek, Lower Moscow Condensed Stratigraphic Section.
(45 minutes): The Tichenor-basal Windom interval is represented by only 17-18 feet of section. The Deep Run Member is only 4.5 feet thick as opposed to 10 feet at Stop 2. The Menteth Limestone is thin and irregular in this section, and the Rhipidomella-Centronella bed of the Kashong Member is juxtaposed on it. The Tichenor Member is represented by a massive calcarenitic ledge with a sharp basal contact with the Ludlowville. Medial King Ferry beds will not be examined here, but the Mack Creek bed and the Bloomer Creek bed are both visible in the creek bank below the falls.

Portland Point quarry on left.
The Tully Formation (limestone) is quarried here, and the uppermost beds of the Moscow Formation (Hindom Shale) are exposed. For description of this locality see Grasso (1970) N.Y.S.G.A. field trip D and H, Stop 9. An excellent Tully-Windom exposure is developed to the right of the road in Minnegar Brook.

Salt mine to right.
The Morton Salt Company is mining salt from the Salina Group (Upper Silurian).

STOP 5a. Portland Point Type Section
(25 minutes): (see Figure 4). It occurs in a railroad cut along Cayuga Lake shore 300 feet south of entrance to Gulf Creek. There is noticeable southward dip to the strata so that 10-15 feet of uppermost King Ferry is visible below the Portland Point; the Portland Point-Kashong interval descends to railroad level over a 100-150 foot distance.
Originally, the Portland Point was described as including 9.0-9.5 feet of calcareous strata with a prominent calcarenite bed at the base and shell-rich limestone at the top (Cooper, 1929, 1930). The Portland Point is now redefined to include only the calcarenitic (Tichenor-equivalent) bed and overlying 2-foot muddy, Deep Run-Menteth equivalent limestone (Baird, 1979). 5.5 feet of succeeding beds are assigned to the Kashong Member. A prominent calcareous siltstone bed believed to be equivalent to the phosphatic pebble bed to the west occurs 8.5-9 feet above the base of the Moscow Formation; this may have been the top marker bed of Cooper's Portland Point section.
This bed occurs about one foot below a calcareous siltstone bed marking the base of the Windom. Above the base of the Windom are numerous Windom brachiopods including Athyris spiriferoides, Ambocoelia umbonata, and chonetids.

STOP 5b. Shurger Falls.
(20 minutes): We now walk back north to the mouth of Gulf Creek. Proceeding east (upstream) for 100-150 feet we come to Shurger Falls. The Portland Point is now at much higher elevation, capping the 40-50 foot waterfall. We will not climb the falls but will collect fossils from loose blocks which have fallen down.

A5: PALEOCOMMUNITIES OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (MIDDLE DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE
Richard H. Lindemann
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, New York
and
Howard R. Feldman
American Museum of Natural History
New York, New York
The Onondaga Formation of New York State is a 21-50+ m unit of Middle Devonian marine limestones. The formation's outcrop belt runs east-west from Buffalo to the Helderbergs and southward from the latter to Port Jervis, a distance in excess of 550 km. Over much of this area the limestone strata have been eroded into extensive escarpments and flats.
Onondaga stratigraphy and paleogeography have received a great deal of attention during the past three decades. Formational lithofacies have been identified and interpreted. The lithofacies and paleocommunities of at least ten Onondaga bioherms have been investigated. However, until recently non-reef paleocommunities have been neglected. Feldman (1978, 1980) and Lindemann (1980) filled this gap through separate studies of Onondaga paleosynecology using similar yet divergent approaches. It is the purpose of this trip to familiarize participants with Onondaga stratigraphy and with the results of these recent paleoecologic investigations. To these ends, this article describes the formation and its faunas. In the field, we will consider the formation's paleoenvironmental setting and the degree to which temporal changes in environmental conditions influenced and are revealed by vertical successions of Onondaga paleocommunities.

A5: PALEOCOMMUNITIES OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (MIDDLE DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE

STOP 1. Indian Reservation Quarry
This is the Indian Reservation quarry described in connection with Feldman's Leptaena-Megakozlowskiella community.

STOP 2. Type section of the Edgecliff Member
This is the type section of the Edgecliff Member which is named for Edgecliff Park, located just to the west. The member's full thickness of 2.3 m is exposed in the upper areas of the main quarry. Its erosional base is marked by the presence of phosphate nodules. In the southern quarry wall, 3 m of the Nedrow Member are exposed. The top of the Nedrow has been removed by erosion.

STOP 3. A nearly complete section of the Onondaga
Turn left into the broad flat quarried area adjacent to Route 91 and park. The Onondaga is exposed in the upper quarry. Walk up into it by way of the unpaved road which comes down to Route 91 just south of where you've parked.
A nearly complete section of the Onondaga is exposed in this quarry. Only the top of the Seneca is gone. Thicknesses of the members are given below. An excellent exposure of the "Springvale" can be found to the west of the large storage building seen from Route 91. Here the "Springvale" contains a sparse brachiopod-bryozoan fauna and phosphate nodules. The main quarry floor is in the Edgecliff Member which is best seen along the south wall; it is at your right as you enter. Most of the quarry wall consists of the Nedrow and Moorehouse Members. This is the type locality of the latter. Fracturing and jointing of the rock have made hand and foot holds insecure. Please avoid falling or dropping rocks (or yourself) on other trip participants. The Seneca Member can be closely observed above and to the east of the main quarry. You can get to it by walking around the quarry to the north.
Seneca Member | 1.5 m
Moorehouse Member | 7.0 m
Nedrow Member | 4.4 m
Edgecliff Member | 5.2 m
"Springvale" | 1.5 m

STOP 4. Reef in Edgecliff Member
East of Taylor Road in the clump of trees across from the first house on the left is exposed a small section of a reef in the Edgecliff Member. While exposure does not permit a three-dimensional study of the reef, the fauna which includes Cylindrophyllum, Acinophyllum, Emmonsia, and Favosites indicates that what we are seeing is part of the core facies.

