EDITORIAL 



NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF PORT ARTHUR AND VICINITY 



I had opportunity during a short visit to Port Arthur in Sep- 

 tember, 1913, to make the following brief notes on the geology 

 of the surrounding portion of Liaotung Peninsula, including a 

 part of the territory occupied by the Japanese besieging army 

 in the course of the Russo-Japanese War. 



Eliot Blackwelder ^ has already noted the topographic matur- 

 ity of the land forms in Liaotung Peninsula just north of Port 

 Arthur, as well as the drowned condition of the streams adjacent 

 to the coast line. The main stream which empties into the bay 

 at Port Arthur is a striking example of a submerged river. The 

 harbor itself is formed by the former mouth of this stream, 

 and is at present being filled with silt carried into it by this 

 stream and one or two of its former tributaries. The country 

 surrounding Port Arthur is made up of numerous hills of medium 

 height, whose rounded tops show the extreme maturity of the 

 present erosion cycle. One of the highest and most prominent 

 is the famous 203-Meter Hill which has acquired historic interest 

 from the struggle which attended its capture. The absolute 

 lack of forests undoubtedly hastens the progress of erosion among 

 these hills, and contributes to the burden of silt being deposited 

 in the harbor. An attempt at reforestation with Scotch pine is 

 now being made by the Japanese authorities of Port Arthur, 

 and their effort may result in checking the process of erosion. 



The dominant rock near Port Arthur appears to be a bedded 

 quartzite, whose layers are tilted at various angles. Veins and 

 lenses of pure quartz were observed in the quartzite. On Pum- 

 pelly's map of China ^ the lower portion of Liaotung Penin- 

 sula is colored as Devonian limestone. I saw no trace of lime- 

 stone near Port Arthur, but Blackwelder * found metamorphic 

 limestones or marbles associated with quartzites near Li-kuan- 

 ts'un farther north on Liaotung Peninsula. These rocks Black- 

 welder refers to as the Ta-ku-shan series, and he considers them 



' Research in China, Pub. Carnegie Inst. Wash. (1907), No. 54, 1, 86. 

 " Geologic researches in China, Mongolia and Japan. Cont. Knowl., Smith- 

 sonian Inst. (1866). 

 ' Loc. cit., 89. 



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