152 ON THE OCCURRENCE OP OTOZAMITES IN" ACKTRALU, 



On the eoutrary, it seems to me that the evidence is lairly conclusive that red 

 beds may have been formed under conditions of warm, moist climates. Briefly, 

 the reasons for this view are as follows: (1) So far as known, red beds are 

 not being formed at the present time in any desert region, but as maturely 

 weathered residual soils they are being formed in southern temperate and 

 tropical regions, and in warm, moist climates. (2) The plants found in red 

 Ijcds, as, for example, in the Permian, Triassic, etcetera, are not pinched or de- 

 pauperate, nor do they exhibit marked xerophytic adaptations. Moreover, very 

 considerable deposits of coal are found in red beds in many parts of the world, 

 which implies the presence of swamps but little above sea level." 



It is not argued here that the Australian beds under discussion are typical 

 "red beds," but it may be pointed out that the term is somewhat loosely used, 

 and the prevailing colour of tliese beds might lead to their l)eing quoted as 

 examples of red beds by writers not acquainted with them in the field or by 

 specimens. 



These remarks are very much strengthened, in my opinion, when we take 

 into consideration the known flora of this particular sandstone in Australia. 

 Though somewhat scanty, a flora consisting essentially of Osmundites, Taeniop- 

 teris and Otozamites, could not be considered to indicate the existence of arid 

 conditions where it flourished. 



It may therefore be argued that the very widespread occurrence of this red 

 sandstone with its persistent and characteristic, though scanty, flora probably 

 indicates a fairly uniform, warm, moist climate over the northern half of Aus- 

 tralia in Jurassic times. What climatic sig-nifieance the absence of Otozamites 

 from the Jurassic Rocks of Southern Australia has is not yet clear, for Taeniop- 

 teris occurs abundantly in Victorian .Jurassic rocks, and both 0:<mundites and 

 Taeniopteris occur in New Zealand. 



List of Works referred to. 



Antevs, E., Ifll3. — Results of Dr. E. Mjoberg's Swedish Scientific Ex- 

 pedition to Australia, 1910 — 1913. V. Some Mesozoic Plants, A'. 

 Svensk. Vet. Akad., Handl., Hi., No. 5. 



Arber, E. a. N., 1910. — Some Fossil Plants from Western Australia. Geol. 

 Survey W.A., Bull. 36, pp. 25—28. 



Feistmantel, 0.. 1890. — The Geological and Palaeontnlogical Relations 

 of the Coal and Plant-bearing Ijeds of Palaeozoic and lIesoz<iic age 

 in Eastern Australia and Ta.smania. Mem. (ieol. Surr. X.S.W'., PaJ. 

 3. 



Gi.aukrt, L., 1910. — Western Australian Fossil Plaut.s. Geol. Survct/ 

 W.A., Bull. 36, pp. 107—110. 



Knowlton, F. H., 1919.— The Evolution of Geologic Climates. Hiiil. 

 Geol. Soc. Avier., xxx.. No. 4, pp. 499 — 566. 



Maiti.and, A. Gtbb., 1919. — A Summary of the Geology of Western Aus- 

 tralia. Extract from tlie Mining Handbook. Geol. Stirv. Meiruiir, 

 No. ]. Chapter 1. 



SalpeIjD, II., 1907. — Fossile Land-pllanzen dcr Rat— und Jnraformation 

 Sudwestdeutschlands. Palaeontographica, liv.. p. 182. 



Seward, A. C. 1900. — The Jurassic Flora. PI. i. Uritiih Mii.'^eiuji Cata- 

 logue. 



Seward, A. C, 1917.- Fo.s.sil Plants. Vol. iii. 



