466 Reviews — Von Hochstetter' s European Turkey. 



On the GrEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN POBTION OF EUROPEAN 



Turkey,^ by Prof. Dr. Perd. von Hochstetter of Vienna. 



Communicated by Charles Ludolf Griesbach, Corr. Member of the K..K. 

 geologischen Reicbsanstalt, and of the K.K. geograpbiscben Gesellscbaft, Vienna. 



ri'^HIS most interesting and valuable publication is the result of an 

 JL investigation which Prof, von Hochstetter undertook on behalf 

 of the Ottoman Eailroad Company. We cannot accompany the 

 author in all his excursions and travels over so wide a territory, 

 where almost every spot visited was virgin ground for the G-eologist, 

 but must be content to give only a brief description of the strati- 

 graphical system of the country, as the author found it to be. 



I. Eastern Thracia, from a geological point of view, may best 

 be divided into five distinct areas : — 1. The Byzantine Peninsula 

 (the Eastern portion). 2. The basin of the Erkene (the centre). 

 3. Teldr-Dagh (the Southern portion). 4. Strandscha Mountains 

 with the Tundscha massive (North-eastern part). 5. Sub-Balkanian 

 Eruptive formations (Northern part). 



1. The Byzantine or Thracian Peninsula. — The Devonian Eormation 

 of the Bosphorus, comprising Clayslate, Siliceous slates, Sandstone 

 (like Greywacke), and dark bluish limestone of a knotty appearance : 

 the strata are elevated at a high angle. In the Southern portion of 

 the district the rocks strike south-west by north, and dip south. 

 This formation forms the Eastern portion of the Byzantine Peninsula, 

 striking over towards Asia Minor. Many dykes of Diorite traverse 

 its strata. 



Of Fossils 402 species were obtained from this formation, namely : 

 Crustacea, 25 ; Mollusca, 295 ; Crinoidea, 25 ; others, 57. Amongst 

 these may be specially mentioned the following : — 



Homalonotus Gervillei. Orthis orbicularis. 



Rhynclionella Gmrangeri. Chonetes sarcinulata. 

 Spirifer macropterus. „ Boblayei. 



subspeciosus. Pleurodictyum problematicum, 

 „ Davoustii. 



Yiewed palasontologically, the strata resemble the Lower Devonian 

 beds of Western Europe, but at the same time some few Upper 

 Silurian forms occur with them, such, for instance, as Trochoceras 

 Barrandii, Ortliis Gervillei, and Tentaculites ornatus. 



A quarry near the Ajasma Chapel, Constantinople, exposes a bed 

 of greyish-blue calcareous clayslate, showing cleavage intersected 

 by Diorite dykes. This bed yielded : 



Spirifer loculatus. Orthis pernoides. 



„ quadratus. Cryphaus papilis. 



Strophomena tortuosa. „ Fritschii. 



,, undulata. 



The Tertiary Formation of Thracia will be treated of in a separate 

 publication, shortly to be expected. The whole of the Western 

 ' Die geologiscben Verbaltnisse des bstlicben Tbeiles der Europaiscben Turkei von 

 Professor'^Dr. Ferd. von Hochstetter. With numerous sections and a geological map. 

 Jahrbucb der K.K.geol. Keicbsanstalt, 1870, xx. Bd. 



