CHAPTER XV. 



Miocene period Marine formations Faluns of Touraine Comparison of the 

 Faluns of the Loire and the English Crag Basin of the Gironde and Landes 

 Fresh-water limestone of Saucats Position of the limestone of Blaye 

 Eocene strata in the Bordeaux basin Inland cliff near Dax Strata of Pied- 

 mont Superga Valley of the Bormida Molasse of Switzerland Basin of 

 Vienna Styria Hungary Volhynia and Podolia Montpellier. 



MIOCENE FORMATIONS MARINE. 



HAVING treated in the preceding chapters of the older and 

 newer Pliocene formations, we shall next consider those mem- 

 bers of the tertiary series which we have termed Miocene. The 

 distinguishing characters of this group, as derived from its 

 imbedded fossil testacea, have been explained in the fifth chap- 

 ter (p. 54). In regard to the relative position of the strata, 

 they underlie the older Pliocene, and overlie the Eocene forma- 

 tions, when any of these happen to be present. 



The area covered by the marine, fresh-water, and volcanic 

 rocks of the Miocene period, in different parts of Europe, can 

 already be proved to be very considerable, for they occur in 

 Touraine, in the basin of the Loire, and still more extensively 

 in the south of France, between the Pyrenees and the Gironde. 

 They have also been observed in Piedmont, near Turin, and 

 in the neighbouring valley of the Bormida, where the Apen- 

 nines branch off from the Alps. They are largely developed 

 in the neighbourhood of Vienna and in Styria ; they abound 

 in parts of Hungary ; and they overspread extensive tracts in 

 Volhynia and Podolia. 



Shells characteristic of the Miocene strata are found in all 

 these countries, figures of some of which are given in Plate 2 

 in this volume. They characterize the period, because they 

 are either wanting or extremely rare in the Eocene or Pliocene 

 formations. 



We shall now proceed to notice briefly some of the countries 



