TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF OLTENIA 68 1 



the whole formation was Schlier, and as such it was figured in the 

 sketch of the salt formation by Mrazec and Teisseyre. 



Where the salt formations rest on the strata with Cerithinm 

 plicalum we cannot distinguish the exact limit of each, because, as 

 mentioned above, they are in continuity; from Cacova up to Petreni 

 the Schlier lies unconformably on the Oligocene, and at Bistrita on 

 the Jura limestone. The prolongation southward is easier to define, 

 because there the Sarmatian layers are rich in fossils. 



In the Subcarpathian salt formation of Oltenia we can distinguish 

 two horizons very well characterized by two facies, which, contrary 

 to received opinion, 1 are very similar to, if not identical with, those 

 of the bend of the Carpathians, and especially of the Slanic basin 

 and Trotusu valley. 



i. The lower horizon of the salt formation. — The lower horizon is 

 of a sandy facies, with small intercalations of conglomerates, and 

 bluish or reddish sandy marls corresponding with the reddish facies 

 of the salt formation in the east. The colored bands of those deposits 

 can be seen from afar in the walls of the valley and the river beds, 

 viz., at Gura-Vai-Daesti ; along the Olt River between Bujoreni, 

 north and south Fedelesoaia-Cetatuia, at Bujoreni, in the Trantu 

 valley, Runcu, etc.; then at Govora Spa, Tomsani, Maldaresti, etc. 

 Two small bands of palla of a fine grain, and with scales of hexagonal 

 biotite, occur on the banks of the Olt, under the salt wells from 

 Olteni. Between Bujoreni and Vladesti the salt formation is cov- 

 ered by the marly facies of the Sarmatic layers, and can then be seen 

 only in the beds of the valleys. At Runcu, at the head of the Trantu 

 valley, this facies appears again very well marked, and with a large 

 and characteristic palla bed. Here may be seen a variety of palla 

 with very many foreign sedimentary elements, of the size of a hazel- 

 nut. The water-worn constituents are of quartzites, sandstones, 

 limestones, schists, etc. In the Olt valley the bank's fall south- 

 southeast, almost 30 , and in the west we find this formation much 



1 Messrs. Mrazec and Teisseyre, in their valuable research on salt formations in 

 Roumania (Moniteur dn Petrole roumain, 1902), dwelt just a little on this basin. It 

 must not be forgotten that at that time neither the existence of the two horizons nor 

 the extent of the salt formations was known. Palla also was not identified, but con- 

 fused, as was the case with all earlier geologists, with the silicious calcareous marl or 

 sandstone . 



