206 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION C. 



and Burma, where Tertiary* deposits extend from the slopes of the 

 mountain chains. 



Oil fields of great value exist in the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, 

 and Java. The oil is found in anticlinal folds, with steep dipping sides, 

 and are of Tertiaryf age, being generally associated with coal and 

 lignite. Again, in Burma, in the vicinity of the Irawadi River, oil- 

 bearing strata of Tertiary| age are thrust into a series of anticlinal and 

 synclinal folds. In the Gulf Division,§ Papua, the strata in which the 

 oil occurs, are, in part, thrust into anticlinal or synclinal fold, and are 

 associated with the coal and plant remains. 



This appears to be a very interesting comparison, and it is almost 

 conclusively proved now that the series is of late Tertiary age, and it 

 may in all probability be a part of or connected with the celebrated oil- 

 fields of Borneo, Burma, and the Greater Sunda Islands. 



If such a conclusion could be arrived at, it would prove to be of 

 great interest and value to science and economy. 



The limits of the Vailala petroleum area are at present unknown, 

 as the series is now known to extend westerly beyond the Purari River.|| 

 I understand also that mud volcanoes have been discovered in Dutch 

 New Guinea, but not reports of oil. It therefore seems quite reasonable 

 to suppose that the series extends towards the Fly River and beyond 

 into Dutch New Guinea. The expedition with a geologist in charge 

 to this portion of the Territory will probably be of greater value to 

 commerce, and at the same time probably open up a new field with 

 perhaps better indications and results than those already described. 



There is little doubt also that the series extends easterly towards, 

 and perhaps beyond, the Lakekamu and Tauri Rivers, as Mr. Pryke, 

 one our best prospectors, has described the existence of a " sulphur 

 spring " near Mount Namo. The possibility is, however, that this 

 spring may have been mistaken for a normal gas vent, as the country 

 about Mount Namo is geologically identical with Akauda. 



Rapid measures should therefore be taken to determine the limits 

 of the series in which the oil occurs, and the same time systematically 

 test the field by sinking trial bores on or near the crests of known 

 anticlines in the vicinity of the indications. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VIII. 

 Geological Sketch Map of the Papuan Petroleum Area. 



* Suas3, The Face of the Earth, Vol. I., Part 2. 

 t A. Beeby Thompson, Petroleum Mining, page 26. 

 X Ibid, page H. 



§ Report oa th'* Geology ol thi Vailala Petroleum Area, by Evan B. Staaley, 

 Government Geologist, 1912. 



I Report by J. B. Carne, Esq., F.Q.3., on the Purari Coal Expadition. 



