l('>i"< IIOKN KXPEDlTinV — SUMMARY. 



Et.li('i-i(]gc, "the sti'atn consist of brittle^ clays ;iii<l calcareous shales with Ijaiids of 

 liiiiestoiie ami L;y])suiii, clay, ironstone, and ferruginous sandstone and sandy beds 

 .... iwcrlyiin^ this Jon/ia/ioi! are beds of .sandstone, a.rgillai'ecius sandstone, kaolin, 

 grit autl pebbly conglomerate foi-niing tabledands and Iiills almost in\;uial>ly 

 capped by a thin bed of yellow and red liinty (juartzite or jasper rock the t()tal 



thickness varying from one hundred t(i two hundred feet The composition 



of these Sujier-Cretaceous beds is the same o\'er wide areas from the ^\'arrego in 

 New South Wales, to the Diamintina." Messrs. Jack and Etheridge say: "It 

 will 1)0 seen that Mr. l>rown does not distinctly a.\'er that the "Super-Cretaceous" 

 rocks described by him lie uncomformably on the Crt'taceous ; there can \)c no 

 doubt h((wev(u- that he so undei'stands their relations, as is evident from the 

 section ai'Comj)anying the report. The identity of the " Super-Cretaceous " of 

 South Australia with the Desert Sandstone of Queensland in Mr. JJiown's mind is 

 settled by his remark that the Crey Kanges of New South Wales and Queensland 

 Ix'hjng to tlie same formation. The " porcellaniscd " coutlition of a portion of the 

 sandstone on the South jVustralian side of the border is a very interesting 

 observation in view of the "quasi-vitreous" appearance of the formation at 

 Cloncurry and Croydon on the Queensland side. 



The superposition of Tertiary Rocks on the Desert Sandstone of South 

 Australia is an observation of the highest iiiij)ortance, as direct evidence of this 

 nature i.s quite wanting in Queenshind, and Dainti'ee ascrilxnl a. Tertiary age to 

 the Desert Sandstone itself."* 



Messrs. Tate and Watt agree with Mr. llrown in assigning a Supi'a-Cretaceous 

 age to the Desert Sandstone. 



Whilst no fossils have actually been recognisc^d in the Desert Sa-udstone of 

 the Finke Basin, plant impressions have l)een r'eported by Mr. lirown, Professor 

 Tate and others as occurring, together with ma-rine molluscs, in the Desert 

 Sandstone of the basins of Lakes Eyre, Fiome, Torrens and ttairdiier. In addition 

 to the only two plant remains previously assigned to tlu; Desert Sandstone,! viz., 

 Didymosicrns (?) gleiclieitioides and Glossopteris sp., Professor Tate now adds ten 

 more and states that "the tlora here indicated is analagous with that at Vegt'table 

 Creek and Dalton, described by JJaron von Ettingshausen, antl on jjaheontologic 

 ground lias been regarded Ijy him as Eocene. The same type of Hora is preserved 

 at various localities in Victoria, the age of which is considered by McCoy to be 



* Guulogy of (^'ucfiislaTji.1, ctf., p. IJ.'JO. t GcoIoj;.v of (tiUfcnsUuul, ii. 'Si\. 



