BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 

 Vol. 21, pp. 179-226, PL. 4 JUNE 3, 1910 



BEARING OF THE TERTIARY MOUNTAIN BELT ON THE 

 ORIGIN OF THE EARTffS PLAN^ 



BY FRANK BURSLEY TAYLOR 



[Presented in abstract before the Society December 29, 1908) 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 179 



Suess' interpretation of the plan of Asia 183 



Suess' method of interpretation 188 



Eurasia, the greatest unit in the earth's plan 190 



Significance of the peripheral mountain arcs of Asia 190 



The Himalaya re-entrant and the Malay earth-lobe 191 



The peripheral ranges in Europe 195 



The arc of the Aleutian Islands 199 



Frontal oceanic deeps 200 



The relation of North America to Eurasia 201 



The mountain knot of Alaska 201 



Greenland, the great northern horst 205 



Tertiary crustal movements in the southern hemisphere 212 



Australia 212 



Borneo, Celebes, and Halmahera 214 



South America 214 



The mid- Atlantic ridge 216 



The Antarctic land 218 



The southern hemisphere the complement of the northern in Tertiary 



crustal movements 218 



Distribution of the deforming force 219 



Relation of the Tertiary crustal movements to the earth's plan 220 



Suess on the cause of deformation of strand-lines 221 



Conclusion 224 



Introduction 



One of the grandest facts which the science of geology has established 

 up to the present time is the existence of a great world-belt, or girdle, of 

 Tertiary fold-mountains almost encircling the earth. This mountain 



1 Manuscript received by the Secretary of the Society October 4, 1909. 



(179) 



