SEDIMENTARY BELT OF THE COAST OF. BRAZIL 221 
identical with those of the Pernambuco basin. Some years later he 
was shown fragments of fossiliferous limestone from near Mossor6, 
in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, that indicated the existence of 
another similar marine basin in that region; and recently Branner 
(12) has shown that a fresh-water formation similar to that of Bahia 
occurs along a considerable part of the coast of the state of Alagoas 
to the northward of the city of Maceio.? 
Gonzaga de Campos (15) has recently shown that the fresh-water 
formation of Bahia extends southward along the coast to Marahu, 
where it is associated with marine beds containing a fauna similar to 
that of Sergipe, while unpublished observations by Ennes de Souza and 
the present writer show that another basin of the same character exists 
farther southward in the neighborhood of Ilheos. 
The approximate interior limit of this sedimentary belt in the sec- 
tion from the state of Espirito Santo to Rio Grande do Norte has been 
given in several recent papers by Branner (12, 13, 14), but with- 
out attempting to discriminate the two members above indicated, 
which with our present knowledge is indeed an impossible task. The 
accompanying sketch map is in great part compiled from the various 
maps accompaning his papers. ‘Throughout the section of the coast 
here represented to Cape St. Roque the higher lands lying back of the 
sedimentary belt are composed of very ancient metamorphic rocks, 
for the most part probably Archean, with their accompanying erup- 
tives, though in a few places (Lower Jequetinhonha and Rio Pardo, 
Inhambupe near Bahia, and Serra de Itabaiana in Sergipe), unmeta- 
morphosed beds, probably of early or middle Paleozoic age, are known 
to occur. Farther northward, in the states of Ceard, Piauhy, Maran- 
hao, and Para, it is probable that they abut against or perhaps merge 
into, the high-lying beds of presumably Mesozoic age that form 
the table-topped hills and ridges so characteristic of considerable 
portions of those states. It is possible also that in the three latter 
states they will be found in close connection with late Paleozoic 
(Permo-Carboniferous) strata. Regarding these points, however, 
nothing is definitely known. 
As above stated, the strata of this sedimentary belt fall on the 
t The origin of the bituminous shale described by M. Bertrand (Travaux et Mé- 
moires de ? Université de Lille, VI. Mem. 21, 1898) from Cearé is not certainly known. 
