Vol. 54.] GEOLOGY OF PRANZ JOSEF LAND. 633 



to be seen. This is the only spot where granitic rocks of any kind 

 (except a small fragment at Cape Gertrude) were observed. 



Driftwood was more abundant at this point than anywhere else 

 in Franz Josef Land. This, and the occurrence of the granite- 

 boulders, may be due to the fact that Cape Mary Harmsworth 

 touches the edge of the great drift across the polar ocean. 



The foregoing are briefly the general features of some of the land 

 that I saw. What I have described relates, of necessity, almost 

 entirely to the coasts, and the land seen from the coasts, of the islands 

 forming the south-western part of the archipelago. In this area 

 there seems to be a general tendency for the land to slope downward 

 towards the north-west and north. Thus Northbrook Island is 

 much lower on the north than on the south ; Fridtjof Nansen and 

 Reginald Koettlitz Islands end in low land to the north ; so also 

 does Alexandra Land. 



II. The Basaltic Eocks. 



Mr. J. J. H. Teall ^ has already described examples of these rocks 

 from specimens which were sent home from Franz Josef Land in 

 1896, and some additional notes by him will be found on p. 646 of 

 the present volume. There are, however, some interesting points to 

 which I desire to call attention, regarding the elevation and other 

 conditions under which these basalts occur. 



The heights of several of the capes and cliffs have been already 

 stated, and these altitudes were for the most part calculated by 

 Mr. A. B. Armitage from angular measurements. They refer to the 

 cliffs or exposures of rock which are plainly visible and are almost 

 always uncovered; yet it is certain that in many instances the 

 rocks attain a much greater elevation farther inland, for the 

 ice-domes which cover the inlying regions, and in winter have the 

 appearance of solid ice-caps, in summer are found in many places to 

 be pierced by small bosses of rock. From a number of observations 

 I am satisfied that the ice-cap is comparatively thin, perhaps not 

 more than 20 feet thick ; and that for some distance behind what 

 seems to be the summit of the cliff the basalt stiU ascends by 

 a series of shallow terraces. 



Cape Gertrude shows such points at its summit, and there 

 are two terraces of rock between this and the cliffs. Similar con- 

 ditions may be seen at Cape Forbes, on Bell Island, and on 

 Bruce Island. 



The basalt occurs in layers or tiers, varying in thickness from 10 

 to 70 feet, which often show very conspicuously in the cliffs. These 

 tiers are separated by laminated beds, sometimes only a few inches 

 in thickness, but more often from 2 to 4 feet thick, and occasionally 

 much thicker. 



At Cape Flora, where I had more opportunity for examining 

 the rock in detail, I found these intermediate layers to consist 



1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. liii (1897) p. 482. 

 aJ.G.S. No. 216. 2t 



