Coal-bearing Beds Research Articles

Paleogeography of South America

Paleogeography of South America

Studies on the Cenozoic Plants of Hokkaido and Karahuto., VI., On the Tertiary Platanus from Hokkaid and Karahuto., (Preliminary Report)

More than 40 species (of which six are living) of Platanus are known in the world, the oldest known being the Cretaceous., They may tentatively be divided into four groups in respect to the foliar characters : (1) Racemosa group, leaf deeply lobate, (2) Aceroides-occidentalis-orientalis group, leaf shallowly lobate, (3) Guillelmae group, leaf not lobate or obsoletely lobate, and (4) Busilobata group, leaf peltate., Of these groups, the foliar characters between (2) and (3) appear to merge gradually from one to another in many cases., Among the Tertiary plants of Hokkaido and Karahuto the present authors discriminated six different types as follows : P., aceroids GOEPP., Isikarian Stage (Palaeogene)., Hokkaido : Woodwardia Sandstone of Central Hokkaido ; Uryu coal-bearing beds of the Uryu coal-field., Karahuto : Naibuti coal-bearing beds., Urahoroian Stage (Oligocene-Miocene)., Hokkaido : Syakubetu coal-bearing beds of eastern Hokkaido., P., Guillelmae GOEPP., Isikarian Stage., Hokkaido : Woodwardia Sandstone., Karahuto : Naibuti coal-bearing beds., Urahoroian Stage., Syakubetu coal-bearing beds in eastern Hokkaido., Kawabataian Stage (Miocene)., Hokkaido : Kayanuma coal-bearing beds of the Kunnui Series in southwestern Hokkaido (as cfr., P., Guillelmae)., Cfr., P., aceroides latifolia KNOWLT., Isikarian Stage., Woodwardia Sandstone of Central Hokkaido., P., Mabutii sp., nov., Urahoroian Stage (Syakubetu coal-bearing beds)., P., sachalinensis ENDO., Isikarian Stage (Naibuti coal-bearing beds of Karahuto)., P., Heeri LESQ., Cretaceous (near Due coal mine, Russian Karahuto)., P., aceroides and P., Guillelmae are common and occur in association in most cases., Cfr., P., Guillelmae occurs from the Neogene beds of the Kayanuma coal mine, and this is the youngest record of fossil Platanus in the Asiatic continent (the authors recently recognized another Neogene Platanus from the Engelhardtia-bed of Tyosen)., P., Mabutii and P., sachalinensis are characterised by having peltate blade., Cfr., P., aceroides latifolia resembles the original specimen but is somewhat imperfect to admit precise comparison., P., Heeri has been recorded only from the Russian Karahuto but not known from Japan., In Hokkaido and Karahuto the development of Platanus began from the Cretaceous and it flourished most in the Palaeogene., It may be certain that it existed also in the early Neogene, but possibly disappeared since that time from these islands., The details may be printed in the Journal of Faculty of Science, Hokkaido Imperial University.,

A Note on the Gneiss of the Ufipa Plateau, Tanganyika Territory

DURING a residence of nine months on the Ufipa Plateau, the writer had opportunity for examining the gneissose rocks and associated schists near the village of Namwele, locally well known as the centre of coal-bearing beds, with results summarized in the following note. The position—about 7° 50′ S. lat. and 31° 30′ E. long.—is S.E. of the central part of Lake Tanganyika, and not far from the western edge of the Rukwa Trough.

Lamellibranchia from the Karroo Beds of the Ruhuhu Coalfields, Tanganyika Territory

I. I ntroduction T his paper describes an interesting series of Karroo lamelli-branchs collected by Mr. G. M. Stockley during his recent survey of the Ruhuhu coalfields, east of Lake Nyasa. These fossils come from two distinct horizons, the lower belonging to the upper part of the Ruhuhu Beds, which overlie the local Upper Coal-Measures, and the upper to the Manda Beds, near the top of the Karroo System, as developed in this district. The Ruhuhu Beds, which consist largely of fine-grained calcareous sandstones and shales, are overlain by the Lower Bone Bed (of Stockley), which contains reptilian remains determined by Dr. S. H. Haughton as belonging to a middle Lower Beaufort horizon. The lamellibranch fossils now described, which are very abundant in certain beds, are small freshwater shells referable to five species of the genus Palœomutela , two of which occur in South Africa, and one, P. oblonga (Jones), in Nyasaland. Wherever Palœomutela and the allied genus Palœanodonta have been found in Karroo beds, they always seem to occur at a Lower Beaufort horizon, and it is rather remarkable that they have not yet been found in the underlying coal-bearing beds of the Ecca stage. In view of this restricted range, it is most probable that the molluscan horizons of the Ruhuhu Beds, like the overlying Lower Bone Bed, are of Lower Beaufort (that is, uppermost Permian) age. The most important work on these Karroo lamellibranchs is a paper by Amalitsky (1895) ,1 who shows that most of the

