Geological Survey of New York
The chief work of his life was, however, in geology, and he has been designated by Jules Marcou as the founder of American Paleozoic stratigraphy, and the first discoverer of the primordial fauna in any country. In 1836 he became attached to the Geological Survey of the State of New York, and after lengthened study he grouped the local strata (1842) into the Taconic and overlying New York systems. The latter system was subdivided into several groups that were by no means well defined. Emmons had previously described the Potsdam sandstone (1838), and this was placed at the base of the New York system. It is now regarded as Upper Cambrian.
In 1844 Emmons for the first time obtained fossils in his Taconic system: a notable discovery because the species obtained were found to differ from all then-known Palaeozoic fossils, and they were regarded as representing the primordial group. Marcou was thus led to advocate that the term Taconic be generally adopted in place of Cambrian. Nevertheless, the Taconic fauna of Emmons proved to include only the lower part of Sedgwick's Cambrian.
Emmons made contributions on agriculture and geology to a series of volumes on the Natural History of New York (1848). He also issued a work entitled American Geology, containing a statement of the principles of the science with full illustrations of the characteristic American fossils (1855-1857).
The overthrust in New York which places Lower Cambrian rocks in contact with Middle Ordovician rocks is named for him, known as Emmons' line, formerly Logan's line. It is a segment that extends from Canada through Vermont, New York, and farther south. It traverses through the city of Troy, New York and the Poesten Kill Falls and Gorge. He named the Adirondack Mountains (1838) and Taconic Mountains (1844) and acquainted the public with these regions.
A scientific disagreement with New York State Geologist James Hall regarding the age of the rocks in the Taconic System led Emmons to leave New York state. Emmons held that the Taconic System rocks, were of Cambrian age, but Hall was convinced that they were Ordovician in age. (Emmons was ultimately found to be correct.) As a result of the dispute, Emmons was banned from the practice of geology in the state of New York and sued Hall for slander and libel. In 1851, after losing the lawsuit, Emmons was hired by the state of North Carolina for the newly created position of State Geologist. He continued in that position until his death in 1863, at his plantation in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
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