Prof. A, E. Nordenskiold — Geology of Spitzberg en. 121 



The stratum A 2 is, if we except the Mytilus- stratum at Cape 

 Thordsen and Advent Bay, tlie latest stratum on Spitsbergen loMch 

 contains marine fossils,^ and it is therefore supposed that the configu- 

 ration of Spitzbergeu underwent considerable changes during the 

 Jurassic period, inasmuch as the sea which formerly covered these 

 regions was exchanged for an extensive continent. 



The uppermost stratum (B) of Agardh's mountain is separated 

 by a thick seam of diabase from the underlying strata, and consists 

 of a hard sandstone, in which I have not found any determinable 

 fossils. In outward appearance this sandstone corresponds com- 

 pletely with the sandstone from Cape Boheman, in which Dr. Oberg 

 and I, during the Expedition of 1872-73 found fossil plants, which, 

 according to the determination of Oswald Heer, belong to the 

 Jurassic period.^ From this circumstance, and from the orycto- 

 gnostic resemblance between the sandstone at Cape Boheman and the 

 uppermost stratum of Agardh's mountain, it is perhaps probable that 

 these strata occupy nearly the same geological position. 



Cape Boheman is a low promontory, principally consisting of 

 sandstone, which projects into Ice Sound from the middle of the 

 north-west coast. South of its extreme point there are several small 

 islands, which are yearly visited by the Spitzbergen whalers for the 

 purpose of collecting eggs and down. As of late years small 

 steamers have been employed in the fishery, these too are accus- 

 tomed to visit the place to obtain a supply of coal from a seam 

 which is found in the rock in the neighbourhood of the islands in 

 the steep shore terrace which everywhere bounds the peninsula. 

 The succession of strata here is shown in the profile below. 



Fig. 11. — Section of Jurassic strata at Cape Bolieman. 

 1. Sandstone. 2. Sandstone mixed with Coal and Shale. 3. Slates. 



The principal mass of the strata consists of a hard, nearly unfossil- 

 iferous, mostly white sandstone, which at some places is mixed 

 with clay, and thus passes into sandy clay-slate. Besides, the sand- 



1 Some univalves and fragments of fossil wood found in the Tertiary strata at Cape 

 Staratschin are described by Mayer in Oswald Heer's Miocene Flora and Fauna von 

 Spitsbergen, and are considered, at least partly, to belong to marine types. The 

 broken and fragmentary condition of these fossils and their occurrence, the vege- 

 table fragments included, in a stratum, merely local, of one or two inches thick, 

 imbedded among purely fresh-water forms, however, shows that they do not lie 

 in situ, but have been washed out of some older marine stratum. 



2 Some ill-preserved vegetable impressions (pieces of Cycadea) were brought home 

 from this locality during the Expedition of 1864, although they have not been sub- 

 jected to a close examination. As at that time Miocene Coal-seams only were known 

 to occur at Spitzbergen, I referred these strata in my sketch of the geology of 

 Spitzbergen to the Tertiary period. 



