Excerpt from An American Geological Railway Guide: Giving the Geological Formation at Every Railway Station, With Altitudes Above Mean Tide-Water, Notes on Interesting Places on the Routes, and a Description of Each of the Formations

All the rock-formations which appear on the surface of the globe, have been scientifically classified by geologists, according to the order in which they are found lying one upon another, and by the fossils they contain, and for our object may be conveniently included in twenty divisions or groups. In this work, the table of the names of the formations, groups and systems, published by Prof. J. D. Dana in his Manual of Geolog and in his Text Book of Geology, has been taken as the general basis, by the geologists of many of the states who have assisted in preparing the following guide, but other valuable tables and especially one arranged by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, a general or combined table, and a list for each state at the beginning of the proper chapter, are also given. Numbers are attached to the names of the groups wherever they occur, making 20 in all. The subordinate members of each group, which are called formations, have the same number, but these sub-divisions are distinguished by the addition of small letters, a, b, 0, etc., thus making in all 40 sub-divisions. By this means, the reader, although not familiar with geological tables, is at once enabled to see to what part of the general series any formation belongs, number 1 designating the oldest and number 20 the upper and last formed of all. Wherever the formations are found, they occur in the order as they are numbered, but the series in nature is never full, and in almost every locality one or more members of it are wanting.

The true method by which each of the great stratified formations is distinguished is by its own characteristic fossils, but these descriptions, having been prepared for travelers, are confined to the general aspect of the rocks as seen in passing them on the railways. They are intended to be popular rather than scientific, informing the reader what the formations are, what they look like, and their useful and valuable characters, qualities, and productions. It must also be borne in mind that this is a country of vast dimensions, and that the formations undergo important changes in their lithological character from place to place.

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