

" ' B 



278 



i!i:roKT — 1884. 



H« I 



linman liabitatioii. Tin; auiliiir's views generally poincido with those of 

 Theobald Fisher, as oxteiided by him to a much wider area.' 



' 10. The author eousider.s t hat there are reasons for concluding that 

 the outburst of volcanic ])henomena in Xorth-casteru Palestine in the 

 region of the Jaulan and Jliiuran, &c., lias an indirect connection witli 

 the formation of the great Jordan Jjakc; of th(* Pluvial oeriod. Th(^ 

 i:)rcsencc of water in considerable volum(> is now recognised as necessary 

 to volcanic activity, and the aiilhc. submits that this inlerdependpTice was 

 brought about when the waters of the lake stretched as far north as the 

 little Lake of Haleh. 'I'hcso waters, under a pressure of several hundred 

 feet, would tind their way into the interior of the earth's crust along Ww 

 lines of the great .Jordan A'alley fault and of its branches, and thu> 

 supply the necessary ••steam-power"' for volcanic action. The period 

 when the volcanoes of the Jaulan and Hauran were in action appears to 

 have ranged from the Pliocene through the post-Pliocene to tlio beginning 

 of the recent ; wdu-n, concurrent with the falling away and partial di'vin^' 

 up of the -waters of the great lake, the volcanic fires became extinct, ami 

 the great sheets of basaltic lava ceased to flow. 



' If these views are correct, it would seem that during the Glacial 

 epoch Palestine and Southern Syria presented an aspect very different 

 i'rora the present. The Lebanon throughout the year was snow-clad ovei' 

 its higher elevations, while glaciers descended into some of its valleys. 

 The region of the Hauran, lying at its southern base, was the site of 

 several extensive volcanoes, while the district around, and the Jordan 

 Valley itself, was invaded by Hoods of lava. A great inland sea, occupying 

 the Jordan Valley, tugetlur with the existing comparatively restricted 

 sheets of water, stretched from Luke Iluleh on the north to a southern 

 margin near the base of Sanu-at Fiddan in the Wady el Arabah of the 

 present day, ■while numerous arms and bays stretched into tlie glens and 

 valleys of Palestine and Moab on either hand. Under such climatic con- 

 ditions, wo may feel assured, a luxuriant vegetation decdced v. itli verdure 

 the hills and vales to an extent far beyond that of the ])resent, and 

 amongst the trees, as Sir .1. 1). Hooker has shown, the cedar may have 

 spread far and wide. 



' 11. The author has not thought it necessary to go into the question 

 of the origin of the salinity of the Salt Sea, as this question is now FiilK 

 understood. Ho is obliged to differ from Dr. Lartct in his view of tlie 

 origin of the salt mountain, Jebel Usdum,- which he (the author) regards 

 as a portion of the bed of the Salt Sea when it stood about (lOU feet above 

 its present level. This level exactly corresponds to that of the tei'races, 

 lioth along the south and east of thcGhor, formed of lacustrine materials. 

 The upper surface of Jebol I'sdura was examined by Messrs. Hart and 

 Laurence, of our party, but previous explorers have considered the sides 

 inaccessible. 



' 1'2. The author concurs with previous writers in considering that tlie 

 Cretaceous and Tertiary periods succeeded each other over this region (at 

 least as far as the marine deposits are concerned) without any important 

 physical disturbances ; in consequence of which the limestone formations 

 of these periods are in physical conformity and are generally incapable ol 



' Stiidicn iiher das Kl'niui thr Jfcdifrn'isclioi Liindiv, J'otcrman's ]\IittlK'iIiinurii. 

 1879. 



- Lartct iTLrards tlie strata of (his mountain as belonging to the Nummnliiic 

 period. 



