Reviews—Stanford’s Geography—Australian Geology. 431 
The most varied district in Westralia from a geological point of 
view is that of Kimberley in the extreme north-west of the state. 
The foundation of the Paleozoic plateau here consists of Cambrian 
rocks. The age of these rocks is proved by the fact that they contain 
worms of the genus Sa/taredla, and a trilobite which is referred to 
Olenellus; the first payable goldfield discovered in Westralia is 
situated in these rocks. There are also indications of Silurian beds, 
and the Devonian system is said to be well developed in the Kimberley 
district, though not indicated in the geological map (p. 104). In this 
region also the map shows Carboniferous rocks and large patches of 
Tertiary volcanics. 
It is, however, in the basin of the Gascoyne River, an expansion of 
the western coastal strip, that the most interesting development of 
beds of Carboniferous age occur. In all this region they belong, in 
the main, to the marine limestone type of the Lower Carboniferous. 
These beds are rich in fossil corals and in Polyzoa of a peculiar 
character, such as the genus Zvactinopora, originally described from 
the Lower Carboniferous of Illinois and Jowa in the United States of 
America. There is also an abundance of characteristic Brachiopoda, 
etc. Beneath the Carboniferous limestones are shales and con- 
glomerates along with beds containing coarse boulders, some of which 
are considered to be of glacial origin. On the south the Irwin River 
Coalfield constitutes the third chief outcrop of the Carboniferous beds, 
and this is considered to be of Permo-Carboniferous age from the 
fossils associated with the coal deposits. The development is con- 
sidered to be a poor one, and, so far as is known, Westralia is not 
likely to be a coal-producing district to any extent. 
The Mesozoic and Cainozoic rocks in the coastal strip are not of 
particular importance, except that in some cases, when reached by 
bores, certain Mesozoic rocks yield abundant water through artesian 
wells; most of the fossils indicate a Lower Jurassic age, though 
there is some evidence of Lower Cretaceous. A series of Cainozoic 
deposits rests on the Archeean plateau of the interior; it includes 
vast sheets of mottled clays, ironstones, and conglomerates. These 
clays have yielded the bones of Diprotodon, and they also contain 
patches of lime, coal, and cement, which is sometimes rich in gold. 
Race and laterite are abundantly deposited on the surface. 
Westralia has of late been the chief gold- producing state of 
Australia, as the following figures for the year 19038 will show :-— 
£ 
Western Australia ania ie 8,777,719 
Victoria ... hes Lt ie <e 3,259,483 
Queensland a3 De 889, 813 
New South Wales Bie Aan 1 080, 029 
South Australia ... ic es ie 90,031 
Wotall 20... 616,047,075 
Wi. Be ad. 
