THE EOCENE PERIOD. 219 



the Eocene may be gained from the fact that the nummulitic limestone 

 occurs at elevations of more than 10,000 feet in the Alps, up to 16,000 

 feet in the Himalayas, and up to 20,000 feet in Tibet. It is possible 

 that the Himalayas and Alps had begun their growth before the Eocene, 

 but the above figures represent their respective minimum post-Eocene 

 uplifts. The Pyrenees and Carpathians were likewise low in the Eocene 

 period, their principal elevation being of later date. The Caucasus, 

 Thian Shan, and other high mountains of Eurasia are also in large 

 measure of post- Eocene growth. In the Old World, therefore, as well 

 as in the new, the greater relief features of the present time were still 

 undeveloped in the Eocene period. 



Other continents. — In Africa, marine Eocene is known along the 

 northern coast, on the west coast, and in Soudan 1 (Sokoto). The fos- 

 sils of Sokoto indicate a connection between the mid-Eocene Indian 

 ocean, and the waters which overspread Soudan, by way of Egypt. 2 

 In some parts of Egypt, the Eocene is notably unconformable on the 

 Cretaceous. 3 Eocene beds are known in South Australia, New Zealand 

 and Tasmania, though not generally sharply differentiated from the 

 later Tertiary. At the head of the Great Australian bight, there is a 

 thick bed, 250 feet or more, of Eocene chalk. In New Zealand the 

 Eocene is said to grade into the Cretaceous below without break. 

 Eocene beds are also known on the island of Luzon, 4 in Java, in Bor- 

 neo, 5 and in Japan. 6 



Of the Eocene of South America little can be said. The Tertiary 

 formations of this continent have not been closely correlated with those 

 of other regions. There is marine Eocene along some parts of the 

 western coast, in Patagonia 7 (Magellanian series), where the beds are 

 usually unconformable on the Cretaceous, probably in Argentina, and 

 along at least a part of the coast of Brazil. 8 Eocene beds of non- 



1 Lelean, Geol. Mag., 1904, p. 290. 



3 De Lapparent, La Geographie, Vol. XI, p. 1. 



'Beadnell, Geol. Mag., 1901, p. 23. 



* Becker, 21st Ann. Rept,, U. S. Geol. Sun'., Pt. Ill, p. 552-6. 



6 Becker, 21st Ann. Rept,, U. S. Geol. Surv., Pt, III. 

 a Geol. of Japan, Imp. Geol. Surv. of Japan, p. 77. 



7 Hatcher, Sedimentary Rocks of Southern Patagonia. Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. IX, 

 1900, pp. 97-99; also Geology of Southern Patagonia, idem, Vol. IV, 1897, pp. 334-337. 



a Branner, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 13, Stone Reefs of Brazil. Mus. of Comp. 

 Zool., Bull. 44, pp. 27-53. 



