1010 
furthermore some fin-spines presumably of Selachii and lastly some 
fragments of bones, indeterminable thus far. 
It may be that a closer investigation of these hitherto undetermined 
pieces from the remarkable collection will reveal that still older 
types are among them. As yet I can establish only with abso- 
lute certainty that ‘an the deep-sea deposits of Timor there occur 
types, known up to now either exclusively from the Upper Chalk 
or from no older strata than the Upper Chalk.” 
The above examination goes to show that the fossils found in the 
red deep-sea clay and also in some of the manganese nodules 
are of upper-cretaceous age. From this we can logically infer that 
the deep-sea clay in which the teeth of Hlasmobranchii are formed, 
is also of upper-cretaceous age. This result is divergent from what 
might be concluded from the stratigraphy of the complex of layers, 
to which the deep-sea clay belongs, as observed by Jonker. It is 
evident both from the deseription and the section (fig. 1) that the 
red clay directly and comformably overlies a well stratified bedded 
limestone, in which are found not very well preserved, but clearly 
recognizable, remains of Aviculidae (Halobia). These are only known 
to. occur in deposits of triassic age, and Jonker, therefore, did not 
hesitate to consider the red deep-sea clay with manganese nodules 
as triassic. 
Although I believe the palaeontological evidence to be conclusive, 
it appears necessary to look for an explanation of this controversy. 
Two ways in which the section (fig. 1) may be read deserve con- 
sideration in order to account for the apparent contrariety. 
First of all the cretaceous deep-sea clay, overlying directly conformably 
the triassic bedded limestone, may not have been deposited there 
originally, but may have been brought there afterwards by orogenetic 
movements. The plane cc’ (fig. 1) in this ease would not be a partition- 
plane between two superposed formations, but would represent the 
tectonic contact of two formations of very different age. A large break 
and a marked stratigraphic gap would then separate the two conform- 
able, successive complexes of layers. Similar stratigraphic hiatus between 
conformably superposed formations, are of frequent occurrence in 
Timor with its chaotic tectonic, and are peculiar to regions, which 
have been considerably disturbed by orogenetie movements with 
considerable horizontal displacements, as BERTRAND has set forth as 
early as the year 1890. Most often, however, the difference in age 
between the conformably superposed formations is not so great as 
must be assumed in the case of Noil Tobee. Frequently I encountered 