STOP 5. Full Edgecliff and some Nedrow
Going up hill and out of town there will be what appears to be a wooded and scrubby area on the left (north) side of the road. This is sharply broken by the school athletic field. Turn left into the western corner of the field and park near the storage shed. Frog Pond quarry is the scrubby area west of the athletic field. You can get into the quarry by way of any of the foot paths which lead in that direction.
The full 5.8 m of the Edgecliff Member are exposed here as is the lower 1 m of the Nedrow. The base of the Edgecliff is exposed on the middle of the quarry face which overlooks the frog pond in the southwest corner of the quarry. Rock weathering and extensive exposure of bedding surfaces make sampling and fossil collection here excellent.

STOP 6. Seneca Member
Proceed uphill until you see black shale to the right and Oneida Creek to the left. Look for and park in the wide road shoulder to your left as the road leans right. Watch out for eastbound traffic!
While virtually all of the Onondaga can be pieced together in the creek bed downstream from here, we will observe only the Seneca Member, 3.7 m of which are present in the stream. If water levels and recent sediment transport have been kind, we will be able to see a rare exposure of the contact between the Onondaga and the Union Springs Shale. For those who are interested, the full thickness of the Cherry Valley Limestone, about 1 m, is exposed on the north side of the road. There is no need to scramble up the shale for it, just trace the bed along until you meet it near road level.

A8: GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF THE CHENANGO RIVER VALLEY BETWEEN BINGHAMTON AND NORWICH, NEW YORK *
by
Donald H. Cadwell
New York State Geological Survey
Albany, New York, 12230
REGIONAL SETTING
The field trip area (Fig. 1) is located in the southern part of the Chenango River valley, a tributary to the Susquehanna River drainage system. The region is included in parts of the Binghamton West, Castle Creek, Greene, Chenango Forks, Brisben, Tyner, Oxford, Norwich, and Holmesville 7.5 minute U.S.G.S. topographic quadrangles. The area has a total relief of 341 m (840 to 1980 ft). The bedrock is predominantly Devonian shale, siltstone,and sandstone (Fisher et al., 1970).
GLACIAL GEOLOGIC SETTING
Brigham (1897) recognized the extent of the glacial sediments within the Chenango River valley between Binghamton and the Mohawk Valley. Tarr (1905) described the characteristics of the glacial deposits near the Finger Lakes. Fairchild (1932) named the thick drift units in the Finger Lakes region the Valley Heads moraine. He delineated other areas of drift deposits: the Olean at the terminal moraine in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna Valley kames. MacClintock and Apfel (1944) used the term "Binghamton moraine" to describe the Susquehanna Valley kames of Fairchild, indicating that the drift was deposited during a separate advance. They suggested that the Olean was the oldest Wisconsin, Binghamton - middle Wisconsin, and the Valley Heads - youngest Wisconsin. Peltier (1949) correlated terraces along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania with pre-Wisconsin, Olean, Binghamton, Valley Heads, and Mankato ice advances in New York. Denny (1956) questioned the presence of the Binghamton advance in the Elmira region. He theorized that (1) the Binghamton border may be north of the Valley Heads border and therefore concealed, (2) the Binghamton border is incorporated within the Valley Heads border, and (3) the character of the Binghamton materials is completely changed between the type locality (Binghamton) and Elmira. Connally (1960, 1964) on the basis of heavy-mineral analyses indicated that the Binghamton is related to the Valley Heads advance. Moss and Ritter (1962) suggested that the Binghamton was not a separate advance, but a phase of the Olean. Coates (1963) suggested that a single ice sheet deposited the drift with the Olean as the upland facies and the Binghamton as valley facies. Hollyday (1969) showed that the drift in the valleys in the vicinity of the field trip ranges between 15 and 76 m (50 and 250 ft) thick. I have presented the idea of a single Woodfordian ice sheet that deposited the Olean and Binghamton deposits, with a minimum age of 16,650 ± 1800 radiocarbon years B.P. for wood at the base of a bog (Cadwell, 1972a, 1972b, 1973a, 1973b, 1974, 1975, 1978). Incorporated in this idea is the concept of "valley ice tongue" retreat. An ice tongue may have extended several miles down valley beyond the upland ice-margin position. Krall (1977) described the Cassville-Cooperstown moraine as a late Wisconsin recessional moraine. Aber (1978) described the erratic-rich drift in the Appalachian Plateau of N.Y.
* Published by permission of Director, Science Service, New York State Museum, State Education Department, Journal Series No. 326.

A8: GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF THE CHENANGO RIVER VALLEY BETWEEN BINGHAMTON AND NORWICH, NEW YORK

View south across Binghamton.
Binghamton is built on outwash sands and gravels greater than 50 ft (15 m) thick.

Note kame terrace to right.

Outwash sand and gravel exposed in the kame terrace.

Route 7 rises onto kame terrace at Hillcrest.

Note gravel pits in sand-and-gravel outwash to the left of Route 369 as you proceed north.

Kame is on left.

STOP 1. Chenango Valley State Park
All of the glacial features preserved in this park were formed at the retreating Woodfordian ice margin. Massive amounts of sand and gravel was deposited around disintegrating blocks of ice (Refer to the topographic map of the state park and vicinity). These horizontally stratified sands and gravels are at least 200 feet (61 m) thick. An ice-channel filling is preserved between Lily and Chenango Lakes. The pebble lithologies are 10 percent limestone; 75 percent local siltstone, sandstone and shale; and 15 percent exotics (from outside the Chenango River drainage basin).

Note the sand pit to the left.
These sands were deposited in relatively quiet water adjacent to stagnating ice in the Page Brook valley. Meltwater was flowing from the north.

Meltwater channel.
The sand and gravel here is at least 175 ft (53 m)thick.

Note large kettles in outwash gravels.

