president's address — SECTION c. 153 



above the level of the sea at Norseman, and distant about 100 miles 

 due north from the coast at Esperance Bay (Ion. 122° east), contain- 

 ing fossils of either Late Tertiary or Recent Age is, perhaps, next to 

 the Carboniferous glacial beds, one of the most important of the recent 

 advances in our knowledge of the younger geological formations. 



Two small outliers of this formation occur on the western bank 

 of Lake Cowan, and four near Lake Dundas. The beds, which in the 

 vicinity of Norseman, occupy but a very small area, consist principally 

 of a dolomitic limestone with several sihceous bands. These beds 

 contain species of Turitella, allied to T. terebra, Pecten, Cardium (or 

 Cardita), Maqellania, and fragments of Polyzoa. These discoveries 

 are of considerable importance, and must be thoroughly examined 

 some day, as they involve a whole series of important conclusions 

 which depend upon the age of the fossils the beds contain. 



At Balladonia, some miles to the east, and in what is known as the 

 Eucla Limestone Plateau, the flesh-colored limestones have yielded : — ■ 

 A Pecten, allied to Chlamys asperritnus, Lamck. Near Madoura 

 Station a shell agglomerate yielded — Venus peronii, var. conularis, 

 Lamck ; and Tapes, probably T. Avaneosus PhilUpsi, a living species. 

 These fossils seem to indicate a deposit of comparatively Recent Age. 



Entering the State at its eastern frontier in the Nullarbor Plains, 

 and extending without any interruptions as far as Israelite Bav, is 

 a very large development of strata of Recent and Tertiary Age. These 

 strata consist of flesh-colored limestones associated with sandy porous 

 beds, into which the rainfall is rapidly absorbed, and discharged sea- 

 wards in the form of fresh water springs, and are the western extension 

 of the beds pierced in the five bores in South Australia. 



These beds form what is known as the Premier Downs. An 

 immense limestone plateau, extending from Goddard's Creek (E. long. 

 124°) to the South Australian frontier, terminating abruptly along its 

 southern border by a conspicuous escarpment 400ft. high in some places. 

 The limestone plateau extends for miles into the interior, and the 

 average altitude (so far as can be ascertained) of the inland margin 

 is about 1,000ft. above sea level. 



The bore nearest the Western Australian frontier is at Albala- 

 karoo, on or near the telegraph line, at about 45 miles east of Eucla. 

 This bore attained a total depth of 1,084ft., and bottomed on granite 

 at 1,073ft., after passing through (in descending order) 565ft. of (Eucla) 

 limestone, 426ft. of clay (? shale), and 82ft. of a " hard rock," which 

 those in charge of the operations could not determine. 



Two bores have been sunk by the Western Australian Govern- 

 ment near Madura : No. 1 bore was put down at a point 110ft. above 

 sea level, and distant 30 chains south of the Eucla limestone escarpment, 

 which is 350ft. high. The bore was carried down to a total depth of 

 2,041ft., and passed (in descending order) through about 766ft. of lime- 

 stone, underlaid by alterations of clay shale, sometimes glauconitic, and 

 dolomitic limestone. The bore ended in a soft mudstone. The second 

 or No. 2 bore was situated 30 miles to the north of No. 1, on the lime- 

 stone plateau, and about 300ft. above the level of No. 1. It was 



