SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



Hitherto this country has scarcely been touched 

 by any geologist ; so that the following notes, 

 though far from complete, may be considered as 

 breaking new ground. They were gathered on 

 the trip described in the second chapter of this 

 book. 



Let us take a line running north-west from 

 T'ai-yiian Fu, through Tsing-lo Hsien, Wu-chia- 

 kou, Tien-p'ing to Wu-tsai Hsien, and consider 

 in section the different formations. 



First after crossing ten or twelve miles of allu- 

 vial plain, loess and stony river bed, we encounter 

 the extensive escarpment of Ki-ch'ou limestone, 

 caused by the fault running north-east to south- 

 west. Entering a deep gorge at Kuan-k'ou, 

 we note that the strata at first are horizontal, 

 though slightly folded ; but that further on they 

 dip slightly in a general north-westerly direction. 

 Continuing along the bottom of the ravine, which 

 rises steadily through the limestone, Pei-hsiao- 

 tien, ten miles from Kuan-k'ou, is reached. This 

 is a small town situated at an altitude of 4,570 

 feet in an open valley in the Shansi coal measures, 

 where bituminous coal of the usual quality is 

 mined. We have thus ascended roughly 2,000 

 feet, through the Sinian limestone to the Shansi 

 formation. 



On leaving Pei-hsiao-tien the road continues 

 north-westward, ascending a narrow valley. 

 Here metamorphic rocks, consisting chiefly of 



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