404 H. E. Strickland, Esq., on the Geology 



The Apennine limestone, of which these chtfs are composed, is nearly white, 

 and less compact than usual, often resembling the hard chalk of the north of 

 England. No beds of flint were noticed here, though in Corfu they are not 

 unfrequent. Organic remains are by no means abundant, yet Nummulites, 

 fragments of Hippurites, and indistinct traces of other fossils, may frequently 

 be detected by searching. 



From its compact, inflexible, and brittle texture, the Apennine limestone 

 generally abounds vvith faults and fractures, which give rise to numerous ca- 

 verns, {catavothra) , subterranean rivers, and thermal and mineral springs. In 

 these respects, no less than in its mineral structure, it presents a close analogy 

 to the Carboniferous Limestone of northern Europe, for which it has often 

 been mistaken by observers, who paid no attention to its fossils. 



The frequency and violence of earthquakes in many parts of the south of 

 Europe, may perhaps be accounted for by the unyielding texture of this rock, 

 the vibrations being propagated to much greater distances, than in countries 

 composed of more loosely aggregated or more elastic materials. 



In Zante the Apennine limestone presents numerous faults, one or two of 

 which will be alluded to in a subsequent page. 



2. Tertiary Beds. — These occupy the greater part of the island of Zante. 

 Reposing on the eastern flank of the Apennine limestone, they extend to the 

 coast : they rise also in several detached hills through the alluvial plain which 

 forms the centre of the island. They have evidently yielded to the same 

 disturbing force as the limestone range; and they dip from this rock to the 

 eastward. The upper portion is the counterpart of the beds, described by 

 Mr. Hamilton and myself, as occurring near Lixouri in Cephalonia*. In 

 Zante, they are best displayed in the Castle Hill above the town, and in the 

 cliff" which extends thence to the eastern coast. (See Plate XXXIII., Sect. 1.) 

 The upper strata near the Lighthouse consist of a porous, calcareo-arenaceous 

 stone, of a pale yellow colour, and easily worked. Fossils are rare in it, except 

 on the east coast, where one or two of the strata contain numerous casts of 

 Cerithia and other mollusca. 



These strata are succeeded by a thick deposit of blue clay and marl, form- 

 ing the height on which stands the citadel of Zante. The shells found in it 

 are priucipsiWy Pectunculus auritus, Broch., Buccinum semistriatum, Broch., 

 and Natica glaucina, Lam. All these species occur also in the middle portion 

 of the Lixouri section, but more abundantly, and associated with many others. 



The gypseous beds, which at Lixouri succeed the argillaceous strata, are 

 not visible in this part of Zante, but on the south coast they form the com- 

 * See Geological Proceedings, No. 51, and ^jostea. 



