THE CONTINENT 



in situ for some thirty miles along the west of Robert- 

 son Bay. These rocks present characteristics usually 

 associated with Paleozoic or Algonkian sediments, and 

 resemble the Ingleton series of Yorkshire to some ex- 

 tent. The grains of the rocks appear to be angular, 

 indicating frost-shattering, but they are evenly graded, 

 which to some extent suggests wind rather than ice. 

 Priestley suggests that they are shore deposits laid down 

 in a dry cold climate, under conditions like those at 

 present prevailing in parts of the polar regions. 



Cambrian Limestones. — On Shackleton's journey on 

 the Beardmore Glacier, in 1908 and 1909, some frag- 

 ments of a limestone breccia were obtained about eight 

 miles south of Mount Hope (latitude 84° S.). This 

 was examined in Australia in 1910, and then handed 

 over to me, since it seemed to contain fossils belong- 

 ing to the Archeocyathinse family. It is a curious 

 coincidence that I should have spent 1908 and 1909 

 at Cambridge University studying these fossils (from 

 a huge fossil coral reef in South Australia) just before 

 my two years' experience of Antarctic conditions. The 

 sketch appended (see Figure 12) shows that these 

 organisms resembled corals in structure, while they 

 were somewhat spongelike in general form. Three or 

 four genera (and several species of one genus) were 

 identifiable. In 191 1 Wright (on the last Scott ex- 

 pedition) collected a finer specimen of Archeocyathus 

 from somewhat the same locality. No fossils have 

 been found in situ of this age, but David is of the 

 opinion that the original limestones may occur in basal 

 beds of the huge Beacon Sandstone Formation. Some 



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