A radiocarbon age date of 16,650 yBP
A radiocarbon age date of 16,650 ± 1800 yBP was obtained from wood at the base of a kettle to the right, over the hill.

This kame terrace has at least 250 ft (76 m) of sand and gravel.

Large kame terrace
Enter Chenango County. This road is on a large kame terrace built when an ice tongue occupied the Chenango Valley. The sand and gravel is at least 196 ft (60 m) thick.

Gravel pit in outwash gravels
A gravel pit to the right (up the road) has outwash gravels. An ice tongue occupied the main valley as meltwater flowed from the ice margin to the east. The lithologies present are 4 percent limestone, 76 percent locals, and 20 percent exotics.

Proceed across the kame terrace.

View across meltwater channel and outwash gravels.
These sands and gravels are as much as 100 ft (30 m) thick.

STOP 2. Wheeler Creek Esker
This will be a brief stop to discuss the formation of the Wheeler Creek esker (Refer to the topographic map). A thin ice margin was located at this point. Meltwater flowed westward from this margin toward the main Chenango Valley. The kame terraces and the esker were deposited adjacent to and beneath the ice, respectively.

Esker on left.
The esker can be seen on the left as you descend from the kame terrace. Meltwater flow was to the south.

Road is located on the crest of the esker.

Note the massive hummocky topography
Note the massive hummocky topography (valley plug) on the east side of the valley. This sediment and ice served as a base-level control for deposition to the north. The significance of this will be discussed at STOP 3.

This road is on top of a large kame terrace.

STOP 3. Lynk Delta
The Lynk Construction Company removes sand and gravel from this large delta/lacustrine complex. Meltwater was flowing from the east along Lyon Brook and sedimentation occurred in a lake adjacent to an ice tongue. Note the planar-surfaced features to the north. The elevation of all these features was controlled by the valley plug noted at mileage 40.1. The lithologies present are: 20 percent limestone, 52 percent locals, and 28 percent exotics.

Note pit in kame delta to the right.

Cross alluvial fan.
The thickness of drift in the valley is at least 350 ft (107 m).

STOP 4. Wedge Or Pop-Up?
Walk up into the bedrock quarry. This pit is used by the state for maintenance of the roads. The face of the exposure is oriented N20E along one of the joint planes. The wedges are developed along N75W. One wedge is well developed. Two others are partially developed. The wedges persist for at least 3 ft. to the east.

STOP 5. Picture stop of kame terrace.
When this kame terrace was deposited an ice tongue occupied the main Chenango valley. Note kame delta on the west side of the valley.

STOP 6. Chenango County Sand Pit
The exposure in this pit illustrates lake sands, silts,and clays, with current-ripple laminations. Several years ago exposures in this pit had a section beneath the well-stratified lake sands. In this lower section are examples of strata with vertical bedding; horizontal bedding that abruptly ceased into an unstratified zone; and cross-bedded sands with inclinations of up to 85 degrees. The lithologies present include: 18 percent red sandstone, 25 percent limestone, 42 percent locals, and 15 percent exotics.
It is hypothesized that a supraglacial lake developed with deposition of the lower sands. The lake abruptly drained causing frozen blocks of sediment to be rotated. Sedimentation continued around the rotated blocks depositing the ripple-drift sediments.

Kame delta on right
Kame delta on right, with foreset beds dipping to the South.

Note exposure in kame terrace on right.

Good exposure in kame delta.

STOP 7. Emerson Pit
This kame delta illustrates the variety of sediments and orientations in a delta deposited adjacent to an ice tongue. Refer to the topographic map for STOP 3.

Note ice contact kame delta to right.
Stop if you have time.

View to the left (east) of valley plug
View to the left (east) of valley plug that controlled the elevation of the deltas examined at STOPS 3 and 7.

View to left (east) to outwash units associated with Wheeler esker (STOP 2).

View east to Chenango Valley State Park area.

STOP 8. Till
The drift in this valley includes Olean-type till, Binghamton-type stratified units, and thick lacustrine clays. These units are interspersed between bedrock outcrops. Rotational slump blocks develop by a process of piping in the silt and clay beds.

Good view to the south of Chenango River valley.

A9: HYDROLOGY IN RELATION TO GLACIAL GEOLOGY ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER VALLEY, BINGHAMTON TO OWEGO, NEW YORK
by
Allan D. Randall
U.S. Geological Survey
Over the past 20 years, several regional and localized studies have increased our knowledge of aquifers in the Susquehanna River basin of New York. This article extracts and summarizes some results of these studies that pertain to sites visited on this field trip along the Susquehanna valley from Binghamton downstream to Owego.
DISTRIBUTION OF AQUIFERS WITHIN THE GLACIAL DRIFT
About 85 percent of the Susquehanna River basin of New York is an upland in which shale, siltstone, and fine sandstone of Devonian age is dissected by narrow valleys and mantled by till. Stratified drift is confined largely to broad valleys, 1,000 to 8,000 feet wide, which occupy the remaining 15 percent of the basin.
During the waning stages of glaciation, tongues of ice extended southward along the broad valleys beyond the main ice sheet. Lakes formed near the ends of the shrinking ice tongues, temporarily filling any space vacated by melting of the ice that lay below the level of stratified drift previously deposited downstream. Many of these lakes were extensive, particularly in the deeper valleys, and trapped much clay, silt, and very fine sand. Elsewhere, particularly in relatively shallow valleys such as the Susquehanna River valley from Binghamton to Owego, smaller lakes and stream channels formed atop and against ice tongues that became too thin to flow. As each small lake filled with sediment, others formed nearby, and water velocities were often great enough to keep fine-grained sediment in suspension. The resulting stratified drift is heterogeneous but predominantly coarse grained, like the idealized sketch in Figure 1 and the actual cross sections in Figures 2 and 3.
Only the coarser sands and gravels within the stratified drift yield enough water to be considered aquifers.

