﻿490 
  W. 
  H. 
  TWELVETREES 
  ON 
  UPPER 
  PERMIAN 
  

  

  46. 
  On 
  Organic 
  Remains 
  from 
  the 
  Upper 
  Permian 
  Strata 
  of 
  

   Kargalinsk, 
  in 
  Eastern 
  Russia. 
  By 
  W. 
  H. 
  Twelvetrees, 
  

   Esq., 
  E.L.S., 
  F.G.S. 
  (Read 
  June 
  21, 
  1882.) 
  

  

  [Plates 
  XX., 
  XXI.] 
  

  

  The 
  cupriferous 
  sandstones 
  composing 
  the 
  Kargalinsk 
  steppe, 
  or 
  

   steppe 
  of 
  Kargala, 
  to 
  the 
  N. 
  of 
  Orenburg, 
  lie 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  ordinary 
  

   track 
  of 
  travellers, 
  but 
  offer 
  an 
  interesting 
  field 
  for 
  research. 
  The 
  

   railway 
  now 
  takes 
  us 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Orenburg, 
  whence 
  a 
  drive 
  

   of 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  miles 
  leads 
  into 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  important 
  mining 
  

   district 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  now 
  propose 
  to 
  invite 
  your 
  attention. 
  The 
  

   doubts 
  thrown 
  on 
  the 
  Permian 
  age 
  of 
  these 
  strata 
  in 
  the 
  discussion 
  

   upon 
  my 
  former 
  paper 
  induce 
  me 
  to 
  submit 
  a 
  few 
  remarks 
  bearing 
  

   upon 
  the 
  question. 
  

  

  The 
  country 
  is 
  a 
  grassy, 
  treeless, 
  undulating 
  steppe, 
  covered 
  

   superficially 
  with 
  the 
  well-known 
  black 
  earth, 
  or 
  tchernozem, 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  by 
  Murchison 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  marine 
  origin. 
  The 
  balance 
  of 
  evi- 
  

   dence, 
  however, 
  is 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  it 
  being 
  a 
  vegetable 
  mould. 
  Sluggish 
  

   meandering 
  streams 
  intersect 
  the 
  steppe. 
  The 
  exposures 
  of 
  the 
  

   subsoil 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  streams 
  and 
  ravines 
  show 
  nothing 
  beyond 
  

   red 
  marl 
  or 
  sandstone 
  devoid 
  of 
  fossils. 
  The 
  mine-borings 
  and 
  

   shafts 
  cut 
  down 
  through 
  red, 
  yellow, 
  and 
  grey 
  sandstones, 
  and 
  red 
  

   and 
  white 
  marls, 
  fossiliferous 
  wherever 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  copper 
  ore 
  

   exist. 
  

  

  The 
  key 
  to 
  the 
  geological 
  horizon 
  of 
  these 
  mines 
  is 
  found 
  by 
  

   travelling 
  in 
  an 
  easterly 
  direction. 
  We 
  need 
  not 
  go 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  

   Carboniferous 
  Limestone 
  and 
  Upper 
  Grits 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  system, 
  which 
  

   form 
  the 
  western 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  crystalline 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Urals 
  ; 
  nor 
  is 
  

   it 
  necessary 
  to 
  traverse 
  the 
  ninety 
  miles 
  of 
  Lower 
  Permian 
  con- 
  

   glomerates 
  and 
  sandstones 
  forming 
  the 
  hilly 
  country 
  between 
  the 
  

   Carboniferous 
  and 
  Magnesian 
  Limestone 
  outcrops 
  (fig. 
  1). 
  On 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  Kargalinsk 
  steppe 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  protrusions 
  of 
  

   limestone 
  with 
  Terebratula 
  elongata, 
  Loxonema, 
  &c, 
  which 
  throw 
  off 
  

   the 
  Kargala 
  cupriferous 
  sands 
  east 
  and 
  west. 
  The 
  most 
  westerly 
  

   of 
  these 
  two 
  anticlinals, 
  divided 
  at 
  Jeemangoolova 
  by 
  the 
  post-road 
  

   from 
  Orenburg 
  to 
  Ufa, 
  sinks 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  under 
  the 
  main 
  mass 
  of 
  

   the 
  strata 
  of 
  Kargalinsk, 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  again 
  on 
  this 
  parallel. 
  

   A 
  reference 
  to 
  Murchison's 
  map 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  this 
  limestone 
  out- 
  

   crop 
  runs 
  roughly 
  N.W. 
  and 
  S.E. 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  believe 
  that 
  there 
  

   is 
  much, 
  if 
  any, 
  Upper 
  Permian 
  behind 
  it. 
  About 
  fifteen 
  miles 
  

   further 
  south 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  exposed 
  near 
  Sakmarsk, 
  a 
  Cossack 
  town 
  

   twenty-five 
  versts 
  from 
  Orenburg. 
  It 
  here 
  appears 
  in 
  several 
  

   peaks 
  or 
  elevations, 
  the 
  principal 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Great 
  

   and 
  Little 
  Grebeni. 
  The 
  Grebeni 
  limestone 
  is 
  plentifully 
  charged 
  

   with 
  characteristic 
  Permian 
  fossils, 
  viz. 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  