224 
Maitland. — W’csierit A usiyalian Gvolo<f\i. 
li;iM rocH'ntlr bcuMi (liscovtM-od by ^lessrs. T^latclif ord and Talbot 
ill tlic \-allcy of llio Fit/o'oy aiol Us tiiiiatavii's. Tliis Inmldfo- Ded 
is without doul)t tlio o(iiiivaU’iit of the Lyons (’oiif^'Ioniei'ate. The 
Kimberley ihM'mod.'arlioniferous beds are believed To uiuierlie nearly 
tiie whoie of the so-(-alied (rix'at Sandy Desc'rt, ■which .neariv 
brought to grief ('olonel Warburton’s (‘X])edition in the year 187:!. 
The southern margin (-f th<> formation li(>s in the valley of the 
Oakover Kiver, which enters the sea betAveen (kmdoti and Po.'t 
Hedlaiid. 
An imijorlaiit discovery of a somewhat sandy matrix croAvdcl 
witli glacially sti'iated jielibles Avas made in D24 by Mr, F. G. 
(da|»|>, an American geologist Avitli considerabU' ex]>erience in glacial 
<le|)osits, on the southern Hank of tlie Great Sandy Desert, near 
Draesidc Station on tin* OakuA'er RiAa'r, which tliere are sound reasons 
J'or iKdieviiig to be of Jd'rmo-tkirlmniferous Age. 
Another very im]iortant discoA'ery (>f these glacial deiiosits or 
moi(‘ than local significance Avas made in U)l() by my colleagues, 
Messrs. Talbot and ("larke, in the Wilkinson Hange near the South 
Australian Doi'tler in South Imtitude 26° liO'. For over a distance 
of 2(J0 miles betwe(‘ii the Kangi' and Axe Hill there AA'ere found 
mimlK'is of |iebbh‘s and boulders of many different rock types, 
wadgliing several hundr ahveiglit, (hwived fi-om the disintegration of 
a c(mglomerate aixmt Id feet tliick. Attenpits to correlate the 
Wilkinson Range lieds Avith otheis containing (‘videiice of ice action 
have not so far met Avitli much success. Tlawe is, hoAVOAa-r, some 
litth' evidemu' indicating a possibility of tliesi' being on the same 
g’.‘ological li(;]-i/on as tin* glacial conglomerate of tlu' Finke River 
in South Ao.stvalia, to wlii(di the Gascoyiu* and other beds belong. 
The ice Avhicli jirodmo'd the Lyons ronglomerate did not oaaua 
its oidgin to what nuiy be called the al|)ine tyjie of glacier, but 
intlu'r to a bi-oad contimious ice-slu'et Avith a thickness of hundreds 
or imssibly thousands of feet Avhicii sj)read across 800 miles of 
country north and south and for an almost epmil distance east 
and w('st. 
Th(‘ climatic c('mlitions under Avhiidi the Western Australian 
elaciai IkmIs were formed offer a peculiarly fascinating subject 
for mopiiiw and the first <piestion which naturally suggests itself 
is wliat iu'ought about that plieiiomeiial refrigeration, the cA’i- 
<leiices of whici) aiH' only manifest in Western Australia, India, 
South .\frica and South America, but also in Fastern Australia, 
The occurrence of glacial conglomerates near the base of 
thi' (dossopteris-bearing beds in tliesc Avidely separated localities 
in the four continents, points coneUisiA-ely to tlieir resulting from 
a common cause. 