Cretaceous Age and Early Eocene Uplift of a Peneplain in Southern British Columbia

Statement and Solution of the Problem During a detailed geological survey of the North Thompson Valley map area 2 in south-central British Columbia, carried out for the Geological Survey of Canada during the summer of 1921, the writer was fortunate enough to encounter certain highly fossiliferous members of the early Tertiary coal-bearing beds which lie at the bottom of the North Thompson River trench from 40 to 55 miles north of the city of Kam-loops. In the hope that the topographical location, structure, and age of the beds might reveal some precise information concerning the character and date of the Laramide revolution and Tertiary faulting in the southern interior, special importance was attached to their study, and fairly complete collections of fossil plant remains were obtained. The upland surface into which the North Thompson River has cut a valley about 3,000 feet deep is, at least locally, a peneplain. The age . . .

On a Collection of Carboniferous Plants from Peru

In the course of a geological expedition to Peru in 1911 Mr. J. A. Douglas collected some fossil plants from coal-bearing strata on the south side of the peninsula of Paracas, a few miles south of the port of Pisco (lat. 13° 45′ S.). The plants, which are the property of the Geological Department of Oxford University, were handed to me for identification by Mr. Douglas, who also supplied information on the geology of the district. The specimens, though fragmentary and few in number, are worth recording, since this is the only known occurrence of fossiliferous Palæozoic rocks on the coast of Peru. Moreover, from a phytogeographical point of view, any fossil plants from South America are worthy of attention. The coal occurs in a series of greenish sandstones and grey and black carbonaceous shales, which have a north-easterly strike and dip about 25° south-eastwards. These are overlain unconformably on the neck of the peninsula by Tertiary sandstones and impure limestones. There is no definite stratigraphical evidence of the age of the coal-bearing beds, and the plants are therefore of special importance: in other districts the strata which are the chief source of Peruvian coal are Mesozoic in age. Mr. Douglas informed me that the rocks in question were described by Friedrich Fuchs, who published a note on them in 1900 in the ‘Boletin de Minas’ (Lima). Fuchs recorded the following species, and assigned the beds to the Upper Coal Measures:— Calamites Suckowi Brongniart. C. Sphenopteris Hartlebeni Dunker. W. Baiera

The Cretadeous-Tertiary Boundary in North America1

ONE of the most difficult problems with, which American geologists and palaeontologists are confronted is the correlation of the Later Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary strata in the different regions of the United States. The Professional Paper by Messrs. Lee and Knowlton is concerned with some of the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks in the Rocky Mountains region of Colorado and New Mexico. A considerable area in the interior of North America was occupied by a Cretaceous sea, and it was part of this area which was afterwards uplifted as the Rocky Mountains chain. This crust-folding was followed by the deposition of plant-bearing Tertiary strata. The Raton. Mesa region is rich in coal-bearing beds containing a large number of flowering plants, with a few twigs of conifers and fragments of sterile fern-fronds. The flowering plants are, unfortunately, represented almost exclusively by detached leaves.

