June 14, 1900] 



NATURE 



147 



Land has the character of a plateau with a basaltic cap, 

 150 metres thick, composed of sheets of lava arranged in 

 regular and almost horizontal terraces, which present a 

 striking resemblance to the familiar basalt sheets in the 

 cliffs of the Western Isles of Scotland. 



From the face of the basalt a talus-slope extends to 

 near the shore-line, where it passes into almost hori- 

 zontal raised beaches, which occur at approximately the 

 same level on both sides of the Cape, and point to a 

 uniform and recent elevation. The volcanic rocks rest 

 on Jurassic sedimentary strata, consisting for the most 

 .■ part of soft shale or clay containing numerous nodules of 

 B liard stone. From a " nunatak " protruding through the 

 V ;glacier, about 600 or 700 feet above sea-level, several 

 B fossil plants were found in fragments of shale spread 

 P over the surface of the rock within two small areas. The 

 important question as to whether the shale was actually 

 in situ and represented the remnant of an interbasaltic 

 bed, or whether it had been broken off from a lower 

 stratum and carried up by the intrusion of igneous 

 material, has not been definitely settled, Nansen is of 

 opinion that the plant-bed was in situ, and may be looked 

 «pon, therefore, as throwing important light on the age 

 of the basaltic sheets ; if this view is correct, the basalt 

 must be assigned, on palaeobotanical evidence, to an 

 Upper Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous age. Very little 

 is known as to the Jurassic deposits of Northbrook 

 Island beyond Cape Flora ; the beds examined at Cape 

 Certrude have yielded no fossils beyond fragments of 

 wood and lignite. Nansen inclines to the view expressed 

 by Messrs. Newton and Teall,i that the beds at Cape 

 Gertrude were deposited under varying conditions and 

 daring oscillations of level ; while the argillaceous sedi- 

 ments of Cape Flora, which are more uniform in com- 

 position, appear to have been laid down in a shallow sea 

 during a period of comparative tranquillity. 

 • The marine Jurassic fossils collected by Nansen from 

 the rocks of Northbrook Island in the Franz Josef Archi- 

 pelago are described by Dr. J. F. Pompeckj, whose 

 work bears the stamp of thoroughness and accuracy. An 

 account is given of previous literature relating to the 

 Jurassic rocks of Franz Josef Land, special prominence 

 being naturally given to the description by Mr, Newton 

 of the fossils brought to England by the Jackson- Harms- 

 worth Expedition. Some portions of the Cape Flora 

 strata are fairly rich in fossils, but the fragmentary 

 nature of the material renders accurate determination a 

 matter of considerable difficulty, and in many cases the 

 fragments are indeterminable. Dr. Pompeckj has per- 

 formed his task with ability, and his conclusions have 

 been arrived at as the result of careful sifting of the 

 meagre evidence at his disposal. A glance at the com- 

 parative table of the Cape Flora fossils collected by the 

 Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition and by Nansen shows 

 that in several instances Pompeckj's determinations do 

 not agree with those of Newton ; considering the frag- 

 mentary nature of many of the specimens, it would 

 be strange indeed if there were no discrepancies in 

 the lists of the two palaeontologists. 



The fauna, as described by Pompeckj, is represented 



P^&'!"'^' ^'""^''' ^"'^' '^''^- ^°'- '"'• ^'^97), p. 477 ; ibid. vol. liv. (1898), I 



NO. 1598, VOL. 62] 



by the following genera -.—Pentacriftus, Serpula, Lingula, 

 Discina, Pseudo?nonoiis, Pecten, Lima, Leda, Macrodotiy 

 Amber ley a, Macrocephalites, Cadoceros, Quenstedtoceras, 

 and Belemnites. The Ammonites appear to be abundant 

 as compared with other groups, the genus Cadoceros 

 being specially prominent as regards both species and 

 the number of specimens. 



Of the twenty-six species collected by Nansen, seven- 

 teen are new to the region, and five are considered to be 

 new species. As the author points out, his results 

 "differ in no slight degree from those which Newton 

 arrived at from his examination of the Jackson-Harms- 

 worth material." The sedimentary strata of Cape Flora 

 are classed by Pompeckj as Lower Bajocian, Lower, 

 Middle and Upper Callovian. 



In the concluding palaso-geographical remarks, atten- 

 tion is drawn to the importance of the Cape Flora fossils 

 as coming from the most northerly development of 

 Jurassic rocks so far investigated. The occurrence of 

 marine Bajocian species demonstrates " the existence of 

 a Bajocian Sea in the north of the Eurasian-Jura con- 

 tinent." The extent of this northern sea cannot be 

 determined, but the Jurassic sediments of Cape Flora 

 afford evidence of deposition in shallow water near, the 

 shore-line of an Arctic continent. Neumayr's fascina'ting 

 theory of climatic zones in the Jurassic period does 

 not receive support from the palieontological results of 

 Pompeckj and Newton ; the scanty evidence at present 

 available points to the existence of a decided central 

 European facies in the fauna of Cape Flora, a fact 

 opposed to the conclusions of Neumayr. 



The patches of sedimentary rock from which Nansen 

 obtained several fragmentary remains of plants have 

 already been referred to as either portidns of strata pre- 

 served in situ, or conceivably derived from lower strata 

 and carried to a higher level by igneous forces. It is 

 unfortunate that the history of the vegetation which 

 flourished on the site of Franz Josef Land during the 

 Mesozoic period is not represented by more legible 

 records, but we may congratulate Prof. Nathorst on 

 having exercised caution and care in the interpretation 

 of the imperfect documents at his disposal. 



Among the genera recognised by Nathorst are the 

 following -.—Cladophlebis and Sphenopteris fragments 

 represent the ferns, small specimens referred to Podoza- 

 mites and Pterophyllum may be accepted as evidence of 

 the existence of Cycadean plants : Ginkgo, Czekanowskia, 

 Phoenicopsis, Feildenia, Taxites, Abietites, Pityanlhus 

 and Pityostrosbus demonstrated the occurrence of Gink- 

 goales and Coniferse. 



The fairly numerous examples of small Ginkgo leaves are 

 the most interesting fossils dealt with by Nathorst ; they 

 enable us to extend the range of the Mesozoic species of 

 this isolated genus, which is to-day represented by the 

 maiden-hair tree of China and Japan. The leaves named 

 by Nathorst Ginkgo polaris bear a close resemblance to 

 Ginkgo digitata, a species which played a prominent 

 part in the Jurassic vegetation of several regions ; the 

 Franz Josef Land specimens are characterised by the 

 small size of the leaves, and may possibly be regarded 

 as a northern variety of the larger-leaved Ginkgo digitata 

 of the Inferior Oolitic rocks of East Yorkshire^. As regards 



