153

at present.! The rapidly accumulating vegetable matter would
of itself prevent salt water from penetrating far into its mass,
except occasionally. These incursions of sea water are now repre-
sented by the sand and shale partings in the seams.

A point to be emphasized in regard to the coal seams of
Graham island is the total absence of rootlets in the floors of the
seams. In fact, except locally, so-called underclays are absent
as well; and the coal rests directly on shale or sandstone beds,
in some instances several feet thick. In no case were rootlets
observed, though search for them was made at every opportunity.
Neither have stems nor trunks been found penetrating the roof
or otherwise occurring in the measures. With the single excep-
tion of the coaly trunk near Yakoun lake, no stems, leaves, or
fronds of any description have been seen in connexion with the
seams. It is only fair to state that there are no extensive mining
operations to expose large areas of the seams, yet in none of the
widely scattered prospect openings were any of the above fea-
tures seen. The high percentage of ash in the coal, even of the
cleanest type, is to be recalled.

The facts given in the preceding paragraph point to the
conclusion that much of the vegetable matter now forming coal
in the seams was accumulated by transportation, and did not
grow directly where now found.

While much of the surrounding terrane was doubtless hilly,
a considerable extent of land immediately bordering the areas of
sedimentary deposition was probably low; so that while the
vegetation was accumulating, sedimentation from adjoining
areas was largely checked. On these coastal lowlands, plants
grew in profusion, and in part contributed their quota to theseams.

To sum up: it is considered that during the coal-forming
period or periods—there may have been as many as three—
shallow, estuarine basins became choked with vegetable material,
in part growing in place forming marshes and in part rafted in
by the currents of sluggish streams. Frequently the sea inun-
dated the otherwise freshwater marshes, carrying in the clay
and sand now represented by shale and sandstone partings.

The conditions as outlined above are believed to be appli-

1] bid. pp. 68 ef seq.