8 POMPECKJ. JURASSIC FAUNA OF CAPE FLORA. [NOHW. POL. EXP. 



cliffs in the form of steps or terraces, which each have a short steep talus 

 descending on to the one below. These terraces are intersected by small 

 watercourses coming from the ice-covering above (cf. figs.) 1 . The same tier 

 may vary in thickness at different places. The second tier from below is 

 the thickest, being, according to my photographs, from 45 to 60 metres 

 (150 200 feet) on the southern face of the hill, probably becoming somewhat 

 thinner for some distance towards the northwest (cf. fig. 3). The others are 

 from 10 to 30 metres (35100 feet). The upper tiers are, on the whole, 

 of smaller proportions as compared with the lower. Whether the tiers, 

 especially the thicker ones, are composed of several flows of basalt, I cannot 

 say decisively, but I regard it as highly probable. 



The highest point reached by the basalt on Cape Flora is 338 metres 

 (1111 feet) above the sea, according to the measurements of the Jackson-Harms- 

 worth Expedition, and the lower edge of the basalt cap, on the south-western 

 side of the promontory, above Elmwood, is about 175 metres (575 feet) 

 above sea-level. 



Below these basaltic terraces is the talus, which slopes downward from 

 the base of the basalt (about 175 metres above sea-level), at first at a very 

 steep angle, 35 40, then gradually more easily, and at last descending 

 gently on to the nearly horizontal raised beaches near the shore (see figs. 2 and 

 3). The surface of the talus is n composed almost entirely of basaltic debris, 

 and is traversed by the watercourses streaming down from the rocks above." 

 (see fig. 3). The basaltic debris almost completely hides the strata forming the 

 floor of the basalt, making it extremely difficult to examine them, as they are 

 only exposed in some few places, more especially along the watercourses. 

 Fortunately, however, such places were found at various heights, and they 

 proved that the whole formation underlying the basalt, from a height of about 

 175 metres (575 feet) down to the sea, is composed of Jurassic strata, chiefly 

 soft clay or sandy clay, in which numerous large and small hard nodules of 

 clay-sandstone, argillaceous limestone, marl, etc. are embedded, especially in 

 certain horizons. 



Below the talus, between it and the sea, there was, as a rule, a succes- 

 sion of comparatively recent, well-marked terraces or raised beaches; the 



1 Cf. Kcettlitz's description, 1. c. p. 621. 



