TCHIHATCHEFF ON THE GEOLOGY OF ASIA MINOR. /D 



bouring islands, with a general geological map of these regions. I 

 have long wondered why the classic soil of Asia Minor, the object of 

 so many archaeological researches, has never been thoroughly explored 

 in reference to its natural history in a detailed manner ; as if Europe 

 was so entirely occupied with the search after ruined cities, that it 

 had not a thought to spare for the ground on which they stood, and 

 on which many others equal to them may yet stand, and designedly 

 endeavoured to forget the sublime works of nature by studying the 

 ephemeral, dwarf-like card-houses of mankind. This omission I re- 

 solved to supply, and soon after the conclusion of my work *, which 

 had occupied me full two years in Paris, I proceeded by Petersburg 

 to Odessa, and thence to Constantinople. On my arrival here in last 

 August, I wished to take advantage of the long beautiful autumn of 

 this country, and set out immediately for Asia Minor, but could not 

 leave Constantinople before September. This left me only three 

 months, so that I limited my autumn campaign to Moesia, Lydia, 

 and part of Phrygia, which furnished employment enough till the 

 end of December, when, on the approach of winter, only shown here 

 by torrents of rain and inundations, I returned by Smyrna and the 

 region of Troy to Constantinople. Here I mean to wait for spring, 

 and again commencing my labours in the beginning of April, to tra- 

 verse step by step all Asia Minor to the borders of Persia, an attempt 

 requiring at least two whole years for its completion. 



The country investigated during my three months' journey consists, 

 first, of masses of blue or ash-grey, crystalline limestone, which in 

 the total absence of fossils I may provisionally class in the '* Transi- 

 tion period," partly from its analogy to the European and Siberian 

 deposits of this formation, partly because it very often alternates 

 with clay-slate, and still more so with mica-slate, and also passes 

 into these rocks. Secondly, it contains formations of white lime- 

 stone, marl and sandstone, which very probably belong to the creta- 

 ceous group, and indeed to the upper division of the chalk forma- 

 tion. Nummulites are the only fossils I could find in them, and 

 these very partially distributed, being sometimes entirely wanting, 

 sometimes accumulated in great numbers in certain very limited loca- 

 lities. Both the older limestone and the secondary deposits, here 

 represented only by the chalk formation, are usually found in highly 

 inclined strata. Thirdly, it presents tertiary deposits, with per- 

 fectly horizontal stratification, among which freshwater formations 

 have by far the most important part. The whole plain of Troy along 

 the Dardanelles has furnished me with a considerable collection of 

 tertiary fossils, whilst on the other hand, the mountainous portions 

 of this region consist of the "Transition limestone" and chalk, fre- 

 quently broken through by plutonic rocks, — the latter generally form- 

 ing the most prominent feature in the geological picture of Asia 

 Minor. It is hardly possible to imagine the infinite variety of 

 trachytes, diorites, dolerites, basalts, serpentines, melaphyres and 

 similar rocks, which rivet the attention of the geologist at every step, 



* Voyage scientifique dans I'Altai oriental. 



