358 . ON THE MOVEMENTS OF THE EARTH'S CRUST. 



The Miocene depositsof the Vienna basin are divided into three prin- 

 cipal stages, — the first and second Mediterranean, and the Sarmatian. 

 But if we study the detailed profiles more clo^^ely, there appear to have 

 been here also five Miocene oscillations. Thus (according to Suess, Sitz- 

 ungsb. Wiener AJcad.j 1866) the first Mediterranean stage shows the fol- 

 lowing sequence of strata from below upwards : 



Beds at Molt, with oyster-shells (broken), at the top with lignite, 

 four alternations, arc 8'. — Supposed by Suess to be on the same 

 horizon with the Faluns of Bazas. 



Beds near Loibersdorf, Gauderndorf, and Eggenburg, marine, 

 probably with eight alternations, at any rate in part younger 

 than the beds at Molt (arcs 8' ? and 9'). 



" Schlier " with gypsum, at the top with land-plants. — Suess calls 

 it " eiu ersterbendes Meer," and seems inclined to regard it as 

 a peculiar stage. Alternations, but scarcely more than two. 

 The last part of arc 9'. 



Beds at Grund, marine, with few (three to four) alternations, to 

 judge from Suess' profiles. — The fauna forms a transition from 

 the first to the second Mediterranean stage, and this deposit at 

 Grund is with reason regarded by several Viennese geologists 

 as representing a distinct stage. Arc 10'. 



This was followed by the greatest submergence, the second Mediter- 

 ranean stage (arc 11'), contemporaneous with the French Faluns de 

 Salles. The sea rose quite up into the inner Alpine Vienna basin. I 

 have been unable to make out the number of alternations in this stage. 

 I have only seen sections of the littoral formations described. 



Finally, the last Miocene oscillation, the Sarmatian stage, arc 12'. 

 In some localities (e. </., near Constantinople) this stage commences with 

 fresh water covered by marine formations (see Suess, Antlitz der Urde, 

 I. p. 419). According to a profile from Hungary (by Peters in Sitzungsh. 

 Wiener AJcad., 1861) the stage has four alternations. 



This stage is followed by the Pliocene Congeria-beds. which in the 

 Vienna basin are represented only by brackish- water formations, accord- 

 ing to Fuchs {Jahrb. Jc. I: Oeol. Beichs., 1875) with four alternations ; arc 

 13'. And with these the marine formations of the Vienna basin, Hun- 

 gary, and Transylvania come to a close. Volcanic outbursts commenced 

 in these countries even in the Oligocene period; they became very 

 frequent in the Miocene, and during this period the Alps rose to great 

 altitudes. 



In the basin of Mayence the marine Oligocene formations (Wein- 

 heimer marine sand and Septaria-clay) are followed first by a fresh-water 

 formation ; then the Miocene period commenced with a depression. 

 But during volcanic eruptions the basin was upheaved and became 

 more and more fresh-water. A continuous formation of beds took place. 

 Over the Cerithium-limestone, the Corbicula-limestone and Littorinella- 



