174 
against which the overthrust mountain chain is pushed up — a 
depression occurs just opposite the Tenimber islands. 
We know that the shape of the folds of several mountain-chains 
is influenced by the resistance of the “Vorland”. This also holds 
for the folds to which the formation of the uplifted curving rows 
of islands and the alternating deep ocean-basins have been aseribed 
above, and then we can compare the bending of the Timor-Ceram 
curve near the Tenimber-islands with the pushing forward of the 
Penninic overthrust sheets of the Alps in the lower parts of the 
hereynian mountains, against which they were pushed up (as 
between Mont Blane and the Aar-massif). 
Behind the parts of greatest resistance of the “Vorland”, the 
tectonic axes at a deeper level, and the islands at the surface will 
rise higher; this need not be, but may be, the reason why the 
Tenimber islands are not uplifted so high above the sea-level, as 
Timor is. 
The Tenimber islands have been considered by us‘) to belong to 
the overthrust mountain-range, and if the mountains on the South 
Coast of Timor, characterised by an imbricated structure with a 
uniform dip to the north-north-west, are autochtonous 7), the over- 
thrust mountain-range must in all likelihood also have been bent 
at the site of the Tenimber islands. 
The outlying position of the Kei-islands. 
The Kei-islands are like the Tenimber-islands situated opposite a 
depression in the region covered by the shallow Arafura Sea, and 
their outlying position can be explained in a similar way. Along 
the north coast of Groot-Kei the terraces of miocene limestone are 
surrounded by a younger and lower (probably quaternary) coral- 
terrace, while the terraces of miocene limestone in the southern 
part of the island are found down to the sea level. This points to 
an intenser uplift of the northern part of the island in post-tertiary 
time and this may, just as the outlying position, point to the 
persistence of crustal movements similar to those which gave rise 
to the overthrusts of the Timor-Ceram row of islands. The northern 
part of the island, namely, lies just opposite a protruding point of 
the depression in the region covered by the Arafura sea, and opposite 
this more resistant part of the ‘“Vorland” the tectonic axes at a 
deeper level and the islands at the surface will be more elevated. 
1) H. A. BROUWER. loc. cit. 
3) G. A. F. MoLENGRAAFF. Folded mountain chains ete, loc. cit., p. 691. 
