ANTARCTIC GEOLOGY 319 



quarters) the abundance of red sandstones is indicative of the fact 

 that the Beacon sandstone formation extends through AdeUe Land 

 but is now hidden by the ice cap. Thus, this great formation of 

 horizontally bedded sediments, apparently lying mainly upon a 

 peneplain of pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks and the granite which 

 has intruded them, may extend throughout the whole extent of the 

 Australian sector, at least so far as the periphery of the continent is 

 concerned. 



African Quadrant 



The African Quadrant is bounded on the east by Kaiser Wilhelm 

 II Land and is almost wholly unknown. The only investigated solid 

 rock outcrops are those of the Gaussberg, a rocky eminence rising 1148 

 feet above the sea in latitude 67° S., at the eastern end of the quadrant. 

 This extinct volcano is built of leucite basalt containing fragments of 

 pyroxene-bearing gneiss as well as cognate xenoliths carrying picotite, 

 olivine, bronzite, and augite. The nature of the basement rock of the 

 region is, however, indicated by morainic rocks. These, according 

 to Reinisch, include both metamorphosed sediments, paragneisses 

 carrying garnet, sillimanite or cordierite, and igneous gneisses and 

 microcline granites. In addition, metamorphic amphibolites, quartz- 

 ites, crystalline limestones, and sandstones are known. These 

 assemblages closely correspond with those known from the Australian 

 Quadrant to occur farther east, and it is at least probable that, 

 tectonically speaking, the two quadrants form one unit. Of the re- 

 maining region of the quadrant the only known data are provided 

 by the discoveries of the whaling captains of the firm of Enderby 

 Brothers. Enderby Land was discovered by Biscoe in 1831, the 

 promontory of Cape Ann being sighted when he was in longitude 49° 

 18' E. Two years later Kemp reported the discovery of land approxi- 

 mately 10° east of Enderby Land, in 66° S. and 60° E. 



The Valdivia expedition dredging off Enderby Land recovered, at 

 a depth of 4600 meters, an assemblage of rocks which, again, are 

 distinctly reminiscent of the pre-Cambrian basement of Adelie Land. 

 They include paragneisses with garnet, sillimanite, and cordierite; 

 and also igneous and metamorphosed igneous rocks, including biotite, 

 muscovite, and hornblende granites, gabbro, dolerite, and amphibo- 

 lite. Sediments include sandstones (one large mass of red sand- 

 stone weighing 5 cwt.) of similar type to the Beacon sandstone of 

 Adelie Land. 



Pacific Quadrant 



The western border of this quadrant is formed by Ross Sea, and 

 the only known rock exposures in the outer arc are provided by King 

 Edward VII Land, at the eastern end of Ross Sea. Here, in the 

 Alexandra Mountains (77° S.), which are a low ice-swathed range 



