1902.] AND ANCIENT GEOQEAPHY. 321 



Thus it is clear that we may assume the existence of this conti- 

 nent, the Sinic, from the Jurassic upward. 



Further, according to Suess, the chains of islands accompanying 

 this old continent on its southern and eastern sides are tectonically 

 connected with the latter. One of them is formed by the moun- 

 tain ranges which form the Japanese and Philippine Islands, con- 

 sisting of old rocks, and, in the south, we can trace a similar chain 

 (Suess, 1885, PP- 579-5^^)' which begins with the Burmese ranges, 

 and extends over Malakka, Sumatra, Java eastward, possibly as far 

 as New Guinea. 



Thus, nothing in the tectonic configuration is opposed to the 

 theory that at least a large part of the Indo-Malaysian islands belongs 

 to the continent. But this does not give us any proof for an actual 

 former connection of these islands with the Sinic continent. This 

 can only be decided by geological investigation of the respective 

 parts. Unfortunately, our knowledge in this respect is very 

 scanty. 



Neumayr (1890) constructs in his map, mentioned above, an old 

 Jurassic continent, the Siiio-Austi-alian, which, with reference to 

 eastern Asia, is well supported, and the Australian part of which 

 is also established by the fact that large parts of Australia possess 

 a very old age (Gondwana land). The connection of both goes 

 over the present Indo-Malaysian Archipelago, and, according to 

 the map, this region was largely land during Jurassic times. 

 Further (Neumayr, 1890, p. 419), Australia became separated from 

 Asia and the rest of the world before the end of the Mesozoic time, 

 that is to say, probably in the Cretaceous. This same idea is ex- 

 pressed by Koken (1893) ^^ ^^s map of the distribution of land in 

 the latter period. Here we see that Asia and Australia were dis- 

 connected during the Lower as well as the Upper Cretaceous, but 

 Australia comprises parts of New Guinea and the Sunda Islands as 

 far as Java, Borneo and the Philippine Islands. In the older Ter- 

 tiary, Koken includes Farther India into Asia, but then follows an 

 archipelago and Australia remains isolated. 



This wide connection, drawn by Neumayr between Asia and 

 Australia during the Jurassic period, does not seem to be well sup- 

 ported, since marine Jurassic deposits have been discovered in the 

 region of the Malaysian islands.^ On the other hand, it is settled 



1 In Borneo, according to Krause and Vogel {Sainml. geol. Reichsmus. Ley- 

 den, Vol. 5, 1897). The so-called "old slates " of Borneo are said to belong to 



