Geology of the Harz Mountains. 221 



The Eothliegendes is typically developed at Mansfeld, 

 where it has the following two divisions : 



i Basalt (Melaphyr) tuffs and amygdaloids, with quartz-porphyry 

 conglomerates with basalt pebbles. Dark red sandstones resting 

 on angular grained sandstones, with silicified coniferous stems. 



Ked shales and clays, with hard fine sandstones and beds of ** horn- 

 quartz conglomerate," 10 to over 20 feet thick. Two or three 

 T J beds of argillaceous unfossiliferous massive limestone, each about 



Liower, <^ g ^gg^ thick. Brilliant red, fine sandy clays at base over carboni- 

 ferous rocks. Sandstones, shales, and limestones along S. border 

 of Harz. Basalt and porphyrite eruptions during this period. 



The so-called " horn-quartz conglomerate " is made up of 

 nut- to head-sized pebbles of grey quartz, oval or round, 

 quite smooth, and very compact and hard. They are usually 

 found in a loose red clay matrix, from which they are easily 

 detached to be used as road-metal. These alternate with 

 other fine conglomerates, containing bean-sized pebbles of 

 jaspery rock or kieselschiefer. No granite pebbles occur in 

 the Eothliegendes. 



The Eothliegendes is not usually very fossiliferous, and 

 bespeaks a period in which the waters were by no means 

 conducive to animal existence. The land plants which occur 

 are of the usual Permian type, chiefly Cycads, Conifers, Ferns, 

 and Calamites, with a few Lycopods. Silicified stems of 

 tree-ferns {Psaronius and Tuhicaulis) and conifers are abun- 

 dant at some localities. On the Kyffhauser there are many 

 such stems 2 or 3 feet in diameter, and sometimes 30 feet in 

 length, lying embedded in the red sandstone of the Upper 

 Eothliegendes. 



e\ Zechstein. 



From a palaeontological point of view, the Zechstein forms 

 part of the Permian series, but geologically it deserves a 

 separate place in the list of formations, as it indicates a great 

 change in the physiography of the region. The southern 

 and eastern flanks of the Harz are classic localities for the 

 study of the Zechstein, which has there acquired a world- 

 wide interest from its seam of copper shale — the celebrated 

 Kupferschiefer of the Mansfeld basin — and from its great 

 beds of anhydrite, gypsum, and dolomite, which form lines 