A9: HYDROLOGY IN RELATION TO GLACIAL GEOLOGY ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER VALLEY, BINGHAMTON TO OWEGO, NEW YORK

Note level terrace surface on right.

HESITATION STOP. Pit on left
Pit on left, in the highest (oldest) stratified drift in this part of the valley: cobble-boulder gravel to coarse sand variably silty (piles of coarse gravel rejected by operator are visible); pebbles are relatively drab (few limestones); topography is irregular, maximum altitude 880 feet; wet areas on pit floor suggest till at shallow depth. Barn on right marked "Tioga Manor"; trip will return past this barn.

Route 17C is on nearly level surface of valley train.

Pit owned by Concrete Materials, Inc.
Entrance (on left) to pit owned by Concrete Materials, Inc.

Pit owned by C & C Ready Mix Corp.
Entrance (on left) to pit owned by C & C Ready Mix Corp.

STOP 1. Kame Delta, Bright Gravel.
Stop 1 will be in whichever of these two pits offers the better exposures on the date of the trip. Topset and foreset beds of bright gravel have been observed beneath the valley-train surface; lower terraces are capped by bright fluvial gravel overlying fine-grained lake-bottom sediments.

STOP 2. Kames And Ice-Channel Filling, Drab Gravel.
Turn right at second driveway; proceed to gate at entrance to pasture and gravel pit owned by Kenneth Pipher. Be sure to close gate after entering.
Several pits in the kamic features in this locality revealed drab gravel and sand with very few limestone or other exotic rock types; west-dipping foresets have been observed. Maximum altitude is 860 feet, well above the bright valley-train surface to the east.

STOP 3. Ground-Water Recharge From Thorn Hollow Creek.
In 1967-68, streamflow measurements on 15 dates showed a loss of about 0.02 ft3/s (10 gal/min) per 100 feet of channel upstream from Glen Mary Drive and 0.16 ft3/s per 100 feet downstream. During most of the year, this stream goes dry somewhere on its alluvial fan.

Note road bordered and arched over by large maples.

Tioga Manor barn on right.
Behind barn is a hummocky surface 820-830 feet in altitude; a small pit revealed 1.5 feet of highly calcareous, bright, fine-pebble gravel with abundant limestone atop several feet of drab gravel.

HESITATION STOP. View to right of oval hill
View to right of oval hill in midvalley, composed of (or perhaps heavily mantled with) till. Terraces at about 830 feet altitude between the road and the hill, now largely excavated, were capped by bright fine-pebble gravel and coarse sand.

HESITATION STOP. Tracy Creek
The reach of Tracy Creek beneath the bridge visible to the right was dry on all eight occasions when visited by the U.S Geological Survey in the summers of 1962-65 as part of a study of low streamflow in the Susquehanna River basin. Like most tributary streams, Tracy Creek suffers severe seepage loss when crossing the stratified drift in the Susquehanna River Valley. Upstream 2,000 feet, where the creek has cut a gorge through till and bedrock, a small flow continued throughout the 1962-65 drought.

Cross Choconut Creek

Vestal municipal well is in well house on right.

STOP 4. Vestal Water District 1 Well Field.
Three municipal wells tap sand and gravel between 70 and 150 feet in depth. Induced river infiltration is potentially an important source of recharge; temperature profiles in April 1981 indicate river water infiltrated past well 1-3 at a time when only well 1-2 was in use. The sand and gravel seems to be relatively drab, perhaps totally drab near the base.

STOP 5. Vestal Water District 4 Well Field.
To the west is municipal well 4-2, water from which was found to contain organic solvents in 1980 (see text). To the north are two more municipal wells. To the south are numerous oil tank farms. To the east, the land was once level with Prentice Road, but has been excavated for gravel; the owner plans to mine gravel below the water table by dragline both east and west of the road. The pit to the east was once considered as a site for a municipal landfill

Flood-control reservoir
Flood-control reservoir is on right, on little Choconut Creek.

STOP 6. View Of Housing Cluster.
All homes in this area have public sewers and on-lot wells tapping bedrock. In 1981, water levels were as deep as 100 to 130 feet seasonally in some wells on Rhodes Road, and yields of a few wells were not as large as desired by occupants. Further building has been proposed downslope.

A10: GEOMORPHOLOGY OF SOUTH-CENTRAL NEW YORK
Donald R. Coates
Dept. of Geological Sciences
SUNY-Binghamton
The purpose of this trip is to examine geomorphology in the region to the east and south of Binghamton. The evolution of the Chemung, Delaware, Susquehanna, and Tioughnioga Rivers will be discussed. A variety of erosional features will be seen and much emphasis will be placed on glacial deposits and the landforms they create. The starting point of the trip will be the upper part of the SUNY Binghamton campus.

A10: GEOMORPHOLOGY OF SOUTH-CENTRAL NEW YORK

STOP 1. Campus Overview.
This site is the southernmost of three east-trending ridges which comprise a ribbed moraine sequence. The SUNY campus is situated on two of the ridges. Furthermore, the campus is nested in a reentrant in which the bedrock hillslopes have a scalloped form. Roundtop Hill, an umlaufberg, can be seen to the north. The drainage divide to the south contains a col, or saddle, which was the position for override by the glacier. The moraine is composed of bright till (Binghamton-type) with a fabric transverse to the ridge (or parallel with ice transport). Bedrock is more than 120 ft below land surface. All glacial deposits on this trip are Late Wisconsinan. Embark. Travel east on ribbed moraine with SUNY nature preserve and wetlands to south.

STOP 2. Stair Park.
Walk into park going south along Fuller Hollow Creek. Stream flows on bedrock, yet the floodplain appears to be in alluvial materials. Why has stream chosen a more difficult channel to occupy? Walk to 30-ft exposure of bright till (Binghamton lithology). What is the fabric of the till? Within Fuller Hollow there are good examples of fabric wherein some show extending flow and other compressing flow characteristics of the glacier. Such bright drift shows the history of materials. The ice moved south over the valley-fill sediments of the Susquehanna River, incorporating them into the basal load and then depositing them south of the river along thrust planes as the ice was forced to move up and over the hillsides. South from this stop the drift changes composition, passes into a transitional facies and finally becomes true "drab" till (Olean lithology) higher up on the hillsides.

