250 Beport on the Geological Observations made during the 



In Spitzbcrg-en, the gcognostic constitution of the country does not 

 clearly shew any portion of the primordial crust or exterior coating", al- 

 though it is likewise, as in Norway, very hilly and irregular. But what 

 is remarkable, it presents us with six distinct kinds of secondary forma- 

 tions, some of them belonging to the most ancient geological periods, and 

 others to the most recent. 



1*^, Deposits of very talcose slates, containing layers of greater or 

 less thickness of grey quartzy sandstone, often shining, with calcarifer- 

 ous anagenetes and phylladiferous limestones, without any vestige of 

 fossils, but intersected by veins of quartz. 2c?, Deposits of selagite, or 

 hypersthene rock, not stratified, forming of itself mountains, which are 

 inclosed in the centre of the preceding system. Sdf, Deposits of anthraxi- 

 ferous limestone, enclosing old marine fossils, such as productus and 

 spirifer. Nodules of flint arc also found in them. We may likewise 

 presume that, at certain points, this system contains gypsum, a circum- 

 stance which will be altogether new. 4^^, Deposits of grey quartzose 

 sandstone with anthracite, inclosing, with the layers of this combustible 

 mineral in a friable state, nodules of compact carbonate of iron, and a few 

 fossil plants analogous to those in the coal-beds of our temperate latitudes. 

 It is to be remarked, that no impressions of ferns have been found here. 

 blh, Deposits of friable quartz-sandstone, stratified horizontally, and over- 

 lying the disturbed systems which precede, and in which are fragments 

 of pitchy lignite containing grains of amber. 6^/i, Lastly, a formation of 

 marine alluvium, placed above the sea, at heights extending to 131.2 feet 

 (40 metres), and which is composed of pebbles, gravel, or broken shells, 

 absolutely identical with the deposits daily forming by the waves along 

 the whole bay. 



From this summary statement, we easily perceive what important geo- 

 logical consequences are derived from M. Robert's observations in Spitz - 

 bergen. We ascertain, for example, that this extremity of the globe, so 

 near the pole, has been subjected at many epochs, and particularly at the 

 most ancient epochs, to the same secondary deposits, and the same causes 

 of dislocation, as the equatorial or temperate regions. 



On returning from Spitzbcrgen, the examination of the North Cape, 

 and of the coasts of Finmark as far as Hammerfest, as vv^ell as the whole 

 of the Gulf of Alton, has furnished the results which we shall now pro- 

 ceed to point out. 



Every one is aware that the North Cape is not situated on the con- 

 tinent, but on the small island of Mageroe, which is separated from 

 the continent by a very narrow strait or sound called Mageroe Sound. 

 Tlic strait, island, and cape, have been completely examined. Their 

 hilly and very irregular surface is every where composed of gneiss-for- 

 mations, perfectly characterized, containing layers or beds, one above 

 another, of pegmatite, leptinite, zoned petrosilex, diorite or amphibolite, 

 all intersected, at different points, by veins of quartz, or sometimes by 

 pegmatites mingled with tourmaliner M, Robert has in vain sought in 



