T1IK THIASSIC SYSTKM 373 



2. The Alpine Fades 



The Triassic System has no great thickness in the Western or 

 Central Alps, but attains a great development in the well-known 

 Dolomite Mountains of the South Tyrol and Carnic Alps, and also 

 in the Vorarlberg, in North Tyrol, Salzburg, and Bavaria, on the 

 northern side of the main <T\>talline axis of the Alpine chain. 

 The succession of beds forming the lower and middle parts of the 

 system in the northern districts differs considerably from that in 

 the southern, but the higher part from the Raibl Beds upwards is 

 similar in both regions. From this and from differences in the 

 Cephalopodan faunas of the two areas it was inferred that there 

 were at first two marine provinces which were more or less separated 

 until the later part of the Triassic period. The northern province 

 has been called the Juvavian, and the southern the Mediterranean 

 province. The former includes Bavaria, the Salzburg district, and 

 Austria proper, extending eastward to the Carpathians ; the latter 

 comprises the Lombardy Alps, the Southern Tyrol, Carinthia, with 

 the whole of Italy and the whole Dalmatian and Bosnian region. 

 The progress of research, however, has shown that the differences 

 are less than were supposed, and that, so far as the fossils are 

 concerned, it is rather a matter of relative abundance of species 

 than of difference in fauna. 



The thicknesses of the several divisions vary much in different 

 districts, but the total thickness in the North Tyrol is supposed to 

 be about 6000 feet, while in the South Tyrol it is probably about 

 9000 feet. The following table shows the general succession in 

 the two regions : 



Southern Region. Northern Region. 



8. Lower Dachstein Dolomite . . Main Dolomite \ Kpl . 



7. The Raibl Beds . . Raibl or Cardita Beds / 



6. The St. Cassian Beds . . . Partnach Beds 



;'.. The Wengen Beds ) w .. .. 



4. The Buchensteiu Beds/ Reifflmg hmestone 



3, 2. The Virgloria limestone . . Guttenstein limestone 



1. The Werfen Beds . . . Werfen Beds . . Bunter. 



The whole system has also been divided into zones and into 

 stages or series of more equal palseontological value, but much 

 difference of opinion still exists as to the number of zones and as 

 to their grouping, and many names have been proposed for the 

 different groups or stages. The following table gives the principal 

 zones, which correspond to the local subdivisions as numbered 

 above, and the names which seem most applicable to the 