In distance note the Roundtop Hill umlaufberg.
The highway uses the meltwater channel that separates the hill from the former upland parent spur to the south.

The river flows west on valley-fill sediments.
The river flows west on valley-fill sediments about 200 ft thick comprised largely of glacio-fluvial and glacio-lacustrine materials. Near Route 17 wood at about an 8-ft depth in alluvial materials was dated at 1690 ± 100 ybp.

STOP 3. Drab till (Olean lithology)
This 25-ft exposure east of Oakdale Mall consists of drab till (Olean lithology). This is typical of lodgment till plastered on the south sides of hills that produce asymmetry of hills, or the "till-shadow effect". What type of fabric would you anticipate from such a depositional environment?

Upper Rhinestreet Formation
Bedrock exposure of Upper Devonian Rhinestreet Formation consists of marine shale with some siltstone.

Chenango River.
Note flood walls, and revetment-type levees (armored with riprap) built by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Near this

Hillside quarrying of Rhinestreet Formation.
Binghamton brickyard and hillside quarrying of Rhinestreet Formation. The highway is adjacent to old Chenango Canal that connected Binghamton with the Erie Canal. The trend of the canal along here is called the "tow path" by residents.

Kame-terrace valley-train sediments
Exposure of kame-terrace valley-train sediments that comprise Hillcrest. Note highly cemented character of materials.

Cross Chenango River
Here valley fill is less than 100 ft thick. Note the umlaufberg, which is double crested. This part of the valley is more youthful because river was diverted from its earlier course on north side of umlaufberg.

Old valley of Chenango River
Note the route has been along west side of umlaufberg into the old valley of the Chenango River. This is now a "dry valley" filled with a congestion of glacial deposits and sand and gravel pits.

STOP 4. Rose Gravel Pit (now owned by Barett Paving, Inc.).
Travel into east part of pit, 1.2 mi. These materials occur in a very complex sedimentary environment. This can be considered a pitted outwash plain (sandur), that also includes valley train, kame, kame terraces, and extensive pro-gradational deltaic sequences. Although the deposits were formed during a single glacial stade and are comprised by materials of the same general provenance, there is great heterogeneity in the sediments from outcrop to outcrop. Thus the pit contains both pure outwash-type sediment as well as ice-contact deposits. There is a full range of textures from clay to silt, sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders. Bodies of till also occur within some sequences. The extent, both laterally and vertically, of the cemented units pose serious problems for the miner. Geologically the problem is to determine the origin and time of cementation. For example, did it form in the vadose or groundwater zone? Did it form soon after deposition, or later in the Holocene? Aber (1979) has attempted to answer some of these points. Although much of the material is bright, there are also occurrences of drab drift. Why?

Highway ascends a wind gap.
This is one of three high-level notches along a north-trending ridge formed as overflow channels when ice occupied the Chenango Valley and meltwater streams discovered high outlets.

STOP 5. Chenango Forks.
This is junction of the Chenango River flowing southwest and the Tioughnioga River flowing southeast. The exposure typifies the many different sedimentary features at junctions of two different ice lobes, with contrasting histories and meltwater regimes. This is a kame environment with deposits that range through glaciofluvial, glaciolacustrine, and unsorted materials. What is the origin of the large bouldery unit? Possibilities include flowtill, mudflow - debris flow, ablation till, etc. Are there others?

STOP 6. Landslide.
This landslide consists of a series of slumps that cover a 7-acre area. It was caused when the road was cut into the lower hill slope. The increased slope and removal of material destabilized the materials. The hydraulic head increased and drainage from a road above the slide funneled water onto the mass. The hillside materials are composed of sediments susceptible to piping which enhance lubrication and movement of materials in the mass. Some pipes have been measured to be about 2 ft in diameter and extend many feet into the hill. The south side of the area is composed of drab till. Most of the slide occurs in glaciolacustrine silt and fine sand with clay more than 60 ft thick. Glaciofluvial beds occur immediately north of the slide area. What was the environmental setting when the deposits formed?

Bedrock.

Drab (Olean lithology) till.
These sequences are typical of the Tioughnioga River, a multi-cycle sluiceway or beaded river. The river is anomalous because it flows southeast across the structural grain of the region. The valley alternates between narrow walls which are younger parts of the system, and wider valleys which represent positions where the river discovered its previous valley.

Many kettles comprise this pitted valley train.
The road passes between many kettles which comprise this pitted valley train. Cadwell (1972) dated peaty materials in a kettle as 16,650 ± 1,800 ybp.

Old gravel pits on both sides of road.
Sedimentation is outwash type.

STOP 7. Chenango Valley State Park.
Separating Lily Lake to the north and Chenango Lake to the south is a crevasse filling. The lakes occupy kettle holes. The park contains tens of kettles of various sizes. These were stranded "land icebergs" that were overwhelmed by meltwater deposits when active ice was to the north.

STOP 8. Hale Gravel Pit.
Good example of outwash deposits. Bedding shows characteristics of the shifting meltwater channels that provided avenues for deposition of the materials. Although these are outwash deposits, they contain deleterious ingredients and so fail to pass state (magnesium sulfate soundness test) requirements for use as highway concrete (>18 percent loss on 10-cycle test). Why? What is the lithology of the sediment?

Bedrock - more youthful part of system
The Chenango River enters a more youthful part of its system, with the umlaufberg separating it from the former thalweg. Bedrock in or near a stream invariably means the channel is not located at the major thalweg.

Belden Hill. One of highest elevations in this area.
Drainage divide between the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers.

On east side of Susquehanna is "The Plains"
On east side of Susquehanna is "The Plains" one of largest terraces in the region. Along the road there are many stagnant ice features.

