310 The Philippine Journal of Science 1915 



Spanish regime. The limestone beds are so crumpled or cor- 

 rugated at places as to take on an appearance of schistosity 

 (Plate I, fig. 1). 



Shale or sandstone, or both shale and sandstone, evidently 

 intervene between the limestone just described and a heavy, 

 upper limestone, to judge from the topography, but my ob- 

 servations were too limited to determine this point with cer- 

 tainty. At the apparent top of the sedimentary series, in any 

 event, there is an extensive limestone member, coralline in 

 origin, but now perfectly massive and partly crystalline. Splen- 

 did exposures are encountered in the high ridge trending east- 

 southeastward to Palag Bay. Along the coast in this vicinity 

 the limestone forms magnificent white cliffs, reaching an eleva- 

 tion of 200 meters and rising almost perpendicularly from deep 

 water. On the north coast and also east of the town of Cara- 

 moan are hills of the same limestone. 



Everywhere this limestone is fissured, and caverns have been 

 formed through solution along the resulting joint planes. In 

 one of the hills near Paniman there is a remarkable limestone 

 cave or underground chamber, which is very aptly designated 

 as "the cathedral" locally. The chamber is circular and has an 

 area of approximately 2,500 square meters. The floor slopes 

 rather steeply from south to north, and at the lower side is 

 a large mass of rock fallen from the roof to precisely the position 

 the altar would occupy in a real cathedral. Appropriately 

 enough, the people of Paniman have surmounted it with a small 

 crucifix. Three openings lead into the chamber, one at the back 

 and one on either side of the altar, forming well-proportioned 

 doors. In the domed roof, fully 30 meters above the highest 

 part of the floor, there is an opening which serves admirably 

 as a skylight. Numerous stalactites, each terminating in a point 

 from which a glistening drop of water is suspended, hang from 

 the arched walls, imparting a suggestion of Gothic architecture 

 to the room. 



It is reported that there are several small lakes in the limestone 

 southeast of Paniman near the coast. The water in these lakes 

 is said to be salty and to abound with sea fish. Evidently these 

 lakes must communicate with the sea through subterranean 

 passages. ■ 



METAMORPHIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS 



The mass of Caramoan Peninsula consists of metamorphic 

 rocks — talc and mica-schist; schistose, massive rocks; and 

 marble. The schists are evidently of sedimentary origin; in- 

 deed the original bedding planes are unmistakable, the planes 



