Mineral Industries and Geology of Certain Areas - Vermont Agency ...

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a 24 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGISr. REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. 25 tractecl him, and here with his father's approval he entered upon college preparatory studies. In 1835 he was admitted to Amherst College and graduated with his class in 1839. His studies were of great interest to him; mathematics, physics and the languages especially were a great delight to him. After his college graduation he went to Andover Theological Seminary, where from 1840 to 1842 he studied in preparati'on for the gospel ministry. The records in the hands of the writer are too scant to permit him to speak with authority in regard to this early period of Mr. Wing's professional life; and of his ability as pastor and preacher. This, however, may be asserted: Friends, acquainted with his high attainments at Amherst and Andover, and knowing his rare mental endowments, thought him to he entering a field wide in influence and rich with the promise of usefulness. They say of his discourses, that they were logical, sympathetic, impressive and often eloquent. But Mr. Wing's work was not to consist alone in preaching. Early in his ministry a sudden wrench, perhaps a great disappointment " where he had garnered up his heart," came to him. He stepped aside from the path that had seemed so plain, but now uncertain to him, and walked alone in another, that of teaching. Teacher and investigator he became. Not at all did he abate his interest in the studies he loved in his years of preparation. The truths of the Scriptures and the languages in which they were originally written were a source of interest to him. And so when the week day teaching was done or the week's exploration was over, he was read y to give Sunday and J- hble instruction to such as were waiting for a mental and spiritual replenishment Academies and high schools were fortunate when they secured Mr. Wing as principal. His pupils never forgot his impressive ways of instruction. His method of teaching looked to the arousal of the highest intellectual powers of his scholars. Thought stimulated, investigation undertaken, individual judgment exercised, were in I\Ir. \Ving's estimation of far greater value to the pupil than the acquisition of many facts from printed pages. The young people he trained never forgot their teacher. His example impressed them powerfully, and under his training they acquired an originality of investigation and an independence of thought that were of life-long value to them. It may not be quite possible to say why a single one of the branches of Mr. Wing's well-rounded study should have passed to the front. But the fact remains! Geology took the lead and became first the prominent then later the all absorbing topic; the constant theme of his study. Teaching itself became in a way only subservient in carrying forward his geological investigations. A generous enthusiasm came to his aid in the pursuit of his favorite research. So all available time and means were made contributors to the great object of solving self-imposed geological problems. Geology is richer for this devotion to the advancement of the science. Vermont geology especially has profited by taking to heart of a great unanswered question. Passing over many suggestions that readily arise as to the cause of his entrance upon this particular field we may go at once to the great subject of Mr. Wing's investigations. 1 - le himself states that in iS65 he came to the "determination to ascertain, if possible, the geological age of the limestones, slates and quartzytes of the Otter Creek valley." A few words here regarding the field, as well as the rocks, may help to a clearer understanding of the self-imposed task. Otter creek, better Otter river, the longest stream within Vermont, has its source in Dorset, Bennington county, flows north through the western part of the State, receives many affluents in its course through the counties of Rutland and Addison, and has its mouth at Fort Cassin, on lake Champlain, in the north part of Addison county. The region studied by Mr. Wing is part of an area of the crystalline limestone of middle and western Vermont. To the south the rocks are con-- nected with those of Massachusetts and Connecticut, while on the north they are related to those reaching up to the Canadian
26 REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST. REPORT OF THE VERMONT STATE GEOLOGIST 27 line. The more special field of exploration was the part of the limestone region lying between Rutland and Monkton north and south and the adjoining region reaching westward to Lake Champlain. The crystalline limestone of the Otter valley had in the Vermont geological report of Hitchcock been designated as the Eolian limestone." This limestone, this " Eolian," with its sandstone beneath and its slates above; what its geologic age? This was the question which Mr. \Ving asked and vhich he set himself resoluteiv to answer. The task for one of Mr. Wing's surrotindings was immense. The problem was intricate and one that took years to solve. In the solution appeal must he macic to the rocks themselves. It is asserted that the feet of this explorer have stood UPOfl every square rod of exposed rock within the region of his survev. The lithological character of the rocks, their dip, their order, their fossil contents, all must be known. He carefulIr noted the superposition of the rocks, measured the dip with a clinometer of his own construction, and sought with wonderfully observant eves for traces of fossils. The rocks of this region had been so folded, broken and worn that at first their true position was uncertain. The fossils, too, in the partly metamorphosed rocks were mostly faded and obscure; their identification difficult. But as the secret of the age of the formation must be unlocked by these fossils, this key was most carefully and in time successfully sought. Many of these fossils Mr. Wing himself determined, but for verification and in cases of doubt he turned to Mr. Billings, of the Canadian geological survey, from whom he received courteous attention and generous help. So the search went on for years, summer and winter, holidays and vacations. Holidays gave Mr. Wing opportunitY for investigating the near-by rocks, vacations afforded him time to visit far-away places in the State Or in adjoining states, whereever he hoped he might g -et light upon his problem. It was as thong-h he were working- at a broken and tangled skein. By study of the composition of the rocks, by the use of the clinometer, but above all by the careful comparison of fossils, he disentangled the knotted, broken skein and by placing the separate threads beside each other, he arrived at a knowledge of the true relation of thread with thread; he determined the right order, the real sequence of the rocks. His problem was solved! The problem: the age of the limestoneS of the Otter valley, with the associated sandstones and slates. The rocks were those designated Lower Silurian; the sandstones were the Lower and Upper Potsdam, the semi_cryStalhilw limestone, the Eolian." was not a single formation, but was made up of rocks of the age of the fossiliferous formations along the lake shore, now known as Beekmantowll, Chazy, Black River and Trento1 the slates were mostly the Utica slate, lying in many cases confori -nably above the Trenton limestone. So the views of Mr. Wing may be fairly expressed in a few words. The limestone region of the Otter valley lies within a great svncline. On the east it is bordered essentially by ridges of quartzyte, which extend aloog the western foot of the Green Mountains; on the west by the red sand rock vhose elevation and fracture forms the great fault north afl(l south, seven to nine miles from the Champlain shore. The axis of this syndine descends southward, while on the north it rises until the worn rims of the siliceous rocks, the quartzyte and red sand rock very nearly approach and unite. Within this trough lie the himestones and slates. These are of the age of those that lie west of the great fault, the fossils of which long ago placed them with the Lower Silurian. These strata, originally de- 0untain_making posited in regular order by some grand rnovement. have been folded, compressed, snapped and displaced; the fossils by the same movement largely obliterated. The great syncline was left with subordinate north and south anticlinals and synclinals the whole complex was exposed to the subsequent abrasions of geologic time. It was the planing down and the enormous wastage fro m
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