THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
25 
caire and Belforte in Italy, the marine Molasse of 
Hungary, the Sotska beds of Styria, the Pectun- 
culus beds of Hungary, and the Miocene beds of 
Jamaica, Sicily(l), and Algeria. 
The following table gives the order of superpo- 
sition of the Maltese formations. 
I 
II 
III 
IV 
V 
VI 
[Formation 
{ 
Thick- 
ness 
Sub-divisions 
Localities for study 
1 
Quarter- 
| nary beds 
various 
fa. Alluvium 
f b. Pebbles & 
gravels 
c. Ossiferous 
breccias. 
! d. V alley 
I drifts 
The valley & plains 
Fom-ir-rieh and 
Mars-el-forn. 
Malak, Scirocco & 
Melleha. 
Dueira, Lmtahleb. 
Upper Co- 
ralline Li- 
mestone 
250 ft. 
fa. Compact, 
white lime- 
stone of a 
breccia like 
-< texture. 
b. Soft, por- 
ous, red 
coralline 
V limestone 
Chambray & Mel- 
leha 
Green- 
sands 
50 ft. 
fa. Compact, 
yellow 
j sandstone 
'i b. Friable 
biack 
V sandstone 
Dingl cliffs. 
Oh elm us. 
Blue Clay 
i 
fa. Yellov» 
f clay. 
\Jb. Blue clay. 
Gomerino. 
Ghain Tofflha 
Globige- 
rina Lime- 
stone 
200 ft. 
f Variously 
coloured 
1 beds, inter- 
■i stratified 
[ with from 
| four to six no- 
Vdule seams. 
Luca, Tign6, 
and 
Fom-ir-rieh. 
Lower Co- 
ralline Li- 
stone. 
250 ft. 
fa. Semicry- 
stalline 
J limestone 
} b. hi on cry- 
stalline 
v limestone. 
Ricasoli. 
Duera. 
In the above table, I have adopted Dr. 
Murray’s nomenclature. 
The deposits thus arranged, may be divided into 
three groups. The first is composed of ossiferous 
breccias and valley drifts (3); and they are analo- 
gous to the Quarternary deposits of Nubia, Alge- 
ria, Candia, Sicily, (2) and Gibraltar. 
The second comprises the various sub-divisions 
of the Upper Coralline Limestone, and resembles 
,the Leith-Kalk of the Vienna Basin. 
( 1 ) Seguenza G. “Le formazioni Terzarie neila 
Provincia di Reggio (Calabria)” 1877. 
(2) Falconer “On the fossil remains of Flephas 
Melitensis ” Paleontological Memoirs Volume II. 
London . 
(8) Cooke , J. II. Med. Naturalist , VqL I. No. 1 
dage 7, June 1891 , 
The third group is made up of the remaining 
five beds, and answers to the Miocene beds, of 
Schio, Dego, Calcare, Mont Titano, and Belforte 
in Italy. 
The general dip of the Maltese strata is in a north 
east and an east-north-east direction; but in some 
localities, it has been somewhat affected by faults 
and other local displacements. In Malta this dip 
is more pronounced than in Gozo, and, as a conse- 
quent result, the plysical contour of the northern 
coasts of the two islands presents some striking 
contrasts. 
The strata of Malta shelve off at a low angle 
towards the north, and the shores, therefore, are 
lowlying and present a tame and monotonous 
aspect when viewed from the sea. 
In Gozo the original horizontality is more or 
less preserved, and the coast line there consists 
of an unbroken series of precipitous cliffs, that 
impart to the shore line an effect that is at once 
bold and picturesque. 
They are composed of the Lower Coralline 
Limestone, and, rising sheer from the depths of 
the sea, they tower at a height of between 300 and 
400 feet above the Mediterranean waters. 
From the edge of their summits and falling back 
in gently undulating curves, lie the Globigerina 
deposits, capped with the sombre coloured clays, 
and the golden-hued sand-stones, while, crowning 
the whole, lie the variegated strata of the Upper 
Coralline beds, the mural precipices and craggy 
escarpments of which, stand out in bold relief 
against the clear blue Mediterranean sky. 
The terraced slopes, that lie between these 
upper and lower cliffs, offer some remarkable 
examples of the effects of atmospheric denudation 
on the rocks composing them. 
From the escarpments on the hillsides, and 
from the faces of the cliffs, huge masses of partly- 
detached rock stand out at varying angles from 
the parent bed; and so unstable do many of them 
appear to be, that it seems as though but a touch 
is wanting to cause them to break away, and to 
precipitate themselves into the valleys beneath 
Examples of this kind are very common all 
round the coasts; but the cliffs on the northern 
side of St. Paul’s Bay, and those along the south- 
ern coasts of both islands afford some of the best 
examples, 
