THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE 



NEW SERIES. DECADE III. VOL. IX. 



No. IX.— SEPTEMBER, 1892. 



OIRXG-mSTJ^lL, .a.i^tigl:e]S. 



I. — Notes on Eussian Geology. 



By W. F. Hume, B.Sc, A.R.S.M., F.G.S, ; 



Demonstrator in Geology, Royal College of Science. 



PLATES X. AND XI. 

 Cretaceous. 



IN the summer of 1891 a journey was undertaken by the writer to 

 the S.W. Governments of Eussia, the immediate object in view 

 being the study of the geology of that region. This portion of the 

 notes then taken will deal more especially with the extent, 

 thickness, and general contour of the Cretaceous beds of the district, 

 together with a review of the Eussian literature bearing on the zonal 

 distribution in the various Governments. 



In 1845 Murchison had gathered together most of the facts then 

 known regarding the Cretaceous formation of S. Eussia, but his own 

 direct observations were few, and the work was considered of only 

 secondary importance. Under these circumstances it would not 

 have been very surprising to find that he had fallen into error on 

 many points. 



In discussing the Chalk of the Donetz Basin, Murchison had 

 already pointed out the great resemblance of the Eussian beds to their 

 W. European representatives, both in their faunal and lithological 

 characteristics, and subsequent research has shown that it is possible 

 to arrange the strata into divisions corresponding to those adopted 

 by French authors. 



Tbe main discussion will be restricted to the governments of Kieff, 

 Poltava, Tchernigov, Kursk, and Kharkoff; these districts being 

 those which came most under my immediate notice. In addition 

 to numerous personal visits to the finest exposures, I had the 

 further advantage of being supplied by Messrs. Winning Brothers, 

 of Kharkoff, with detailed copies and a few samples of the principal 

 bores worked by them during the last few years. Amongst these 

 the bore at Kharkoff reveals the greatest thickness of Chalk yet 

 known in Europe (Plate X. Fig. 1). Taking this city as a centre, 

 a section, running from Gluskhovo through Soumy and Achtirka 

 to Kharkoff, and thence to Borki may be constructed from the data 

 to hand. 



DECADE III. VOL. IX. — NO. IX. ' 25 