The Flora of the Inferior Oolite of Brora (Sutherland)

The object of this paper is to place on record the discovery of a bed containing plant-impressions in the Oolites of Brora in Sutherland, which represent a flora bearing a strong likeness to that of the Inferior Oolites of the Yorkshire coast, and to give a short description of the Scottish plants. In Prof. Judd's (73) classic memoir on the Secondary rocks of Scotland, the description given of the district round Brora in Sutherland shows that it is the most favourable locality for studying the Secondary formations of the country. Near the little town of Brora the beds are well exposed, and are of economic importance on account of the workable coal and building-stone which they supply. It is not necessary to point out how little there is left in Scotland of the rocks of Oolitic age. Notwithstanding its inaccessibility, the Brora district had been referred to by geologists even before the time of Murchison, the coal-pit having been first sunk in the Oolitic coal in 1598 by the Countess of Sutherland. Repeated borings have been made since, and the mine, although stopped down in the early part, of the nineteenth century, is at present again in active work. This practically unique case of an extensive coal-mine in the Oolites has attracted the attention of geologists, yet remarkably little is to be found in the literature about the fossil-plants of the coal-bearing beds. In a paper by Hugh Miller (62) in his well-known book, some plant-impressions are mentioned, but most

A Palæozoic Ice–Age

THE account by Dr. Wallace in NATURE (p. 55) of glacial deposits recently discovered in Australia is a most important and welcome addition to our knowledge. But to us the surprising circumstance is that Dr. Wallace appears quite unaware of the fact that this is only an addition to a great series of discoveries, by no means confined to Australia, affording evidence of a Palæozoic ice-age. That the deposits near Sandhurst are Palæozoic may, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, be assumed, since they are clearly similar in position and character to the well-known boulder beds of Bacchus Marsh, and these have been correlated with the strata containing ice-borne fragments, amongst the marine beds west of Sydney and also at Wollongong to the southward, and in Queensland to the north-ward. All these beds have been shown to be upper carboniferous. A good account of the facts known up to 1886 may be found in Mr. R. D. Oldham's paper on the Indian and Australian coal-bearing beds (Rec. Geo. Surv. md. xix. p. 39).

On additional Evidence of the Occurrence of Glacial Conditions in the Palæozoic Era, and on the Geological Age of the Beds containing Plants of Mesozoic type in India and Australia

The two subjects mentioned in the title of this paper are accidentally connected, the evidence of contemporaneous origin in certain Indian and Australian beds that contain plants of Mesozoic types being strongly supported by peculiar physical characters believed to be due to the action of ice. The last number of the ‘Records of the Geological Survey of lndia,’ contains several contributions to the history of the question, and these appear to me to form an addition to our knowledge of general stratigraphical geology of importance sufficient to justify my calling the attention of the Society to them. The subject is one to which I have given much attention in past years, and which I have discussed at various times, and this will, I trust, serve to excuse my writing upon it, although I have no new observations of my own to produce. The principal papers to which I wish to call attention are, first, one by Mr. Richard Oldham entitled “Memorandum on the Correlation of the Indian and Australian Coal-bearing Beds,” chiefly giving the results of a visit to Australia by a geologist who had had the advantage of seeing some of the Indian Gondwána beds; and, secondly, one by Dr. W. Waagen, with the title of “Note on some Palæozoic Fossils recently collected by Dr. H. Warth in the Olive Group of the Salt Rauge.” A paper by Mr. Griesbach on rocks near Herat, and a recent observation of Mr. E. Oldham's in Northern Rajputána, furnish some additional facts of value.

On Marine Fossiliferous Secondary Formations in Australia

I n Australia, until the year 1860, no deposits of Secondary age had been demonstrated, although Sir T. L. Mitchell, in 1846, during his exploration of tropical Australia, had collected Belemnites and a few other fossils, which are now known to belong to a Lower Secondary formation, such as occurs on the Maranoa River, in Queensland. During my own explorations in 1851–3, I had received a portion of an Ammonite found in the Clarence River District, in New South Wales; and in 1859, Mr. Selwyn* obtained two supposed Cretaceous fossils from the drift-gravel in Victoria. But these were all the data that had been accumulated in Eastern Australia up to 1861, when my paper “On the position of certain plants in the Coal-bearing beds of Australia” was read before the Geological Society†. But of Oolitic fossils no species had been found in New South Wales in 1860, nor to my knowledge in any part of Australia, as stated in my book on the Gold-fields; for I was then unaware even that Mr. Gregory had discovered any Secondary fossils in Western Australia, which fact I first became acquainted with in an editorial note appended to the paper cited. In Mr. Gregory's paper‡, afterwards published, he mentions Cretaceous, but not Jurassic fossils. Shortly after this, my friend Mr. W. P. Gordon, who then lived at Wollumbilla, north of the Condamine River, was requested by me to examine his neighbourhood, and to send me any fossils he might discover, as I was led to