Start of 0.6-mi - long esker
Start of 0.6-mi - long esker that parallels the highway on east side.

The road arcs around the Windsor umlaufberg.

STOP 9. Town Of Windsor Gravel Pit.
Turn right onto dirt road and proceed to working area. This is a beautiful "textbook" example of a kame, a hill composed of ice contact deposits. Meltwater erosion was responsible for dissecting the umlaufberg from the upland connection to the east. The deposits fall within the range of drab lithology and contain glaciofluvial, glaciolacustrine, and poorly to unstratified drift. What is the origin of the latter?

Kame-and-kettle topography, character of the umlaufberg
Note kame-and-kettle topography and the character of the umlaufberg, which can be considered "youthful" because of the lack of tributaries on it and the adjacent highlands.

Damascus.
Continue east on old "17" which now rises on a steep grade up Tuscarora Mountain.

Sky Lake, one of three natural lakes in Fly Creek.
This is drainage divide between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. We are now in the Catskill Mountains, both geologically and geographically. The bedrock now consists mostly of terrigenous sandstone. Relief is 1500 ft and more, and the Delaware system drains the west and southwest part of the mountains.
2011: Sky Lake is 1.2 miles from here, over the hill to the NE. The road to Sky Lake is a few hundred meters back along the highway.

Deer Lake, second in the lake chain in Fly Creek.

STOP 10. Fly Pond. Picture stop.
A till barrier impounds this and the others have similar dams. What is the origin of these barriers? Depth to rock is reported to be 160 ft in the valley. There are also two smaller till mounds in Fly Creek.

STOP 11. Kame Delta.
At 1450 ft elevation this is an unusually high level deltaic deposit. However, it forms part of the large picture with a major lake that occupied the Gulf Summit area.

Major topographic low.
Note this area appears to be a major topographic low. Within it are numerous kames and kettles.

Spillway for drainage of the proglacial lake
Travel down road and observe character of the drainage divide at Gulf Summit. Return to railroad and view the deep bedrock notch. This was the spillway for drainage of the proglacial lake that occupied this topographic low. Although Wisconsinan-age meltwaters helped to incise the lowermost 70 ft, the higher features may have been initiated during earlier glacial stages.

STOP 12. View Of Spillway And Overflow Channel.
This is headwater area of Cascade Creek, a Susquehanna River tributary. The Catskill sandstone shows vestiges of stream erosion. North of the road the hill slopes contain varying degrees of blockfields, a reminder of periglacial climatic conditions.

Triple cities of Lanesboro, Susquehanna, and Oakland.
This is the Great Bend area where Susquehanna River arcs from a south flow, to an east flow, then a north flow. The unusual stone masonry bridge was built in 1848 by a Scotsman, Kirkwood, after several earlier contractors had gone broke attempting to build a span across the valley.

STOP 13. Oakland Esker,
Oakland Esker, largest in the region, with total length about 4 mi. Here it is on north side of the river but it can be followed northward where the river has incised it and the esker continues again on east side of river. The esker is not a simple ridge, but is double in several parts, such as near the outlet on the west side of Oakland. Side slopes are steep and esker exceeds a height of 100 ft. At the top there are depressions and undulating topography. Exposures here and at other outcrops show bedding ranging from horizontal to some units whose dips exceed 45°. Till and flow till are interpreted to be part of some sequences. The sparse number of exotics indicate the drift is drab type. Was this a supra-glacial (open to the sky) or subglacial esker?

Western limit of esker.

Penny Hill on north side of road.
There is a "rock city" at top of the hill, another indication of periglacial conditions.

Hanging delta on east side of highway.
This is the valley of the north-flowing Salt Lick Creek. The straightness of the valley, truncation of spurs, and anomalous southern extension indicate valley sculpture by ice and meltwater erosion.

Enter the New Milford sluiceway.

The most recent meltwater erosion starts here.

STOP 14. Picture Stop For The New Milford Sluiceway.
This is the south-trending Martin Creek valley, with bedrock walls of Catskill cross-bedded sandstone. This is a "youthful" type or first-cycle sluiceway because of the imperfect development of tributaries and absence of till. The feature was developed when meltwaters from a proglacial lake to the north drained south through spillways formed during earlier glacial times. The Great Bend region had a long and involved history throughout Quaternary times. The unusual geometry of the Susquehanna River implies it is an ice-marginal valley, such as parts of the Missouri and Ohio Rivers.

STOP 15. Hanging Delta.
This delta owes its development to events in Little Egypt Creek, the north-flowing stream on the east side of Maunatome Mtn. Along this north-south ridge there are a series of high level notches occupied by ice and meltwaters during different glacial and proglacial times. Drainage in Little Egypt was blocked by ice to the north causing the eventual overflow of the proglacial lake into Salt Lick Valley, where another lake received the sediments. Typical deltaic structures occur: topsets, foresets, and a general lobate pattern of strata that dip away from the central core. The materials are drab and currently used by the Pennsylvania Highway Department. The deposits are more than 150 ft thick. How did the massive sandstone block become emplaced within the sediments?

STOP 16. Doubleday Glen.
The Rhinestreet Formation forms bedrock of the area. Note the fabric of unconsolidated materials on top of rock. This is colluvium. Although composed of till it is not in place, having moved downslope by solifluction processes which produced the preferred orientation of the slabby clasts. Walk into the glen. Evolution of this feature is somewhat similar to the famous Finger Lake glens. They developed during postglacial time when a high-level consequent stream starts its new trajectory. Because till covered the preglacial valley and diverted streams to the south, many of the newly developing consequent streams were forced to carve new bedrock chasms. Thus when streams miss their former valleys, they incise rock and form narrow, steep-walled valleys. Where former valleys were encountered, the walls are gentler, not in rock, and wider.

