420 Olaf Holtedahl — New Features in the 



Red Bay Series. — Resting upon the remnants of the Heela- 

 hook Mountains, we have found an enormous series of con- 

 glomerates, without doubt to a great extent of continental 

 origin, and probably laid down in troughs in the still unbase- 

 levelled surface. In many places we found the contact between 

 the Heclahook and the conglomerate marked by huge sharp- 

 edged pieces of loose rock that have not been moved at all, and 

 that represent the fractured older surface. These may consist 

 of granite, limestone, quartzite, and so on. Higher in the sec- 

 tions the rocks become smaller and more and more rounded, 

 whilst the pebbles at the same time become exclusively 

 quartzose. The color of this finer pebbled conglomerate is 

 always deep red. The thickness of the whole conglomerate 

 series is 500-600 m., in some places perhaps more. 



Above the basal conglomerate lies a yellowish white, coarse, 

 cross-bedded, unfossiliferous sandstone with a thickness of 

 100-200 m. 



Conformably resting on this sandstone are the as yet oldest 

 known fossiliferous beds of Spitzbergen, a series of mostly 

 greenish, but in some layers red, sandstone, rich in mica, with 

 a known thickness of about 2000 m., and containing in certain 

 of the red layers an abundance of wonderfully preserved fishes, 

 chiefly Pterasjris, Cephalaspis, and Palceasjns forms. Besides 

 these, there occur very commonly lamellibranchs, a few badly 

 preserved ostracods and some poor plant remains. Professor 

 Kiar of Kristiania, who is working out our collections of 

 placoderm fishes, states that the age of these fish-bearing sand- 

 stones seems to be equivalent to the Downtonian of the 

 English standard. The mountain folding of the. Heclahook 

 and the subsequent erosion of the mountains must accordingly 

 have occurred in pre-Downtonian time. 



After the deposition of the Red Bay sandstone, some 

 orogenetic movement — block faulting — probably took place 

 locally, for in places the whole series was totally removed 

 before the next known group of sediments was deposited. 



Wood Bay Series. — In this series come the red to brown, 

 partly green, often ripple-marked sandstones and shales that 

 cover a very large area to the northwest, between the eastern 

 part of the Ice Fjord and the north coast. From a great num- 

 ber of localities we have collected very interesting assemblages 

 of Lower Devonian fishes, representing a large number of 

 species belonging to the genera Pteraspis, Cephalaspis, 

 Acanthaspis, and others.- Furthermore, poor plant remains 

 and a bio: Isochilina occur. The thickness of these sandstones 

 is estimated to be about 3000 m. 



Grey Roek Series and Wijde Bay Series. — Without notice- 

 able unconformity then follows the Grey Hoek Series, grey 



