QUEENSTON DELTA

Late Ordovician wedge of sediments that spread across an extensive area of northeastern North America and was thickest in New York and Quebec (the Late Ordovician Period occurred from 458 to 438 million years ago). The Queenston Delta was produced as sediments that were eroded from a rising landmass in the present Appalachian Mountain region. These sediments were deposited by streams, and the shoreline migrated westward. Sediments were spread as far westward as the region of the present Lake Huron, more than 800 km (500 miles) from the region of the rising highlands. The name of the Queenston Delta is derived from the reddish shale formation, the Queenston Shale, that accumulated over the landward front of the advancing delta. Other shales that accumulated under water became gray in colour because they were not subjected to oxidation.