Feb., 1911.] Literature on Geology of South America. 
281 
is the Barro Branco bed, much higher in the formation. It also 
consists of seams of coal separated by thin layers of shale. 
The Palermo shales lie conformably (?) on the Rio Bonito 
beds and are made up of soft gray and red shales. 
Since the Permian is thought to be conformable, or essentially 
so, on the Carboniferous, the shales, limestones and cherts of the 
Passa Dois series may be considered here. 
The Iraty black shale, which is a widely persistent formation, 
is distinguished by its Reptilian remains and by the ever present 
odor of petroleum. It contains nearly 20% of volatile matter and 
9% of carbon. 
The Estrado Nova beds consist of gray and variegated shales 
with some sandstones. 
The Rocinha limestone is the top of the Permian and forms a 
persistent dividing line between it and the Triassic. 
In northwestern Argentine there is a series of sandstones and 
shales with some coal which are at least in part Carboniferous. 
They lie unconfonnablv on the older Paleozoic rocks (Devonian?) 
and are overlain conformably by the Triassic as in southern 
Brazil The Glossopteris flora also occurs here. 34 
Rocks of (Upper and Lower) Carboniferous age are found in 
Bolivia in the vicinity of La Paz and north of Lake Titicaca. The 
system is made up of red sandstones, red and green shales, and 
some limestone. Some layers have a rich fauna which was at 
least locally of marine Pennsylvanian age. 35 The brown and red 
sandstones and conglomerates belonging to the Permian of Peru 
carry a considerable amount of copper which is thought to have 
been an original deposit. Salt and gypsum beds are also abundant. 36 
Strata carrying the Glossopteris flora occur in the Falkland 
Islands. 
MESOZOIC. 
Triassic and Jurassic. The Permian, Triassic and Jurassic of 
South America are very closely related and sometimes inseparable. 
Most of the continent was above sea-level throughout these 
periods, but probable land formations of this age are known at 
several localities in Brazil, while marine Triassic and Jurassic 
occur in the Cordilleras between 5° and 3.3° south latitude. 37 
In southern Brazil where the Triassic comes in contact with 
the Permian, the former consists of massive red sandstones which 
rest unconfonnably on the Rochina limestone (Permian) but the 
extent of this unconformity is unknown. 
34. Kayser, E., loc. cit . , p. 306. 
35. Forbes, David, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, Vol. XVII, 1860, 
pp. 48-51. 
36. Forbes, David, loc. cit. pp. 38-45. 
37. Steinman, Gustav, Am. Nat., Vol. 25, 1891, p. 857. 
