152 HISTORICAL GEOLOGY 



Germany. In these waters there lived vast numbers of organisms 

 such as Cricoids, Corals, etc., the remains of which accumulated 

 to build a great mass of limestone said to attain a thickness of 

 6000 feet in England, and over 2000 feet in Belgium. Farther 

 eastward, in central Europe, shales and sandstones were laid down. 

 In Scotland and southern England also shallow water deposits 

 were formed. Throughout much of central, southern, and eastern 

 Russia, chiefly non-marine materials were deposited as proved by 

 the many coal beds and associated deposits. The rocks of Missis- 

 sippian age in southern Europe are much like those of central 

 Europe, and also the similarity of fossils shows that northern and 

 southern Europe were not separate provinces as during most of 

 earlier Paleozoic time. 



Rather widespread crust al disturbances marked the close of 

 the period in western Europe. As a result of the upturning and 

 folding of the rocks, great mountains were formed principally as 

 two chains — one extending from Ireland to central Germany, and 

 the other from Bohemia to southern France. The structure of the 

 remnants of these mountains, as seen in the Vosges, Harz, Black 

 Forest, and Cornwall hills or low mountains, implies deformation 

 intense enough to have produced high altitudes. Accompanying 

 this deformation there were abundant intrusions and extrusions of 

 igneous rocks. In many other parts of Europe there were relative 

 changes of level between land and sea without very appreciable 

 folding or tilting of the strata. Thus, the reason for separating the 

 old Carboniferous into two systems applies with great force to 

 Europe as well as to North America. 



Other Countries. — In South America Mississippian rocks 

 are known in Argentina where they contain some coal, in Chili, 

 and in other parts of the continent where they have not been care- 

 fully separated from the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous). 



Eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania contain marine 

 strata of Mississippian age which were generally highly deformed 

 toward the close of the period, and injected with igneous rocks. 

 Salt and gypsum occur in the system in western Australia. 



In northern Africa the system is extensively represented, 

 especially by limestone. Non-marine formations occur in southern 

 Africa. 



Rocks of Mississippian age are also known to be widely devel- 

 oped in Asia. 



