THE 



AMERICAN JOURiNAL OF SCIENCE 



[THIRD SERIES.] 



Art. XXXI. — The jEolian Sandstones of Fernando de 

 Noronha ; by John C. Branner. 



Besides the rocks of igneous origin which make up the 

 great body of the island of Fernando de Noronha* and its out- 

 fiers, there is a sandstone covering about one-third of Ilha 

 Rapta, part of Sao Jose, and small areas of the main island^ 

 near the Lancha on the northeast, the high shore east of Ata- 

 laia Grande, that along the southwest side of the Sueste Bay, 

 and forming all the exposed parts of Ilha Raza, Ilha do Meio, 

 and the Chapeo at the mouth of Bahia do Sueste. Though 

 these rocks make up but a small part of the island, and are but 

 the remnants of their former extension, they afford some inter- 

 esting facts in the island's history. No good fossils were found 

 in them, but there is an abundance of fragments of shells, 

 corals and other calcareous skeletons, all of organisms now liv- 

 ing about the shores of the island, showing the rocks to be of 

 recent origin. 



In an article by Rev. T. S. Lea, published in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Royal Geographical Society for July, 1888, these 

 rocks are spoken of as "reef rock" and as "a sort of reef 

 formation laid bare at low water and closely resembling the 

 Recifef of Pernambuco. At certain points a very similar 



* See The Geology of Fernando de Noronha by J. C. Branner, in this Journal 

 for Feb.. 1889, pp. 145-1 Gl, and Petrography of Fernando de Noronha by 

 G. H. Williams, ibid. March. 1889, pp. 178-189. The map accompanying the 

 former paper should be consulted in connection with the present article. 



f The word Recife as it stands means a certain part of the City of Pernambuco. 

 The author doubtless means the " recife " or reef in front of that city. 



Am. Jouh. Sci.— Third Series, Vol. XXXIX, No. 232.— April, 1890. 

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