  The southern boundary of the Carboniferous sandstones with their included coal seams crosses the southern part of Banks island in a north-northeast direction, and they consequently cover the northern two-thirds of that island, while the extreme northwest portion of Victoria island is also occupied by these rocks. The western Parry islands on the north side of Melville sound are almost wholly formed of these rocks, whose southern boundary strikes northeast across the northern half of Cornwallis island. They are found again in Grinnell peninsula, the northwest portion of North Devon, and again on the western side of Ellesmere, in the vicinity of Store Bjornekap, being probably largely developed in the northeast part of that great island. These rocks are described as follows by Professor Haughton: ‘The Upper Silurian limestones, already described, are succeeded by a most remarkable series of close-grained, white sandstone, containing numerous beds of highly bituminous coal and but few marine fossils. In fact the only fossil shell found in these beds, as far as I know, in any part of the Arctic Archipelago is a species of ribbed Atrypa, which I believe to be identical with the Atrypa fallax of the Carboniferous slate of Ireland. These sandstone beds are succeeded by a series of blue limestone beds containing an abundance of marine shells, commonly found in all parts of the world where the Carboniferous deposits are at all developed. The line of junction of these deposits with the Silurian on which they rest is N. E. to E. N. E. (true). Like the former, they occur in low flat beds, sometimes rising into cliffs, but never reaching the elevation attained by the Silurian rocks in Lancaster sound.’ Coal, sandstone, clay-ironstone and brown hematite, were found along a line stretching E.N.E. from Baring island, through the south of Melville island, Byam-Martin island and the whole of Bathurst island. Carboniferous limestones, with characteristic fossils, were found along the north coast of Bathurst island, and at Hillock point on Melville island. From the comparison of different coal exposures noted by M’Clintock, M’Clure, Austin and Parry in the Parry islands, Professor Haughton has laid down the approximate outcrops of some of the coal beds. These he finds to agree remarkably well with the trend of the boundary of the formation drawn from totally different data. Lists of fossils and rocks from the following places, with notes, are given: ‘Hillock point, Melville island (latitude 76° N., longitude 111° 45´ W.). Bathurst island, north coast, Cape Lady Franklin (latitude 76° 40´ N., longitude 98° 45´ W.). Princess Royal island, Prince of Wales strait, Baring island (latitude 72° 45´ N., longitude 117° 30´ W.). In connection with this place it is noted that the Carboniferous sandstones underlie the limestones, and that it is probable that the coal beds of Melville island are very low down in the series, and do not correspond in geological position with the coal beds of Europe. Cape Hamilton, Baring island (latitude 74° 15´ N., longitude, 117° 30´ W.). Cape Dundas, Melville island (latitude 74° 30´ N., longitude 111° 45´). Cape Sir James Ross, Melville island (latitude 74° 45´ N., longitude 114° 30´). Cape Providence, Melville island (latitude 74° 20´ N., longitude 120° 30´ W.). Winter Harbour, Melville island (latitude 75° 35´ N., longitude 110° 45´ W.). Bridgeport inlet, Melville island (latitude 75° N., longitude 109° W.). Skene bay, Melville island (latitude 75° N., longitude 108° W.). Hooper island, Lyddon gulf, Melville island (latitude 75° 10´, longitude 112° W.). Byam-Martin island (latitude 75° 10´ N., longitude 104° 15´ W.). Graham-Moore bay, Professor Haughton also notes that ‘the sandstone of Byam-Martin island is of two kinds—one red, finely stratified, passing into purple slate, and very like the sandstone of Cape Bunny, North Somerset, and some varieties of the red sandstone and slate found between Wolstenholm sound and Whale sound, West Greenland, latitude 77° N. The other sandstone of Byam-Martin island is a fine, pale-greenish, or rather grayish-yellow, and not distinguishable in hand specimens from the sandstone of Cape Hamilton, Baring island.’ Parry also describes Byam-Martin island as essentially composed of sandstone, with some granitic and feldspathic rocks, these last being probably erratics. Respecting the coal seams which have been discovered in the Arctic Archipelago, Professor Haughton further remarks: ‘If the different points where coal was found be laid down on a map, we have, in order, proceeding from the southwest, Cape Hamilton, Baring island; Cape Dundas, Melville island, south; Bridgeport inlet and Skene bay, Melville island; Schomberg point, Graham-Moore bay, Bathurst island; a line joining all these points is the outcrop of the coal-beds of the south of Melville island, and runs E.N.E. At all the localities above mentioned, and indeed in every place where coal is found, it was accompanied by the grayish-yellow and yellow sandstone, already described, and by nodules of clay-ironstone, passing into brown hematite, sometimes nodular and sometimes pisolitic in structure.’ Dr. Armstrong, of the Investigator, referring to the northern part of Banks island, states that outliers of Carboniferous limestone are found at Cape Crozier and near Mercy bay, along with the sandstones and shales with coaly streaks. It is doubtful if the Carboniferous rocks occur on the northwest part of North Devon, though placed there by De Rance and Dawson. Schei found only Silurian and Devonian on the northern part of that island explored by him, and the Carboniferous rocks do not show on the west coast of Ellesmere until Store Bjornekap is reached. If a line were carried from the outcrops of these rocks on Bathurst island northward to Store Bjornekap it would cross the western part of Grinnell (island) peninsula, but there is no reason to suppose that the outcrop would follow such a line. The Carboniferous rocks of western Ellesmere appear to be isolated areas resting upon the underlying Devonian, and in turn covered by Mesozoic rocks. Schei describes the area at Store Bjornekap as consisting in its lowest part of beds of brownish-gray, hard, fossiliferous limestone; higher up, of a white pure limestone, flinty limestone and pure flint strata, richly fossiliferous, among the fossils being Lithostrotion sp., Fenestella sp., Streptorhynchus crenistria, Rhynchonella (Pugnax) sp., Spirifer cfr. ovalis, cuspidatus, mosquensis, Productus cfr. semireticulatus, costatus, punctatus, cora, &c. The extreme northeast part of Axel Heiberg island is marked as Carboniferous by Schei, but there are no notes concerning this locality in his geolocigal summary. The Carboniferous sandstones have not been found in the northeast part of Ellesmere island, but limestones of that age were found in several localities to the west of Dana bay, and there is every likelihood that rocks of this age extend across the northern part of the island to join those of the western shore and the northern part of Axel Heiberg island. |
|
