26 NATHORST. FOSSIL PLANTS OF FRANZ JOSEF LAND. [NORW. POL. EXP. 



the determination of Dr. J. F. Pompeckj reaches up into the Neocomian, 

 there is a plant-bearing deposit which shows affinity to the fossil flora both 

 of the Wealden and Cape Boheman. This plant-bearing deposit cannot 

 therefore, in consequence of its stratigraphical position, be older than the 

 Wealden. It is covered by a basalt-bed, above which, at one point, I found 

 fragments of a plant-bearing stratum which in every detail appeared to agree 

 with the stratum between the basalt-beds of Franz Josef Land and which, in 

 all probability, as is the case there, was covered by another bed of basalt. 

 If these plant-bearing strata are identical, which cannot be fully proved owing 

 to the condition of the material at present available, then, as a natural conse- 

 quence, the fossil flora of Franz Josef Land must either belong to the Weal- 

 den, or be somewhat younger. This question will be further touched on in 

 my work on the geology of King Charles Land when describing its fossil 

 plants. 



