332 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



the Miocene and later deposits of the plain by the nearly 

 parallel fault of Aviano. Between these two faults the 

 Cretaceous limestones are thrown into the form of a broad 

 arch. On the northern flanks of the arch there usually rest 

 some remains of the scaglia or even of the lower 

 Tertiary ; but on the southern Hanks these beds are 

 absent, and the Cretaceous limestones are in immediate 

 contact with the fault. 



In these limestones three distinct horizons can be recog- 

 nised : the upper beds are characterised by the abundance 

 of Radiolites ; the middle by Hippurites (//. cornuvaccinum, 

 etc.); and the lower by Caprinidse. No definite lithological 

 or paleontological horizons can be recognised below the last. 



The same author has described (14) the hippurites 

 from beds of corresponding age at Nabresina, on the coast 

 north-west of Trieste. 



TERTIARY. 



A considerable portion of the valley of the Rhone is 

 occupied by Miocene deposits, which lie between the Alps 

 on the east and the Central Plateau of France upon the 

 west, and which extend more or less continuously from the 

 coast of Provence to Savoy. It is clear that there was here 

 in Miocene times a great arm of the sea, which during 

 certain epochs appears to have reached the plain of Central 

 Switzerland. But the conditions were not uniform during 

 the whole of the period, and only the middle portion of the 

 Miocene is marine throughout the whole area. 



According to Deperet (11) the Tertiary deposits of the 

 Rhone basin may be grouped as follows (in ascending 

 order) : — 



nj / I. Aquitanian. — Rests directly upon the Cretaceous. Marine 



a, o A 



S on the coast of Provence, west of Marseilles. Brackish farther 



^ §3 1 inland, where one of the most characteristic deposits is a limestone 

 O I with Helix Ramondi. 



II. Faluns of Sausset and Sands with Scutdla paulensis. — - 



c Conformably succeeds the Aquitanian. On the coast, light 



g ' coloured, sandy and gritty beds (" Faluns of Sausset ") with 



|§ numerous gasteropods, Pecten vindascinus, etc. Farther towards 



''the north the typical facies consists of sands with Sciitella paulensis ; 



