444: PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 



from east to west, which is rather too long- to quote here, but it is 

 noticeable that in this comparison no American parallel to the great 

 basin of the Tasman Sea is mentioned. 



Gregory has adopted these views almost in toto. In the 

 Geography of Victoria a map shows the Australasian festoon uniting 

 New Zealand with New Caledonia and New Guinea. Another 

 structure line joins Tonga to the Ellice and Marshall Islands, while 

 Easter Island and Samoa are the extremities of the South Pacific 

 chain. 



In a more recent map, '" Geology Structural and Physical," the 

 Australasian festoon includes the Solomons and New Hebrides. The 

 Micronesian festoon exterids from Tonga to the Marshall and Caroline 

 Islands, and includes Samoa. The South Pacific chain extends from 

 Easter Island to the Phcenix Islands. 



Gregoiy adopts Suess's comparison of the structure of South 

 America and Australia, but takes the section in the north of Brazil 

 instead of the north of Argentina, as in Suess's comparison. The 

 counterpart of the Thomson trough is the comparatively small depres- 

 sion between the eastern cordilleras and the main range. 



The contrast between Pacific and Atlantic coasts is adopted, but 

 'Gregory calls the Australian coast sub-Pacific, the prefix meaning that 

 the real structural Australian coast line is the Australasian festoon, 

 which is broken through in so many places. 



Prior has also adopted this contrast between Pacific and Atlantic 

 coasts as expressing an earth truth, and has added that the Atlantic 

 type of coast is associated with the eruption of alkaline rocks, the 

 Pacific with andesite. He has stated that the geological results in 

 Antarctica support this view, but, judging by a criticism by Gregory, 

 this extension of Suess's opinions is not supported by him. 



Mawson, in his paper on the " Geology of the New Hebrides," 

 accounts for the features of these islands in the terms of Suess. Two 

 lines of fracture — east and west — are described. The separation of 

 the islands is due to "blatter" fractures and movements and cross 

 faulting. The direction of the folds and faults is regarded as 

 deteniiined by the great " Hercynian " lines from New Guinea through 

 New Caledonia to meet the Carboniferous fold of New Zealand. 



Jensen, in describing the eruptions at Savaii, says it is probably 

 on account of the situation of Savaii at the intersection of two great 

 structural lines that volcanic extravasation has been so gi'eat here. 

 He says further. New Zealand has a west coast covered with Tertiaiy 

 eruptive rocks, with a sharp faulted front towards the deep ocean. 

 More recently Jensen has accepted Prior's statement in regard to the 

 association of Atlantic coast with ei'uptions of alkaline rocks, and 

 states that alkaline eruptives only occur in block faulted regions, and 

 are typical continental rocks. The islands on which alkalines occur 

 must be regarded as relics of more extensive continents disinipted into 

 fragments in the early Tertiary. The Eocene is regarded as the period 

 when alkaline eiiiptions took place, and the alkaline rocks are sup- 

 posed by Jensen to result from the absoi-ption of salt beds and other 

 stratified alkaline rocks by a magma. The views of these authors have 

 lieen quoted because the facts that have already been mentioned, are 



