GEOLOGY. 
49 
North 
rest greenish find purplish sandstones and shales,— all which rocks are possibly triassic. 
fo U j ° d l )a ^ coz °ic formations to the westward volcanic outbursts of very recent date are 
and 1 ,’, ari( ^ tdlC rertl ainsof old craters are conspicuous; and beyond these, again, are limestones 
So S ateS 01 lmdot ermined age, the latter occasionally showing signs of metamorphism, 
th^ie of the limestones resemble the triassic rocks in character, hut no fossils were detected in 
?’ the presence of metamorphic rocks in the ranges north of Kashghar is proved by the 
currence of gneiss pebbles in the gravels derived from the hills. 
' s Probable that coal occurs in places in the carboniferous formation, as specimens 
inlT'' / ^ 10m moun ^ a i Ils were examined and roughly analysed by J)r. Stoliczka when 
an! ^ l ^ iar ‘ hocks of the carboniferous period are largely developed in Western Turkestan, 
ooal has been found in several places. 
0c ihe Plains of Yarkand and Kashghar consist of recent deposits of clay and sand, with 
castona 1 ridges of gravel and marly clay. They, doubtless, resemble closely the other great 
, S of Central Asia, all of which, having no exit, are basins of deposit, and are being 
b at ually raised by the alluvium brought from the surrounding hills by rivers and streams, 
are- dl ' y U P ail <l lose themselves on the plains. Towards the edge of all such plains there 
all 0 ! mmense » rave l accumulations , 3 which greatly conceal all the rocks. Below these gravels, 
j l0Un d the edge of the Kashghar plain, there is found a series of clays, sandstones, and con- 
- oauTates, often much disturbed, but evidently not of old date, called by Dr. Stoliczka 
No ? 1 beds ’ fmm the Artysh valley north of Kashghar, where they are extensively exposed. 
Tlu> ° SSllS WGre found in them ’ 1>ut their discoverer was inclined to consider them marine. 
lu»lf ^ U!seri l a barked resemblance, both in composition and in their position at the base of 
° ^ ranges, to the Sub-Himalayan rocks of Northern India, and the molcisse of the Alps. 
(pj, , ^ pi these deposits, and the rocks on the slopes of the hills for some distance from the 
. p a " lri> a rc much concealed by an extremely fine unstratified accumulation, precisely similar 
hm ] aCter to the loess of the Rhine and Danube, and which is evidently composed of 
is c tUSt ’ deposited b y the atmosphere. The air in Eastern Turkestan, as in parts of China, 
°hiect Stantly ’ dur h L S the day, thick from the fine sand raised by the wind ; so much so, that 
Tt ^ a com I )ai 'atively short distance are rendered invisible. 
i n , At 18 e yident. that there is great similarity in the geology of all the mountains surround- 
v,./! Yarkand basin. So far as thev were examined, the prevalent formations were 
palaeo 
basin. So far as they were examined, the prevalent formations were 
restin'? upon gneiss and other metamorphic rocks ; and carboniferous limestones 
Were . upon gneiss ancl otner metamorpiuc ruu&.», auu uuuvuu WV ™ 
tfia ,.'° astailtl y found largely developed. The only lower mesozoic rocks recognised were of 
_ a S e ’ hut traces of cretaceous beds were found to the south and west, whilst in the 
'nth? north of Kashghar evidence of comparatively recent volcanic eruptions was met 
hit h e , f N ° representa fives of the jurassic formations of the Himalayas and Western Tibet have 
010 hecn recognised in this part of Central Asia north of the Karakoram. 
l!w I° r lst to 13tl1 February. See also Severtzoff: Journal, Royal Geological Society, 1870, Vol. XL, pp. 410, &c. I am 
t U[G(l to "1VT TT n . — . -»-« • IT> .71 TT mi — . +hn nnanvroriCfl ( vt* 
^estei 
1 liave i 
also indebt 10 13th February. See also Severtzoff: Journal, Royal geological society, ro/u, voi. ah, pp. 'mu, «,u. . 
coal in \y ,. ed to Mr - H«me for a copy of a report by a Russian Engineer officer named Ramanoffsky, in which the occurrence ot 
m T, wtest a n is described. 
described similar deposits in Persia : Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, 1873, Vol. XXIX, p. 493. 
