October 26, 191 1] 



NATURE 



555 



AN ALBUM OF GEOLOGICAL TYPES.' 



'I" HE success of the British Association series of 



*■ photographs of geological interest has encouraged 



the issue of several further collections. Prof. Stille, 



layers of these bergs. The presence of included bands 

 of moraine material shows, however, that they have 

 been either formed on land or have grounded at some 

 time during their voyage. 

 The author contributes an interesting note on the 



of Hanover, has arranged for the publication of 

 a series of pictorial monographs illustrating various 

 geological and physiographic phenomena which are 

 confined to special regions, and of areas which espe- 

 cially well illustrate geological principles. The parts 

 announced deal especially with glacial geology, moun- 

 tain structures, and physiographic types, such as the 

 Karst. 



The first of this series is a collection of six plates of 

 Antarctic icebergs and land-ice, from photographs 

 contributed and explained by E. Philippi, the geologist 

 of the German Antarctic Expedition. The photo- 

 graphs are each SA- by 6 inches in size ; they are excel- 

 lently reproduced in appropriate tones of black, blue, 

 and green. 



The first photograph gives a general view of the 

 inland-ice seen from the Gaussberg, near the head- 

 quarters of the German Antarctic Expedition. It is 

 described as a vast ice sheet, now 300 metres thick, 

 but in recent geological times at least 400 metres 

 thicker. Its surface is free from moraines, but the 

 ice contains bands of rock debris, showing that it has 

 passed over or is resting on an uneven rocky surface. 



The Antarctic floebergs are illustrated by a view 

 of a large berg floating in Posadowsky Bay; its 

 height varies from thirty to forty metres above the 

 sea, and rarely exceeds fifty metres; but only one- 

 sixth or one-seventh of the ice is above sea level. 

 Herr Philippi refers to some of the bergs met with 

 on the expedition as sixty miles long. The details of 

 the composition of this berg are shown in a view 

 of one part of its face, and its evidence is consistent 

 with the belief in the snow-fed origin of the upper 



1 "Geologische Charakterbilder." Herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. H. 

 Stille. Heft i., EUberge und Inlandeis in der Antarlctis, by E. Philippi- 

 Jena. 6 plates. (Berlin : Gebruder Forntraeger, 1910 ) Price 3.60 marks. 



NO. 2 191, VOL. 87] 



characters of the included stones, which are described 

 as usually angular ; many have been flattened on one 

 or more sides, like the facetted stones of some ancient 



Fit;. 2. — Vertical wall about 40 metres hi^h of an Iceberg with distinct 

 stratification planes and fi-surfs, Posadowsky Cay, Antarctic. 

 Rrduced from " Ge, logische Charakterbilder " 



glacial deposits. Stones which are ice-scratched on all 

 sides are rare in these Antarctic icebergs. 



These photographs promise to be of great value to 