B6: BIOCLASTIC CARBONATE UNITS IN THE CATSKILL CLASTIC WEDGE
Donald L. Woodrow
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Geneva, New York
Paul Enos, Richard J. Bottjer and Charles Minero
State University of New York at Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
This trip we will visit two quarries in northern Pennsylvania (Fig. 1) which expose thick carbonate units nearly unique in the "Catskill delta". Our purpose is to examine these units and to discuss their origin, which in many respects remains enigmatic despite considerable study.
Each of us has contributed to this guidebook in a different manner.
All of us have examined both quarries in varying levels of detail. Woodrow and Bottjer measured sections in the Case quarry and considered the trace fossils and petrography there. Minero measured the Ashcraft quarry sections. Enos and Woodrow have supervised the work of several students in both areas.
STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT OF THE CARBONATE ROCKS
Rocks seen in the two quarries are part of the Catskill clastic wedge (Woodrow, 1968). Carbonate-rich rocks are unusual in this sequence which is typified by sandstones, siltstones, and shales. Both units were worked initially for agricultural lime, and quarries were later opened because the carbonates provide the best material for riprap available for many miles.

B6: BIOCLASTIC CARBONATE UNITS IN THE CATSKILL CLASTIC WEDGE

Esker on north (right) side of N.Y. 17.
Much of esker and associated kamic deposits have been removed for aggregate.

Small exposures of Chemung
Steep wooded hill with small exposures of Chemung (shallow marine) facies.

Road cut, Chemung facies.

Exposure of Chemung facies on right (W).

Road cut in Wiscoy Fm. (?)
Road cut in Wiscoy Fm. (?), Chemung facies, (shallow marine).

Road cut in lower Towanda Fm.
Road cut in lower Towanda Fm. Cattaraugus facies; red beds, some coquinite.

Road cut in Towanda Fm.
Road cut in Towanda Fm. with abundant flow rolls (pillow structures).

STOP 1. Louis Case Quarry, Burlington, Pa.
Enter Louis Case quarry on right (N) side of U.S. 6. Obtain permission from Louis Case in house at west edge of quarry.
Start in small face below main bench of quarry. Work upward toward east end of quarry.
The points of similarity between the two carbonate bodies (Table 2) are such that we conclude that both were formed in tide-influenced marine environments. However, contrasts between them are sufficient to make it clear that the local geography of the Catskill shoreline at the two sites must have been different. The abundance of brachiopods and the presence of crinoids and in situ bryozoa demonstrate that the environment of deposition of the coquinite was subtidal marine. Tidal effects are indicated by material from both marine sources (shells) and terrestrial sources (plant fragments, red muds), by the intimate intermixture of sandstone and shale (including flaser bedding), and by some examples of reversals in current direction. Most of the large-scale cross-strata record flow toward the west or northwest suggesting ebb-dominated deposition.
If the question of process is tentatively answered. we are left with the question posed by the mixture of materials in the coquinite. The source of the shell material was the local sea floor, despite the apparent ebb dominance, but the source of the red mud is less obvious. A source of highly oxygenated muds is required, perhaps from the higher, subaerial parts of a tidal flat or nearby alluvial plains. Plant debris could derive from the same sources. Shells in great quantity require a large community of epifauna either close to or as part of a tidal shore. The bryozoan clusters, at least, point to some production in situ.
The coquinites of the Case quarry have been interpreted as a part of a tidal delta (Woodrow) and as a subtidal zone of a tide-dominated fluvial delta (Bottjer). Strata above the coquinite indicate alternations of shallow marine and non-marine or supratidal environments. They contain mudcracks, in situ pedogenic carbonate nodules in red mudstones, and the enigmatic burrows or root cases; interlayered are beds containing marine fossils.
The local Upper Devonian shoreline was dominated by tidal processes, not by large streams and fluvial-dominated deltas. Material delivered to the shore appear to have been carried by small streams draining an alluvial plain or in channels of a tidal coast. Evidence of a large tidal range is lacking; a range of less than a couple of meters would probably account for the tidal features. Flow velocities were high enough in some areas, however, to move coarse material (shells and sand) as well as fines and to deposit them as migrating dunes and ripples. The localization of thick carbonate units may result from local amplifications in the tidal range or tidal velocity perhaps caused by indentations in the shoreline (bays).
In summary, both sequences appear to result from the concentration of shell debris, quartz, rock fragments, nodules, and wood by high-energy sedimentary processes in ebb-dominated tidal environments. Differences in lithology and geometry between the two units probably reflect local differences in the shoreline.

Kiln on left (N) side of road
Kiln on left (N) side of road where coquinite was exploited for agricultural lime and mortar. This is the type locality of the Luthers Mills Coquinite.

Large blocks of coquinite
Jct. township road. Large blocks of coquinite exposed in bed of Sugar Creek at sharp curve to west approximately 1/2 mi. north of U.S. 6. Long road cut in Towanda Fm. beginning at curve on township road.
2011: The township road is called Buttermilk Falls road, I believe. OHM

Overview of Susquehanna Valley to north

Overview up Susquehanna Valley to north.

Road cut in Towanda Fm.

Road cut in Wiscoy Fm. (?)

Potential lunch stop.
Rest area at Tioga Park race track (a monument to human folly).

Outcrops of Rhinestreet Fm.
Outcrops of Rhinestreet Fm., Chemung facies, to right in bed of Tracy Creek.

