0)1 the Siujace of the Morca. 17 



thence to torrential valleys entirely open, we shall describe the 

 ferruginous alluvium, in which the very beds of" the torrents 

 are hollowed out. We shall prove that they are the product of 

 an action regular and prolonged, and not of a deluge ; and that, 

 since their deposit, the soil of the Peloponnesus has experienced 

 a general rise of 20 or 30 metres. To this latter phenomenon 

 is attached the existence of a violent and instantaneous (dilu- 

 vial) deposit of transport, which covers some terraces slightly 

 raised above the sea. 



In short, the large open valleys, such as those of the Pami- 

 sus, the Alpheus, and the Eurotas, will, in their epigeic de- 

 posits, exhibit some of the characters of the fluvialile deposits. 

 The limits of this article compel us to suppress these details, and 

 confine us to the more remarkable phenomena presented by the 

 valley of the Eurotas. 



Recent Phenomena in the Valley of the Eurotas. 



After the rise and denudation of the tertiary soil, the valley 

 of the Eurotas presented four different terraced basins: the 

 highest to the north of Mistra, communicated by passes with 

 the principal basin, which at Sparta extended to the mountains 

 of Lycovouno. A third basin comprehended the whole of the 

 plain of Hieraki, and the marshes of Helos formed the fourth. 

 The two highest basins were formed as soon as the first elevations 

 of the subapennine formation took place ; the third was still sub- 

 marine, as we may judge from the disposition and nature of the 

 alluvial matter; it was not entirely formed until the upraisin"- 

 of the ferruginous alluvium ; and, lastly, the marshes of Helos 

 are the product of the present period. 



Such has been the destruction of the tertiary strata throughout 

 this valley, that nothing remains except some shreds, formino- 

 eminences raised 200 metres above the level of the plain. De- 

 posits of alluvion have replaced the subapennine formation, and 

 we recognise several of very different epochs. The most an- 

 cient is the great alluvial and detritic mass, which flanks the 

 whole base of the dolomitic wall at the bottom of Taygetus. 

 It forms a red coloured talus at an inclination of 45°, and 

 of a height of 50 or GO metres from Mistra to the mountainous 

 region of Eycovouna. This deposit is formed here, as at the 



vol.. xviir. NO. XXXV. — .tanuakv 1835. u 



