1)

The Queen Charlotte series has been subdivided into three
members which are, beginning with the oldest, the Haida,
Honna, and the Skidegate formations.

The Haida formation is largely composed of sandstones and
shales, the proportion varying in different districts. In general,
the rocks are coarser near the base, angular grits and arkoses
prevailing. The lenticular character of the various beds renders
it difficult to decipher the structure, and there are scarcely
any layers in the formation that serve as horizon markers. In
thickness, the Haida formation varies from 2,000 to 5,500 feet.

The Honna formation consists of two bands of conglomerate,
one at the base, the other at the top, separated by coarse, cross-
bedded sandstones and some grey shales. The conglomerates
are well bedded and the pebbles which are well rounded form 30
to 60 per cent of the rock. A few of the pebbles at the base of
the beds are very large, some of them being 3 feet in diameter;
but the average is much less, and many beds do not contain a
pebble over 1 inch in diameter. The pebbles have been derived
from rocks of many different kinds including diorites, granodio-
rites and other plutonic rocks, quartzites, argillites and slates,
cherts, quartz, and, rarely, Yakoun volcanics. The Honna
conglomerate has a sharply gradational contact with the under-
lying Haida sandstones where exposed at Lina narrows, and the
contact with the overlying Skidegate sandstones is also rather
abrupt. The thickness of the Honna conglomerate is about
2,000 feet.

The rocks of the Skidegate formation are very largely
fine grey to black, slightly carbonaceous shales, with
thin interbeds of sandstone, and siliceous, ferruginous, and
calcareous concretions. These concretionary beds weather to a
light buff colour, and stand out in relief above the softer shales.
A few fossils have been found in the Skidegate beds. The top
of the formation is not exposed, but the visible thickness is about
2,000 feet.

Structure of the Queen Charlotte Series.

Regional. In preceding pages it has been shown that the
sediments of the Queen Charlotte series occur as separated