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XXXI. — On the Geology of the Island ofZante. 

 Bv HUGH EDWIN STRICKLAND, Esq., F.G.S. 



[Read November 1st, 1837.] 



XHE observations detailed in this paper are the result of a few days' resi- 

 dence in the Island of Zante, during which 1 was enabled to take a general 

 view of its geological features ; but a complete survey of this and the other 

 Ionian islands is still to be desired. Such an investigation would be a work 

 of labour, for though there is little variety in the rocks, there is much com- 

 plexity in their arrangement. The structure of Zante, more simple than that 

 of the other islands, presents an epitome of their component rocks in an almost 

 unbroken succession ; and it may, therefore, be selected as a type to which the 

 pheenomena of the other islands may be referred. 



The geological phaenomena of Zante may be arranged under the three 

 heads of, 1. Apennine Limestone; 2. Tertiary Deposits; and 3. Mineral 

 Springs. (See Map, Plate XXXIIL). 



1. Apennine Limestone. — This is perhaps the most convenient appellation 

 for that deposit of compact white or grayish limestone, which is so largely de- 

 veloped in the south of Europe, and especially on the shores of the Adriatic. 

 It has an uniform character throughout many thousand feet of vertical thick- 

 ness, and many hundred miles of horizontal extent. The few fossils it contains 

 agree with those of the cretaceous, and in part also of the oolitic series of 

 northern Europe. It constitutes, in Zante, an anticlinal ridge, extending in 

 a N.N.W. and S.S.E. direction along the south-western coast, from Point 

 Skinari to Point Cheri, and this ridge is continued through the island of 

 Cephalonia. Along the eastern side the prevailing dip of the strata is from 

 30° to 45° to the E.N.E. ; west of Point Skinari an opposite dip commences, 

 and continues, with few exceptions, to near Point Cheri, where the strata 

 again dip to the eastward. 



The tertiary beds occur only on the east of this ridge. On the west we 

 find a series of cliffs, upwards of 600 feet high and almost perpendicular, 

 the sea-worn caves and fir-clothed crags of which present highly picturesque 

 scenery. This steepness is continued to a great depth beneath the surface 

 of the sea, as is proved by the deep soundings along this coast. 



VOL. V. SECOND SERIES. 3 G 



