﻿494 
  T. 
  BELT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STEPPES 
  OF 
  SIBERIA. 
  

  

  that 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  meridian 
  of 
  Samarova 
  the 
  blocks 
  lie 
  exposed 
  

   on 
  the 
  surface, 
  whilst 
  eastward 
  they 
  are 
  completely 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  

   great 
  deposit 
  of 
  clay; 
  two 
  thousand 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  eastward 
  of 
  this 
  

   point, 
  at 
  Yakutsk, 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  strata 
  of 
  the 
  steppes 
  con- 
  

   sist 
  of 
  loam, 
  fine 
  sand, 
  and 
  magnetic 
  sand. 
  In 
  the 
  deepest 
  parts 
  

   twigs 
  and 
  leaves 
  of 
  trees 
  are 
  found 
  ; 
  the 
  alluvial 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  Lena 
  

   also 
  consists 
  of 
  similar 
  deposits 
  and 
  the 
  spoils 
  of 
  willow-banks. 
  

   " 
  Everywhere," 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  throughout 
  these 
  immense 
  alluvial 
  deposits 
  

   there 
  are 
  now 
  lying 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  antediluvian 
  quadrupeds 
  along 
  

   with 
  vegetable 
  remains." 
  At 
  Pavlodav 
  I 
  obtained 
  teeth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mammoth 
  and 
  Rhinoceros 
  tichorinus 
  from 
  M. 
  Hermann 
  Paulson, 
  

   who 
  had 
  made 
  a 
  large 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  Mammalia 
  from 
  the 
  

   banks 
  of 
  the 
  Irtisch. 
  He 
  told 
  me 
  they 
  were 
  exposed 
  in 
  sections 
  of 
  

   the 
  steppe-sands 
  after 
  freshets 
  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  when 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  

   banks 
  were 
  carried 
  away 
  ; 
  this 
  information 
  agrees 
  with 
  the 
  position 
  

   of 
  the 
  mammalian 
  remains 
  assigned 
  by 
  the 
  traveller 
  Pallas, 
  who 
  

   states 
  that 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  marshes 
  or 
  low 
  lands, 
  but 
  in 
  

   the 
  precipices 
  of 
  the 
  river-banks, 
  in 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  called 
  the 
  steppe- 
  

   sands. 
  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   position 
  as 
  the 
  Cyrena 
  fluminalis. 
  Further 
  to 
  the 
  north, 
  around 
  the 
  

   coast 
  of 
  the 
  Polar 
  sea, 
  within 
  the 
  Arctic 
  circle, 
  the 
  carcasses 
  of 
  

   mammoths 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  along 
  with 
  marine 
  shells, 
  proving, 
  I 
  

   think, 
  a 
  small 
  rise 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  since 
  they 
  were 
  deposited. 
  

  

  2. 
  Theory 
  of 
  the 
  Origin 
  of 
  the 
  Steppes. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  question, 
  and 
  one 
  not 
  easily 
  answered, 
  what 
  

   spread 
  out 
  these 
  vast 
  level 
  sheets 
  of 
  sand 
  and 
  loam 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  

   northern 
  base 
  of 
  Asia 
  ? 
  For 
  weeks, 
  as 
  I 
  was 
  driven 
  over 
  them 
  and 
  

   saw 
  day 
  after 
  day 
  the 
  sun 
  rise 
  on 
  a 
  level 
  horizon 
  and 
  set 
  again 
  on 
  

   the 
  far-stretching 
  plains, 
  I 
  puzzled 
  myself 
  with 
  it. 
  I 
  ultimately 
  

   arrived 
  at 
  a 
  solution 
  which, 
  I 
  believe, 
  meets 
  all 
  the 
  requirements 
  of 
  

   the 
  case 
  ; 
  and 
  to 
  obtain 
  its 
  acceptance 
  by 
  geologists, 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  will 
  

   be 
  best 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  steps 
  by 
  which 
  I 
  was 
  led 
  to 
  it. 
  

  

  I 
  soon 
  saw 
  that 
  the 
  plains 
  had 
  no 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  river- 
  

   system 
  : 
  the 
  rivers 
  simply 
  cut 
  through 
  them 
  ; 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  

   defined 
  river-basins, 
  bounded 
  by 
  rocks 
  of 
  greater 
  age, 
  B 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  deposited. 
  My 
  next 
  idea 
  was 
  that 
  the 
  sands 
  must 
  

   be 
  marine 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  find 
  that 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  explanation 
  of 
  their 
  formation 
  

   given 
  by 
  the 
  celebrated 
  geologist 
  Prof. 
  Bernhard 
  von 
  Cotta, 
  who 
  

   visited 
  the 
  Altai 
  in 
  1868. 
  He 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  

   series 
  of 
  rocks 
  between 
  the 
  Permian 
  and 
  the 
  Diluvial 
  leads 
  to 
  the 
  

   conclusion 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  this 
  long 
  period 
  the 
  region 
  was 
  

   dry 
  land, 
  and 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  Diluvial 
  period 
  it 
  was 
  covered 
  with 
  

   water 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  mountains. 
  He 
  says 
  " 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  an 
  

   ocean, 
  extending 
  from 
  the' 
  Glacial 
  Sea 
  to 
  the 
  Ural, 
  the 
  Altai 
  and 
  the 
  

   Caspian 
  and 
  Black 
  Seas, 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  boundary 
  between 
  

   Europe 
  and 
  the 
  south 
  and 
  east 
  of 
  Asia. 
  The 
  absence 
  of 
  traces 
  of 
  

   glaciers, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  generally 
  of 
  any 
  vestiges 
  of 
  a 
  glacial 
  period, 
  

   such 
  as 
  are 
  so 
  frequently 
  observed 
  in 
  Europe, 
  may 
  be 
  accounted 
  for 
  

  

  

  