638 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW YORK MEETING 



of 95 miles northward -"rom the Litany river. In structure the Lebanon range 

 is an anticline, embraci ig three series of Cretaceous roclvs. The lower series, 

 about 3.000 feet in thickness, is. however, thought by some to be Jurassic. 

 This rock is a thick layer of limestone, sparingly supplied with fossils, amoag 

 which are sponges, corals, brachiopods, and the characteristic Cidaiis fjhDularia. 

 and is generally known as the Glandaria limestone. This formation is 

 exposed at the bottom of many of the deep gorges which furrow the western 

 flank of the mountain, and appears in foldings in several places at an altitude 

 of from 4.000 to 5.000 feet, where the sui)erincumbent rocks have been removed , 

 by erosion. It is this limestone which is so extensively weathered into 

 castellated towers and so beautifully fluted by the rains, of which we shall 

 presently speak. 



The middle series consists of sandstone, soft limestone, and clay, with occa- 

 sional exposures of thin strata of poor bituminous coal, with pyrites and 

 efflorescent salts and deposits of low- grade iron ore. From its reddish color 

 this series can be distinguished a long distance away. About half way up the 

 mountain, near Afka, in the headwaters of the Adonis river, there is a con- 

 siderable exposure of volcanic ash around what seems to have been a well 

 defined crater connected with the volcanic eruptions accompanying the eleva- 

 tion of the range. 



The third series is composed of hippurite limestone, and forms the summit of 

 the range, resting there in nearly horizontal strata and attaining a thiclcness 

 of from 3.000 to 5.000 feet. Upon the flanks of the mountain these strata are 

 much contorted and have been extensively removed by erosion. 



The eastern limb of the Lebanon anticline descends very precipitously into 

 the valley of Beka'a, of Coelesyria, which separates Lebanon from the parallel 

 range of Anti-Lebanon, from 10 to 15 miles distant. Near Zahleh, on the east 

 side, at an elevation of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, occur porous sandstones 

 and clays, with fossils of Miocene age. 



In order more thoroughly to test the question of the general glaciation of 

 the range, we traversed the region diagonally across the western flank of the 

 mountain from Beirut to Jebel Makhmal. at whose western base the Kadtsha 

 river has its source amid the cedars of Lebanon. The distance in a direct 

 line is about 30 miles. The route, however, was a zigzag one, leading first 

 up the Nahr-el-Kelb to the natural bridge at the head of the noi'th fork, and 

 then over the divide to the Adonis river, at Afka, and thence across the head- 

 waters of the Jozek river to Bsherreh, in the upper portion of the Kadlsha. 

 Throughout the larger part of this distance we were immediately under- 

 neath the summits of the range upon the east, where we should have ob- 

 served ancient moraines and other signs of glaciation, if any had occurred; 

 but there was a total absence of such signs, except possibl.v near Afka. where 

 the debris accumulated at the base of the summit had somewhat the appear- 

 ance of till ; and again, near Akura, where an immense amount of debris 

 having accumulated, it was gradually sliding down to a lower level, as it was 

 undermined by the northern branch of the Adonis river; but throughout this 

 entire distance the sculpturing of the mountain side revealed the action of 

 water rather than of ice. The deep and frequent gorges were wholly due to the 

 action of water, while innumerable castellated and fantastically sculptured 

 projections of the lower limestone conclusively demonstrated that ice had noth- 

 ing to do with the general sculpturing of the mountain side. 