On the Relative Positions of certain Plants in the Coal-Bearing Beds of Australia

In the “Observations on the Flora of the Oolite,” by Baron de Zigno, published in the Quarterly Journal of the Society, No. 62, there is a paragraph respecting the supposed non-verification of certain genera of plants in the Australian coal-fields, which were reported by me in 1847. It is only right that I should offer a few words of comment on. that paragraph. By reference to the same number of the Quarterly Journal (p. 147), it will be seen that Mr. Selwyn has already recognized in Eastern Victoria “true Carboniferous plants;” and he further states that “in Tasmania the coal-bearing beds rest quite conformably on and pass downwards into calcareous beds, the fossils from which are, I believe, nearly all Carboniferous or Devonian forms.” Now this is precisely the case in New South Wales, in which colony the plants said to be Jurassic occur (coal-cliffs, Mulubimba, near Newcastle, mouth of Hunter River) in the same beds and blocks with heterocercal Fishes, one of which is figured by Dana as Urosthenes australis , and was acknowledged by Agassiz to be a palæozoic fish. In other portions of New South “Wales, and in the new colony of Queensland, in close connexion with calcareous beds holding abundance of “Carboniferous and Devonian” zoological forms, occur shales and fine calcareous grits charged with the plants which I reported in 1847, and which Baron de Zigno does not find verified by Messrs. Morris and McCoy.

On the Geology of the Gold-fields of Victoria

I have now a very large collection of genera and species of Silurian fossils, many of them known forms, and many new. M'Coy is going to examine, describe, and figure the new ones. I shall, I hope, soon be able to define the boundaries of the Upper and Lower Silurian rocks in this colony. Melbourne stands on “May Hill Sandstone;” and to the eastward I find a very gradually-ascending series, including probably Wenlock, Ludlow, Devonian, and true Carboniferous rocks, with Oolitic coal-bearing beds resting unconformably on the Palæozoic strata. To the westward there is a descending series, from Melbourne towards Ballarat, which I much suspect to be Cambrian. Lingulæ , like those of Tremadoe, are abundant in the rock associated with the Bendigo gold-quartz mines. In beds which I take to be equivalents of the Llandeilo flags, Trilobites are very abundant—many of them recognizable European species. I enclose a list of genera (p. 537). This list is now, however, much increased, and is being added to daily. Gold-bearing quartz-veins extend throughout the Silurian rocks; and their richness appears to me to be dependent more on their proximity to some granitic or other plutonie mass than on the age of the rocks in which they occur. As far as I am aware, these gold-quartz veins do not extend into the Oolitic (?) coal-bearing rocks, which are evidently of newer date than any of the granitic masses I have yet examined. At Steiglitz (fig. 1), we have granite ( a ) intruded among Silurian sandstone

Notes on the Geology of New South Wales

Abstract T he author alludes to the regular succession downwards of—1. Coal-bearing beds; 2. Rocks with “Lower Carboniferous” or “Devonian?” fossils, and with Coal-plants and Coal; 3. Metamorphosed grits and fine conglomerates, derived from granitic and porphyritic rocks, occasionally fossiliferous, and sometimes enclosing calcareous beds. This porphyritic grit and conglomerate the author regards as being referable to Von Humboldt's Lozero of Mexico, which underlies the Grès houiller of Quanaxato. On the western flanks of the southern part of the New England County there are conglomerates, referable to the base of the Carboniferous rocks of the flanks of the Liverpool Range, which are associated with Devonian? fossils and altered grits and shales full of Lepidodendron . 4. The great north and south schistose formations, in which the author has found fossils which he assigns with some doubt to the Silurian epoch. The schists have been broken through, after being metamorphosed, and before the deposition of the superjacent and unconformable grits, by intrusive porphyry. Mr. Clarke also refers to the existence of fossil fish [of which he has sent “rubbings”] in the upper rocks of Sydney. They have some resemblance to the Permian fish; and, if they be true indication of the Permian character of the beds, “ we are able to show,” says the author, “an unbroken series from the Permian rocks to the representatives of the Old Red (?).”