TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF OLTENIA 701 



b) Some mud volcanoes, the largest being at Serbesti, Basnesti 

 Novaci, Tetila, etc. The numerous gloduri ("muds"), mud vol- 

 canoes in miniature, are phenomena related to those of natural gas; 

 they occur along three lines: (1) Cernadia-Carpenis-Tetila; (2) 

 Pitic-Pociovaliste-Turbati-Lazaresti-Tetila-Arcani, Bala, etc. ; (3) 

 Zorlesti-Balanesti-Preajba-T. Jiu, etc. 



c) Natural gas at Balanesti, T. Jiu, Barsesti, Lazeresti, etc. 



d) The occurrence of many beds of a red shale, natural brick or 

 quite black or brown, porous hard stone like artificial basalt. They 

 come in the immediate vicinity of the lignite seams, and are produced 

 by the spontaneous burning of the lignite. 



e) Petroleum occurring in the highest layers at Balteni (Gorj) in 

 the strata with Vivipara bifarcinata (loc. cil.). 1 



The petroleum emerges from sand and gravel beds in the Valea 

 Pacurei ("Tar Valley") and at Lacul Sarat ("Salt Lake"), and 

 has been worked many years ago. These oil layers are quite isolated 

 from any other oil-bearing deposits or older formations: They have 

 as underlying, thick banks of sand and marls, and also the lower 

 marl horizon with Valenciennesia more than 250™ thick. They are 

 inclined at 15 toward the south-southeast, and prolonged eastward 

 and westward over the whole of Oltenia. Neither a fault nor an 

 important fold was observed in this horizon. 



There are two ways of explaining the occurrence of Balteni oil : 

 (1) An underground infiltration from Paleogene or lower Miocene 

 oil-yielding layers. Petroleum was found in the strata with Vivipara 

 bifarcinata elsewhere also, and, for example, the Baicoi-Tintea- 

 Gura Ocnitei zone (with a production of 7 per cent, of the whole 

 production of Roumania). There petroleum was explained by L. 

 Mrazec and Tcisseyre as being in a secondary bed; it may be possible 

 there, because that region is very folded and faulted, and the under- 

 lying Mceotic assise is very rich in petroleum (87 per cent, of the 

 production). 2 The Pontic region of Gorjiu is, however, undisturbed. 

 An infiltration could be only through the southern end of the Pontic 

 assise; in this case, why should not petroleum occur also in the 



1 Described by Gr. Stefanescu, together with some of the mineral springs of this 

 region. 



2 Les travaux de la commission du petrole, I, igoq. 



