6io SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Another factor which tends to compHcate matters, and 

 helps, incidentally, in the production of magnificent scenery, 

 is the very varied geology of the region. Almost every geo- 

 logical horizon from Pre-Cambrian up to Quaternary times is 

 represented somewhere or other. Yet another point of im- 

 portance is the fact that the arrangement of the various strata 

 is exceedingly complicated. Generally speaking, the older 

 rocks are in the north-west, the newer towards the south-east ; 

 but, apart from that, nothing very definite can be said with 

 respect to the sequence of the strata. This confusion is probably 

 due to the extremely varied history of the archipelago. 



Then, again, in the actual lie of the rocks there is great 

 variety. In north-west Spitsbergen and Prince Charles Fore- 

 land the dip of the rocks is tilted at various angles, with the 

 result that sharp peaks are easily produced on weathering. In 

 the region around Icefjord the strata are horizontal, and 

 weathering results in the production of flat-topped, table-like 

 mountains. Following on, however, the effect of frost is seen 

 in such mountains as Temple Mountain, where a very close 

 resemblance to some kind of Eastern temple is apparent. 



When the investigator probes deeper into the tale which 

 the rocks have to tell, even more valuable information can be 

 obtained. The fossil remains of Spitsbergen are very varied 

 and numerous ; they have been known for a long time, while 

 many articles have been written both on the fossil animals 

 and the fossil plants. The animal fossils show us, as elsewhere, 

 that the country has in the past enjoyed climates very different 

 from that which it now possesses. 



It is, however, on the evidence of the plants that the most 

 interesting information regarding the past history of Spitsbergen 

 is based. At the present day there are no trees, as we know 

 them, on Spitsbergen. The Polar willow is only a few inches 

 high, and hardly merits the name of tree ; for shrubs one has 

 to be content with the cross-leaved andromeda, a dwarf shrub 

 allied to the heather ; even the herbs are nowhere more than 

 eighteen inches in height, and that only during the short 

 flowering period. 



The records in the rock, on the other hand, have a very 

 different story to tell. Plant fossils occur in many places, and 

 are of various geological ages. Many of them have been 

 identified as belonging to plants closely allied to the oak, beech, 

 and other species of our common woodland trees. From these 

 remains there seems to be no doubt that there were formerly 

 extensive forests in Spitsbergen. Other fossils belong to groups 

 and genera of plants now found only in sub-tropical or tropical 

 regions. For instance, leaves of magnolias and of cycads have 

 been found ; the latter are common, especially in certain areas. 



