184 IKlDljOK NANSF.N. M.-X. Kl. 



States tli.'il "tilis slicif (011 l'rinci- ' liarics l'^rclaivJ) has in general a 

 rocky surface, planed (jr carxed partis out of nearl\- vertical members 

 of the Hcckla Hook series. It rises gently from near sea-level towards 

 the slopes of the central hills, terminating inland at an altitude of about 

 150 feet (46 metres). 'J'he constancy of level maintained by this inner 

 margin and the fact that it is often marked by lofty cliffs or at least 

 precipitous shapes, indicate very clearly that the i)latform is the result 

 of marine erosion." . . . "Jjeach deposits occur here and there on the plat- 

 form, but it is clear that they have no genetic connection with it. They 

 are obviously of postglacial age, while the rock platform itself is ob- 

 viously preglacial." 



His reasons for the latter conclusion are i) that the surface of the 

 platform "has been shown to be striated in several places", 2) "it is 

 fre(|uently strewn with iccborne erratics from the mainland of Spits- 

 bergen, while patches of drift containing foreign boulders have been 

 found here and there covering its surface." 



The probability that these striæ, erratics, &:c. may be due to the last 

 advance of the glacial covering is, however, not considered, nor is it 

 explainer] how this remarkably level platform might have been able to 

 preserve its evenness if it had been exposed to the erosion of the big 

 glaciers of the Great Ice Age. 



The platform is in several places on Prince Charles Foreland and 

 on the mainland of Spitsbergen described as rising from the shore to a 

 general level of between 100 and 150 feet (30 and 46 metres); while it 

 is said to rise to about 200 feet (61 metres) at the base of the over- 

 steepened hills, in several places on the mainland of Spitsbergen, c. g. at 

 Ouade Hook, at the mouth of St. John's Bay in Foreland Sound, in Lowe 

 Sound (\'an IMijen's Bay), in Recherche Bay, on the south-west side of 

 Advent Bay near Advent Point, south of Sassen Bay. 



Peach considers it to be beyond a doubt that the cutting of this plat- 

 form was a later event than the partial submergence of the old river- 

 valley system, by which according to his view the fjords originated, 

 consequently in preglacial time. 



His view is that "the Spitsbergen rock-platform is clearly the same 

 as that of the coast of Norway", and a platform of similar type "is found 

 also on the west coast of Scotland, at a height of 100 to 140 fe?t (30 to 

 43 metres) above sea-level. There is also a platform of marine erosion 

 of preglacial age a short distance above sea-level in England and in the 

 south of Ireland." 



