ROCHESTER SHALE, NY -- WESTERN NEW YORK AND ADJACENT ONTARIO

Donald Kenney (donaldkenney@gmail.com)
Last Update: Fri Dec 18 19:45:44 2015

Introduction

Exposures of Silurian Rochester Shale in the banks of the Erie Barge Canal and a few other exposures. The Rochester is a grey, richly fossiliferous Silurian shale found in the area between Rochester, NY and Clappisons Corners,ON. It overlies the Irondequoit Dolomite and underlies the DeCew and Gasport Dolomites. It is known for its spectacular trilobites and crinoids, but fossils from the Rochester are very diverse. Unfortunately, because the dip of the formations is low, and the shale is very soft there are very few exposures. Exposures will be on the North side of the Niagara Escarpment between Rochester, NY and Clappisons Corners, ON.

The Site(s)

Location(s)

East to West. These are locations where the Rochester Shale is exposed. * = localites that are know to yield fossils.
1 Wolcott Wayne NY possibly at Wolcott falls on N side of Mill St West of Cemetery St 43.2214N,-76.8120W map
2 Rochester Monroe NY Eastman-Kodak (details unknown.There were/are a number of Eastman-Kodak properties in the Rochester area. Lat Long is an arbitrarily selected EK property 43.1659N,-77.6198W map
3 Gates* Monroe NY Assumed to refer to the Barge Canal site East of Long Pond Road midway between Gates and Greece 43.1824W,-77.6981W map
4 Gates Canal* Monroe NY Assumed to refer to the Barge Canal site East of Long Pond Road midway between Gates and Greece 43.1824N,-77.6981W map
5 Rochester* Monroe NY Barge Canal. East of Long Pond Road -- Use Marina Drive as Destination for GPSes. Exposures between Long Pond Road and Rt390 in Dec-Apr when canal not full of water 43.1824N,-77.6981W map
6 Brockport* Monroe NY Temporary exposures in 1989 during construction of Wegman's Plaza on NY31a 500m W of junction of NY31/NY19 43.1949N,-77.9543W map
7 Fancher Orleans NY 1km W In shale pit at Howard Farms 1.8km N of NY31 just E of Hindsburg Rd 43.2543N,-78.1054W map
8 Middleport* Erie County NY Possibly a reference to Caleb's Quarry, but may refer to some other quarry or material exposed along the barge canal. 43.2012N,-78.4609W? map
9 Middleport* Erie NY Caleb's Quarry. Probably part of a complex of small quarries at 43.2012N,-78.4609W 43.2012N,-78.4609W map
A Middleport Erie County NY Along tributary of Jeddo Creek 500m S of NY31. 1.4km E of Freeman Rd This seems to be very close to Caleb's Quarry 43.2009N,-78.4578W map
B Gasport Niagara NY 3.2km NW Along unnamed Creek S of NY31 and 100m W of Cottage Rd 43.1856N,-78.6137W map
C Gasport Niagara NY Gasport Nature Center (There apparently is no such place.) Possibly a reference to Royalton Ravine County Park on Gasport Road about 1.5km S of Gasport. There apparently are bedrock exposures in the ravine, but it is not clear whether the Rochester Shale is exposed there. 43.1861N,-78.5757W map
D Lockport* Niagara NY Canal dumps 43.1718N,-78.6910W map
E Lockport* Niagara NY At 10acre quarry -- Assume the caleb quarry in Middleport 43.2012N,-78.4609W map
F Lockport* Niagara NY 800m N of NY31 along West Branch of Eighteen Mile Creek 300m W of NYCentral RR tracks -- aka "Lockport Gulf" 43.1762N,-78.7218W map
G Lockport Niagara NY Possibly along NY429-Lockport Junction Rd- W of Lockport 43.1685N,-78.7543W map
H Lewiston Niagara NY In Fish Creek Gully just W of Lewiston Heights and 800m S of Artpark 43.1594N,-79.0438W map
I Lewiston Niagara NY 2.5km S in walls of Niagara Gorge 200m N of Robert Moses Hydroelectric Plant. 43.1472N,-79.0409W map
J Niagara Gorge Niagara NY 43.1472N,-79.0409W map
K Niagara Gorge Niagara RA ON 43.1431N,-79.0444W map
L St Catharines Niagara RA ON Assumed to be DeCew Hydro plant site 43.1201N,-79.2637W map
M St Catherines Niagara RA ON In Cliff of Niagara Escarpment behind DeCew Hydro plant 43.1201N,-79.2637W map
N DeCew Falls Niagara RA ON 43.1084N,-79.2761W map
O Thorald Niagara RA ON in bottom of Lock3 of the Weyland Canal 43.1329N,-79.1925W map
P Grimsby Niagara RA ON 43.1949N,-79.5582W map
Q Stoney Creek Wentworth ON 43.2188N,-79.7661W map
R Ancaster Wentworth ON 43.2088N,-80.0012W map
S Clappisons Corners Wentworth ON 43.3082N,-79.9107W map

Latitude-Longitude

Barge Canal, Rochester 43.1824N -77.6981W

Description

Directions to the site

View East along the canal in mid April 2011. The talus along the shore is not Rochester Shale, it's an overlying dolomitic limestone -- DeCew or Gasport Formation presumably. The Rochester exposure starts 50 meters to the East.
View of Rochester Shale exposures in the South Bank of the canal. The dark, layered material is Rochester Shale.
Rochester Shale on the North side of the Canal.
DIRECTIONS TO SITE FROM (will change to a different site)
Montreal, QC Albany, NY Buffalo, NY Pittsburg PA

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Maps

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Rules and Access

No restrictions if one can find access to the canal?

Related Localities

Paleontology

Geology

Stratigraphic Section

Formations (youngest first)


Other Stuff

None

References

Copyright, Licensing, and such

Copyright 2010-2011 Donald Kenney (Donald.Kenney@GMail.com). Unless otherwise stated, permission is hereby granted to use any materials on these pages under the Creative Commons License V2.5 see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/.

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