Vol.  49.] 
ST.  CASSIAX  STRATA  IX  SOUTHEBX  1IEOL. 
9 
areas  was  made  a  few  years  ago  by  von  'Wohrmann.1  He  c-ame  to 
the  following  conclusions  : — 
■  1)  That  in  all  the  places  where  former  writers  believed  Lower  Cardita- strata 
(i.e.  the  Cardita- beds  below  the  Wetterstein  Kalk  to  be  present,  these 
strata  were  none  other  than  the  Tipper  Cardita-  or  Eaibl  strata  >'J.  e.  the 
Cardita- beds  above  the  Wetterstein  Xalk)  which  had  been  brought 
by  faulting  into  the  apparently  lower  position. 
(2)  That  these  so-called  C ard evc-strata  contain  in  their  lower  zones  chiefly 
St.  Cassian  fossils:  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  upper  zones,  nearly  all 
the  typical  Eaibl  fossils  are  present. 
The  same  author  publishes  this  year,  in  co-operation  with  Xoken, 
a  special  work 2  on  the  fossils  contained  in  the  £  Eothe  Eaibler 
Schichten  ’  of  Schlern. 
Dr.  T.  Skuphos,3  during  the  summer  of  1891.  examined  the 
Partnach  strata  in  the  Hoi  them  Alps  ;  his  results  prove  that  these 
beds  lie  under  the  TVetterstein  Xalk  and  above  the  Mnschelkalk, 
and  that  the  plant-bearing  sandstones  (previously  in  several 
places  included  with  the  Partnach  strata)  belong  to  the  Eaibl  horizon. 
He  further  concludes  that  the  Partnach  strata  form  an  upper 
zone  of  Alpine  Huschelkalk,  while  the  TVetterstein  Xalk  probably 
represents  the  highest  zone  of  the  extra-Alpine  Huschelkalk. 
Before  entering  on  the  special  stratigraphical  work  of  this  paper, 
a  short  summarv  mav  be  given  of  the  marked  general  features  in 
the  geology  of  the  Southern  Tyrol  Dolomites  and  the  explanation 
they  have  found  in  previous  research.  These  are  : — 
(1)  The  dolomitic  character  of  immense  thicknesses  of  roc-k. 
(2)  The  apparently  rapid  variations  in  the  thickness  of  strata, 
noted  chiefly  in  the  dolomitic  rocks. 
(3  )  The  occurrence  of  volcanic  rocks,  as  flows  and  dykes,  and  the 
admixture  of  volcanic  tuff  with,  ordinary  stratified  detrital  deposits. 
(4)  The  local  development  of  the  rich  and  highly  typical  fauna 
of  St.  Cassian. 
Leopold  von  Bueh's4  valuable  researches  first  directed  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  geologists  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  £  Dolomites,’  and 
various  theories  were  propounded  to  explain  the  origin  of  the 
imposing  masses  of  dolomite-rock.  These  I  need  not  here  recount. 
An  exhaustive  list  of  the  literature  which  appeared  during  the  first 
half  of  the  century  is  given  by  von  Eichthofenh 
The  stratigraphy  of  the  district  first  found  full  and  systematic 
treatment  in  the  work  of  Eic-hthofen  above  referred  to.  A.  coloured 
1  ‘Die  Fauna  der  sogenannten  Cardita-  u.  Eaibler  Schichten  in  den  Hord- 
tiroler  und  baTerischen  Alpen/  Jahrb.  d.  k.  k.  geol.  Beichsanstalt.  1559. 
p.  181. 
2  ‘Die  Fauna  der  Eaibler  Schichten  vom  Schlemplateau,’  Zeitschr.  d. 
Deutsch.  geol.  Gesellsch.  vol.  xliv.  (1892)  p.  167. 
3  ‘  Die  stratigraphische  Stellung  der  Partnach-  und  der  sogen.  Dnteren 
Ccrf/Pa-Sehichten  in  den  Xordtiroler  und  bayerischen  Alpen/  Jahresheften 
d.  kgl.  bay.  Oberbergamt,  iv.  1891. 
4  ‘  Geognostische  Beobachtungen  auf  Beisen  durch  Deutschland  und  Italien/ 
Tol.  i.  pp.  263—320.  Berlin,  1802. 
Geognostische  Beschreibung  der  L’mgegend  von  Predazzo,  St.  Cassian, 
etc.’  Gotha,  I860. 
