CLIMATE AND TERRESTRIAL DEPOSITS 291 



acteristic also of the salty flats in the Great Basin of the United States. 

 Furthermore, the Red Sea, surrounded by intensely arid lands, shows 

 dominant light yellow as the color of the bottom muds, varying in 

 certain soundings to tones of grayish or brownish yellow.^ Contrary 

 to what might be expected from the name, the Red Sea contains no 

 red sediment and the origin of the name is in doubt. ^ 



From these statements it is seen that, while red in present soils 

 is particularly characteristic of the residual soils of warm moist cli- 

 mates, in ancient deposits it is a usual accompaniment of arid condi- 

 tions. 



Furthermore, that hot climates were not necessary for the origin 

 of certain ancient red shales and sandstones is suggested, but far from 

 proved, by the occurrence of such rocks within the Arctic Circle, 

 Nathorst having found the Old Red Sandstone in Spitzbergen, lat. 

 79-80° N.3 On Bear Island, also, somewhat farther to the south, in 

 lat. 74° 30' N., and again in northern Norway, red strata of this age 

 occur.4 Turning to the antipodes, it is to be noted that Wilkes in 

 1840 landed on an ice island off the Antarctic continent in lat. 65° 60', 

 long. 106 °i()' E. He found imbedded in it, in places, bowlders, 

 stones, gravel sand, and mud or clay. The larger specimens were 

 of red sandstone and basalt.^ The "Challenger" expedition in 1874 

 in the vicinity of the Antarctic ice in lat. 65° 42', long. 79° 49' E., 

 dredged up specimens of igneous and metamorphic rocks and red 

 sandstone.^ 



That a special origin, such as by "the revival of erosion on a land 

 surface long exposed to rock decay and oxidation and hence covered 

 by a deep residual soil," is not necessary is indicated by the very 

 great thickness and uniform color of certain red formations; by the 



1 Joseph Luksch, " Vorlaufiger Bericht iiber die physikalisch-oceanographischen 

 Untersuchungen im Rothen Meere," Wiener Akademie Sitzungsberichte, Mathematisch- 

 Naturwissenschaftlichen Classe, Abtheilung I, Band CVII (1898), pp. 636, 637. 



2 Major J. S. King, "The Red Sea: Why so Called," Journal of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society (1898), pp. 617, 618. 



3 E. Suess, Das Antlitz der Erde, Eng. trans., Vol. II, pp. 68, 69. 



4 A. Geikie, Text Book of Geology, 4th ed., 1903, pp. 1012, 



s Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition During the Years 18 38-18 42, 

 Vol. II, p. 325. 



6John Murray, "Deep Sea Deposits," "Challenger'' Reports (1891), pp. 80, 81. 



