GEOLOGY. 
31 
interest° m & ? eo ^°^ ca ^ P 0 ^ °f view the trip proved in many respects to be of considerable 
Altliou ’ P ar “cularly as supplementing some former observations made more to the west, 
series ° * 1010 1S no ^ muc h variety in the rock formations, we may distinguish three successive 
a lluy! ' , * ' lc mos ^ southern part of the province, along the foot of the hills, is formed of 
g Qoi la y lave is a nd sand, in whose unfathomable depths are swallowed both the Artysh and 
O on riveis before they can reach the Kashghar Daria. 
: Miriam, 
Section from the Kashgliar plain to Tongithr 3 about 25 miles. 
0 ^ ^ le secoil( i se i'ies includes the low hills which extend diametrically from north to south 
v est a ^° U * J ^ ni iles, while the prevalent strike is from north-east by east to south-west by 
^ii these lower hills are occupied by Artysh beds, of which I spoke in a former com- 
Ration. 2 They are separated into two groups. The lower beds consist of greenish or 
of' rp l cla ys or sandstones, and the upper of coarse conglomerates, which on a hill south 
0 . , oogitar have a thickness of about 1,000 feet. At their contact both groups 
generally alternate in several layers. An anticlinal runs almost through the middle of their 
st , ia l ex tent. At the fort Ayok-sogon it is caused by a low ridge of old dolomitic lime- 
tliM S 0n ^ lc Artysh clays and sandstones found a firm support. To the south of it 
and )<?C S ^ an ^ cs °f a P° u f dO 0 and 50° towards the Kashghar plain, in remarkably regular 
e . ^eoessive layers. North of the ridge, which has no doubt a considerable subterranean 
An n 1U ! m eas t’ v'est direction, all the beds dip towards north by west at a similar angle, 
"col °‘. in §> the higher range, more recent diluvial gravels cover most of the slopes. The 
c » 1( ‘al puzzle of finding strata of young beds as a rule dipping towards a higher range 
cast' ?* e< con d )ava lively much older rocks seems to me to be due, at least in this special 
dow' ° 1 '* e idionomcnon that the atmospheric waters which, descending on the crest, flow 
.y slopes of the high ridge, gradually soften them, and if a subterranean outlet 
disp ltC ^ le s °ftened beds are worn away. While this process is going on, the more 
r ' s i ant: | >e( fs simply subside in order to fill the vacant spaces. In some cases a sinking or 
j , " °f the main range, or even an overturn of high and precipitous cliffs, seem to go hand 
id • i ' Vat ^ the action of erosion, but it is not always the case. I hope to illustrate this 
J.v a few diagrams, partly derived from actual observations, on some future occasion, 
oc , . ' ^ third series of entirely different rocks forms the main range of hills, which are a 
ip 'Ration of the Xoktan range, and in which, more to the westward, are situated the 
bet V ' 1U ' ^tiakmdk forts. The average height of the range above the plain of Kashghar is here 
|V en t’-OO and 1,300 feet, single peaks rising to about 1,500 feet. The whole of the southern 
yreat° n C ? US * S ^ S ’ as f ar as I could see, of carboniferous rocks, in which, however, there is a 
^ ‘ - variety of structure. The lowest beds are very often a peculiar breccia-limestone passing 
for in bis ^ )00 ^ s ^ r ' Stoliczka speaks of these as probably triassic, but he may have changed his opinion subsequently, 
•_ . , 1 13 le ^ notes he classes them with the dolomitic limestone, and refers all to the carboniferous period, 
Ante, p. 24. 
