76 STUDIES IN GEOLOGY, No. 4 



ces of Chile, namely the northern coastal and interior deserts, 

 the sclerophyllous woodlands of central Chile and the south- 

 ern rain forests, as well as the coastal, mountain, interior 

 valley and plateau, and montana regions of Peru and Bolivia. 

 I have also seen something of the tropical rain forest in Pan- 

 ama and the Antilles and on the eastern slopes of the Andes, 

 and collected or studied fossil plants from all of these regions, 

 having approached the subject after fifteen years study of 

 the fossil floras of the Cretaceous and Tertiary of the States 

 bordering the Gulf of Mexico. 



This wearisome summary is not given from any motive of 

 egoism, but in an effort to justify and fortify the conclusions 

 that I have drawn from this exceedingly interesting Miocene 

 flora in southern Chile. 



CLIMATE AND FLORA OF CHILE 

 The combination of exceedingly high mountains over- 

 hanging a meridianal coast, crossing the zone of trade winds 

 and extending southward to the "roaring forties" gives the 

 whole West Coast of South America a seemingly anomalous 

 climate. Chile is no exception to the other West Coast 

 countries in this respect. Its ribbon-like form extending 

 from 17 to 56 South Latitude and its mainland width no- 

 where exceeding 228, and in places narrowing to less 

 than 50 miles, renders it unique among the countries of the 

 world. Physiographically Chile may be divided into three 

 meridianal regions the Andes, the Longitudinal Valley, con- 

 tinued northward as the nitrate pampas and submerged south 

 of Puerto Montt, and the Coast Range. 



Climatically it may be roughly considered as comprising: 

 ( i ) the Coastal desert which extends from the ocean to the 

 crest of the Andes and from the Peruvian boundary to 

 Coquimbo: (2) the agricultural region extending from Co- 

 quimbo to Llanquihue: and (3) the rain forest region 

 extending from about latitude 41 southward. 



The desert region includes spurs and irregular lateral 

 ranges enclosing saline plateaus near the main range, the 



