68 Geological Society, 



of Waves on the Surface of Fluids." By H. J. Dyar, Esq. Com- 

 municated by Edward Turner, M.D., F.R.S. 



The Society adjourned over the long vacation, to meet again on 

 the 17th of November. 



aEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Nov. 2, 1836. — A paper was read, entitled ** A general sketch of 

 the Geologv of the western part of Asia Minor," by Hugh Edwin 

 Strickland, Esq., F.G.S. 



This memoir embodies the observations made by the author during 

 a winter's residence at Smyrna, a tour into the valleys of the Meander 

 and Cayster, and a journey from Constantinople up the river Rhyn- 

 dacus into Phrygia, and thence down the valley of the Hermus to 

 Smyrna. In the latter excursion he was accompanied by Mr. Hamil- 

 ton, one of the Secretaries of this Society, to whom he acknowledges 

 himself indebted for a zealous cooperation. 



The country, thus viiiited, is thickly beset with mountains, some 

 of which are arranged in five parallel chains having, on a great scale, 

 nearly an east and west bearing, but the remainder are variously 

 grouped and without any particular direction. Four of these parallel 

 chains bound the valleys of the Hermus, the Cayster, and the Mean- 

 der ; and the fifth, commencing with Mount Ida, extends eastward 

 to the Mysian Olympus, and probably is continued in the Bithynian 

 Olympus. With respect to the theories which have been advanced 

 relative to the direction of a range being a mark of its comparative 

 antiquity, the author says that the whole of the mountains of this part 

 of Asia Minor, whether parallel or not, appear to have been elevated 

 at nearly the same geological epoch. 



The formations of which the country is composed, Mr. Strickland 

 arranges in the following chronological order, but he states that 

 further researches may require it to be modified : 1. Granitic rocks ; 

 2. Schistose and metamorphic rocks ; 3. Greenstone ; 4. Silutian 

 rocks; 5. Hippurite limestone j 6. Tertiary lacustrine limestone- 

 7. Tertiary marine formations ; 8. Trachytic and trap rocks 3 9. Mo- 

 dern volcanic rocks; and 10. Modern aqueous deposits. 



1 . Granitic rocks were not observed in situ, but on the authority 

 of iM. Fontanier, M. Texier, and other travellers, the loftiest part of 

 Ida, the Mysian Olympus, the range of the Bithynian Olympus, 

 Mount Dindymus, the top of Mount Tmolus, and Mount Latmus are 

 granitic. 



2. Schistose and metamorphic rocks. — This class of formations, con- 

 stituting nearly all the mountain chains, consists principally of mica- 

 schist associated irregularly with beds of marble and quartz rock, 

 and is supposed by the author to be altered clays, earthy limestones, 

 and sandstones. The marble is very generally distributed, but the 

 chief points mentioned in the paper are the quarries in the island of 

 Proconnesus, from which the name of Marmora was given to the 

 neighbouring sea, Broussa, Ephesus, the north and west sides of 

 Mount Olympus, and the valley of the Cayster. The colour is white, 

 gray, or striped, and thin seams of mica often traverse the blocks, 

 giving them a tendency to split into slabs. The quartz rock is in- 



