PRELIMINARY REPORT. 7 
Through the Paumotu Archipelago the soundings in less than 1400 
fathoms are marked by the frequent occurrence of Pteropod ooze and of 
Globigerine, but by far the greater number of soundings show a bottom 
made up of Globigerinze and of coral sand in proportion to the distance 
from the atolls; the coral sand being coarser nearer the shores, gradually 
becoming finer as we proceed seaward, and at the same time containing a 
larger percentage of Globigerine or of Pteropod shells, Compare the 
records of the shallower stations in the northwestern Paumotus, such as 
Stations 79, 89, 91, 96, 106, 107, 115 to 117, made up of comparatively 
coarse coral-sand, with deeper stations like 82, 97, 104, 109, at which the 
coral sand is finer, containing a larger percentage of Pteropods or Globi- 
gerinz, and with the still deeper stations like numbers 77, 87, 93, 94, 
102,. 103, 110-114, where the Globigerinze make up the greater part of 
the deposit. 
A similar state of things is found to hold good with the deposits at the 
stations occupied in the central Paumotus, as well as in the easternmost 
islands of the Paumotus we visited. When the depths separating the 
islands are greater, as at Station 146 (lat. 18° 56’ S., long. 139° 05’ W.) 
and 152 and 154 to 157 (lat. 20° 46.5’ &., long. 142° 51’ W.), on the way 
from Pinaki to Nukutipipi, we find again red clay in depths varying from 
2284 to 2467 fathoms containing a greater or less percentage of Foramini- 
fera. Similarly at Stations 166 and 167 (lat. 20° 02’ S., long. 144° 28’ W.), 
in the deep water which separates Anu Anuraro from Hereheretue, in 2265 
and 2524 fathoms, the bottom deposit is red clay with an admixture of 
Foraminifera; while at stations varying in depth from about 700 fathoms 
to nearly 2000 fathoms the deposit is made up of coral sand, Pteropod ooze, 
and Globigerine in different percentages, as in the deposits of the north- 
western Paumotus. 
The deep soundings between Hereheretue and Tahiti at Stations 172 
and 173 (lat. 18° 55’ S., long. 146° 32’ W.) were made up of red clay 
and Globigeringe; and on approaching Tahiti the coral sand which charac- 
terized the vicinity of the atolls in the Paumotus is replaced in the Society 
Islands by voleanic mud and volcanic sand and a small percentage of 
Globigerine. 
wy ait gf AN Pt 
