184 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



trained men, and to such work being of secondary importance 

 among the objects of the expeditions. 



The observations of these earlier explorers were carefully 

 gathered from the different narratives, and ably summarized 

 by Dr. G. M. Dawson in a report on the Geology of the North- 

 ern Portion of the Dominion of Canada, published in 1886. 

 This work has been largely followed in the present report, but 

 such corrections have been made as are justified by the know- 

 ledge gained in explorations since the date of its publication. 



The notes on the geology of the southern part of Baffin island 

 are from the observations of Dr. R. Bell, while those on Elles- 

 mere island and the Sverdrup islands are based on the work of 

 P. Schei, the geologist of the Fram. 



The rocks of the Arctic islands and of the northern coasts of 

 the continent present an almost continuous ascending series 

 from the Archaean to the Tertiary, while the upper loose mate- 

 rial represents various phases of the Glacial age and of the 

 subsequent Post-Glacial deposits. 



Only isolated attempts have been made to subdivide the 

 Archaean complex into Laurentian, Huronian and other mem- 

 bers of the system. This lack of subdivision is due to want of 

 detailed knowledge; not to the absence of the various members 

 of the complex in these northern regions, where the greater 

 number of the members are known to occur. 



The Palaeozoic rocks are well represented on the islands by 

 thick deposits extending upwards in a continuous series from 

 the Cambro-Silurian to the upper beds of the Carboniferous. 

 Rocks older than the Galena-Trenton are only found in the 

 northern part of Ellesmere island, where a series of beds ap- 

 pears to connect the Upper Huronian formations with the lower 

 members of the Cambro-Silurian. 



Mesozoic rocks are found on the northern Parry islands, on 

 the Sverdrup group and on the western and northern sides of 

 Ellesmere island. 