STOP 2. Ashcraft Quarry, Little Meadows, Pa.
Permission to visit quarry is obtained from Ashcraft Excavating Co. on Pennsylvania Ave., 2.5 mi south of N.Y. 434 in Apalachin, N. Y. Start in pit near east end of quarry. Work along main face to west end. Climb onto bench at west end.
The features of the limestone unit and of the strata surrounding it are explainable in terms of sedimentary process operating in shallow-marine environments where both tidal currents and waves were effective. There are few features of the limestone which suggest subaerial exposure, while the presence of brachiopods and crinoids and the development of a variety of sedimentary structures suggests deposition in shallow marine water. Reversals in current direction indicated by the paleocurrents, the textural maturity of the sand lenses within the limestone, and the lack of mud within the carbonate suggest a shallow-marine setting in which strong tidal currents winnowed out the fines and abraded the shell materials.
Shells, quartz sand, shale clasts, reworked nodules, plant fragments, and bones were all transported to this locality. The nodules and shale clasts must have been transported by strong currents from sources not too far distant, judging from the large clast size and relative lack of abrasion. The shells must have been transported from the nearby sea floor with extensive concentration and reworking to account for their numbers and abraded condition.
The internal plan of the carbonate mass seems to require three kinds of sedimentary processes: a) erosion and transport of sand, shells, nodules, etc. to the site; b) vertical accretion to form positive depositional relief; and, c) lateral accretion to produce the ultimate accumulation as either an isolated mound or a tabular body.
Thus, the carbonate mass appears to have been an accumulation built up above its surroundings by currents bringing to the site materials from the nearby sea floor or lagoon and from nearby terrestrial sources. Five hypotheses of accumulation have been suggested, no one of which is completely satisfactory or can be tested adequately with the available data. They are offered here as a basis for discussion.
Deposition as a subaqueous "shell mound" seaward of a beach/lagoon complex and/or a tidal flat was suggested by Krajewski and Cuffey (1976). Bowen (1978) postulated a "break-point bar" offshore from tidal flats. Both Krajewski and Cuffey (1976 and Bowen (1978) suggested significant contributions of skeletons produced in situ once initial relief above the sea floor was established. Another possibility is deposition on the subaqueous part of a land-tied accretion lobe or spit (Enos and Minero). Accumulation in the form of a tidal delta with both ebb and flood deposits represented has been suggested by John Bridge (pers. comm., 1981). Finally, some of the features in the unit are compatible with development as a small, mostly submerged, barrier bar as hypothesized by Woodrow.
In any event, nodules and other clastics were brought to the site of accumulation as the result of fluvial or shore-zone erosion and transport. A swamp seems the most likely source of ankerite nodules and abundant plant material. Shale clasts could have come from either the landward side or the seaward side of the carbonate accumulation. The source must have been one where mud normally accumulated and was periodically eroded. Wave and/or tidal scour of the nearby shelf provided the shells. Tides and waves reworked these particles into the limestone we see now.

B7: SOME ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF THE BINGHAMTON AREA
Marie Morisawa and Burrell Montz
Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
State University of New York at Binghamton
Binghamton, New York 13901

B7: SOME ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF THE BINGHAMTON AREA

STOP 1. Pierce Hill Cut.
This is a slope with active movement of material downslope. Originally a borrow pit. the slope has been cut back even more for the commercial development you see. Debris slides, slumps, rilling and rock fall are modes of downslope movement of the glacial materials. Both Howard's Florist and the Red Lobster have gone to considerable expense to stabilize the slope. One debris flow behind the Red Lobster reached the back door, covering several cars in the way. Subsequently. the wall and drainage pipes were installed.

STOP 2. Lower Fuller Hollow Creek.
Here the creek has been riprapped to prevent erosion of the bed and further down the banks are riprapped. The riprap has progressively deteriorated, large blocks have removed and side-walls have slumped.

STOP 3. Middle Fuller Hollow Creek.
Evidence of destructive erosion can be seen here. The foot bridge was washed out in the spring of 1981. Note widening of the channel. Excessive runoff from storm drains have caused much erosion here. Along the downstream reach many landowners are losing their back yards.

STOP 4. Upper Fuller Hollow Creek.
From this viewpoint. one can see the 300 home Stair development. The whole hillside was wooded until approximately 1974-75. Tributaries and storm runoff are piped underground directly to the creek, greatly augmenting flow during storms. Directly below is a meadow through which the main creek flows. This would have been an ideal spot for a detention pond to which runoff could have been piped.

STOP 5. Vestal Plaza Slope.
This cut has failed in many places since it was made. The north-facing slope has moved much more and did so more quickly than the south-facing slope. The cut is in glacial material. Much of the fine sediment has been removed by mud flows which cover the road whenever it rains. Buildings and parking lots on the surface above the slopes have contributed to mass movement.

STOP 6. Rockbottom Dam.
This dam is currently being rebuilt after years of deterioration on the older one. The dam is designed to retard the flow of water and to produce ponding so that the water intake for the City of Binghamton's water supply is below the surface even in dry years.

STOP 7. Susquehanna River.
The bend in the river at this point led to flooding of the area between the river and the gas station during the ice jams in February.
2011: This is the second Stop 6 on the road log. OHM

STOP 8. Conklin Park.
This park was flooded entirely during the February 1981 flooding. Water levels reached up to the park sign. Although there are some buildings in the park, they are for storage, primarily. This park is a good example of how flood plain areas should be developed.
2011: This is Stop 7 on the road log. OHM

Note the houses in this area
Note the houses in this area (which was also flooded in February). Each has a nice view of the river and gets flooded-almost annually. These are obvious examples of uneconomic floodplain development.

B11: DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE ONEONTA FORMATION (CATSKILL FACIES), NEAR UNADILLA, NEW YORK
John S. Bridge And Lorraine E. Dingman
Department of Geological Sciences
State University of New York
Binghamton, New York 13901
A large roadside exposure on Interstate 88 near Unadilla (Fig. 1) offers a unique opportunity for detailed study of both vertical and lateral lithofacies variations in the Upper Devonian Catskill facies.
The rocks are assignable to the Oneonta Formation (Fletcher, 1963; Rickard, 1975), and the postulated early-middle Frasnian age (Polygnathus asymmetricus conodont zone) of this formation is supported independently by the miospore studies of J. B. Richardson (pers. comm.). This paper presents a detailed description and interpretation of the lithofacies, and a brief comparison with other published studies of Catskill-facies sedimentology. For convenience, the rocks were separated into two main facies associations which can usually be clearly distinguished in the field.

STOP 1. Oneonta Formation, Catskill Facies.