185 



That he does not stand alone in his understanding of the structure 

 and relations of the mountains of Asia^ Sness makes clear in the follow- 

 ing passage: 



"The uniform structure of the Asiatic mountains has been recognized by all 

 the most eminent authorities on this part of the world, and has been variously 

 described according to the point of view of each observer. In Siberia, Seme- 

 now speaks of a succession of terraces ; the Gobi, together with the Khingan, 

 forms the highest step ; the country of the Amur, with Sikhota-Alin, the sec- 

 ond ; the sea, with its island arcs, the third. In China, Richtnofen was im- 

 pressed with the idea that the whole country sinks in great flexures to the 

 Pacific Ocean. In Japan, Naumann compares Asia to an elevated domelike 

 protuberance surrounded by peripheral fractures. As one stands in front of 

 the overfolded chains of the Himalaya, says Griesbach, there seems to have 

 been a movement of the whole mass of Asia toward the south" (III, 7). 



From the Philippines to Alaska tlie whole front of Asia is adorned 

 with a wonderful series of island arcs which have been likened to fes- 

 toons hanging from the continental border. Concerning the origin of 

 these, Suess says: 



"Thus the east Asiatic coast does not resemble a series of independent 

 ranges advancing toward the sea, but rather a stupendous virgation extending 

 over the whole hreadth of Eurasia, the successive divergence of the same 

 folded systems which, closely crowded together in the interior of the conti- 

 nents, form the great and lofty highlands. In this divergence each of the 

 great branches shows near its extremity — that is, toward the ocean — a tend- 

 ency to recurve to the north, and thus arise the island festoons of east Asia" 

 (11,195-196). 



In a general survey of the island arcs, Suess mentions the following: 

 the arc of the Liu-kiu Islands, of South Japan, of North Japan, of cen- 

 tral Yezo and Sakhalin, of the Kurile Islands, and a fragment of arc in 

 central and western Kamchatka. To these must be added the most per- 

 fect arc of all, the arc of the Aleutian Islands, which Suess, however, re- 

 gards as independent. All these island arcs are, of coiirse, mountain 

 ranges submerged beneath the ocean. 



Westward from the Philippines the peripheral mountain arcs con- 

 tinue, and are thus enumerated by Suess : 



"Five great arcs turned toward the south align themselves one after the 

 other across the continent ; these are the Malay arc, the arc of the Himalaya, 

 the shattered outer arc of the Hindu Kush, the Iranian, and the Dinaro- 

 Tauric arc. To these must be added still another — that which, distinguished 

 by somewhat different characters, surrounds the western Mediterranean" (I,- 

 505-506). 



Referring to the southern part of Eurasia, which comprises the great 



