THE 
GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 
NEWO SERIES, DEGADE Ill; “VOE. NV. 
No. VIII.—AUGUST, 1888. 
QrigIE MENA, ANSARI G sis 
I.—Tue Jorpan-ARABAH DEPRESSION AND THE DEAD SEA. 
> By Israzt C. RussExx, 
Of the United States Geological Survey (Appalachian Division of Geology), 
Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 
\HE following account of the geology of the Dead Sea basin 
has been compiled from the observations of others, and I am 
especially indebted in this connection to H. J. Johnson, Geologist 
of the United States Expedition to the Dead Sea,! to Professor 
Louis Lartet, Geologist of the Duc de Luynes’ Expedition to the 
same region,? and to Prof. Edward Hull, F.R.S., Director of the 
Geological Survey of Ireland, who visited Arabia Petrea and 
Palestine in 1883-84, under the auspices of the Committee of the 
Palestine Exploration Fund.’ Besides these observers, who devoted 
their attention specially to the geology of the regions traversed during 
1 This Expedition visited Palestine in 1848, under direction of Lieut. W.S. Lynch. 
Among its more important contributions to science was the measurement, by means 
of the spirit level, of the depression of the surface of the Dead Sea below the level 
of the Mediterranean, the exploration of the River Jordan from the Sea of Galilee to 
its mouth, and the determination, by sounding, of the depth of the Dead Sea. The 
results of this Expedition were published in ‘‘ Official Report of the United States 
Expedition to the Dead Sea and the River Jordan,”’ by Lieut. F. W. Lynch, U.S.N., 
Baltimore, 1852; 4to. pp. 1-236, pl. 17, and a map. Also in “Narrative of the 
United States Expedition to the Dead Sea,” by F. W. Lynch, U.S.N., Philadelphia, 
1849; Svo. pp. 1-xx, 1-508, pl. 28, and two maps. 
2 This Expedition, fitted out and directed by the Duc de Luynes, visited Palestine 
and the adjacent regions in 1864; its scientific results include important contribu‘ions 
to geology and paleontology, and a study of the chemistry of the waters of the Dead 
Sea. Preliminary publications of the results of Louis Lartet’s observations while 
connected with this Expedition, appeared in the ‘‘ Annales des Sciences Géologiques” 
for 1869 and 1872.- The final report is: ‘‘ Voyage d’ Exploration a la Mer Morte,”’ 
par M. le Duc de Luynes, Tome ‘Troisiéme, “‘ Géologie’’ (Paris, 1877), 4to. 
pp. i-vi, 1-326, pl. 1-14. 
’ The report of the geological observations made during this Expedition has 
recently appeared, and is an important and highly interesting contribution to 
geological science. Its title is: ‘‘ Memoir on the Geology and Geography of Arabia 
Petra, Palestine, and adjoining districts.”” Published for the Committee of the 
Palestine Exploration Fund, London [?], 1886. 4to. pp. i-viii, 1-144, pl. 3, and 
three maps. A narrative of this expedition by the same author, scarcely less 
important than the final report, is entitled: ‘‘ Mount Seir, Sinai, and Western 
Palestine, being a narrative of a scientific expedition,” 1883-84, London, 1889. 
8yo. pp. 1-vi, 1-227, pl. 1-13, and two maps, 
DECADE III.—VOL. V.—NO. VIII. 22 
