T. F. Jamieson — Inland Seas of the Glacial Period. 197 



From these figures it appears that if the level of the Caspian were 

 to rise (84 -f- 23) 107 feet, its waters would find their way westward 

 into the Black Sea, and if the outlet in that direction were blocked 

 so as to permit the surface of the Caspian to rise 220 feet, the waters 

 would escape northward into the Tobolsk and down the valley of the 

 Obi into the Arctic Ocean. Now the Caspian at present contains 

 Seals, Fishes, Crustacea, and Mollusca, some of which are either 

 identical with, or very closely resemble, those of the Arctic Sea. 

 The Seal which inhabits its waters (Phoca Caspica) is so like the 

 common P. vitulina that some naturalists consider it to be a mere 

 variety of that species. There are also the Beluga, the Sturgeon, the 

 Herring, the Sterlet, and the Salmon, some of which are species that 

 go up rivers from the sea. Among the Crustacea is Idothea entomon, 

 found in the Kara Sea, near the mouth of the Obi, and Mijsis relicta, 

 another northern species. So that there are grounds for supposing 

 that some commimication may have formerly existed by way of the 

 Obi with the Arctic Ocean. No doubt the waters of the Aralo- 

 Caspian basin have undergone many changes of level. Some of 

 the mollusca which still live there, such as the Cardium and Dreissena, 

 appear to be descendants of species found in the Congerian beds of 

 that region, which go back to Miocene times. 



The Pangong Lake. 



All the inland waters and salt lakes of Persia and Central Asia 

 show indications of a former greater extension. The Pangong Lake 

 (lat. 33|°', long. 79'^) in Ladak may be here quoted as an interesting 

 example. It is one of the highest-lying lakes in the world, situate 

 on the watershed between Cashmere and Tibet. It is a salt lake, 

 one hundred miles long, with no outlet. Dr. Henderson found old 

 beaches up to 70 feet above the present surface of the water, con- 

 taining spiculse of sponges and freshwater shells of the genus 

 Lymncea, showing that the lake had formerly been much larger 

 and less salt. There is also evidence that a large stream issued 

 from it and flowed down the adjoining valley into the river Shyock. 

 Old lacustrine deposits are very extensive in Ladak, and extend up 

 to 15,000 feet above the sea. Traces of ancient glaciers are likewise 

 seen in the shape of enormous terminal moraines, and this in a 

 locality where there is now scarcely any snow, (See Dr. Henderson's 

 interesting book, "From Lahore to Yarkand," 1873). 



This association of lacustrine beds and old moraines serves to 

 connect the phenomena with the Glacial period. 



The Mediterranean Basin. 

 At Gibraltar indications have been found of several movements of 

 upheaval and depression in later geological times, whilst the occur- 

 rence of fossil remains of several African animals in the caves and 

 rock fissures of that locality, as also in Spain, has led to the belief that 

 a land communication must have existed between Spain and the 

 opposite coast of Africa during some part of the Quaternary period.^ 



^ See Falconer and Busk, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxi. p. 364 ; also Eamsay 

 and Geikie, ib. vol. xxxiv. p. 535, and the papers there cited. 



