14 
A. GIBB MAITLAND, F.G.S. ! 
and constitute a connecting link between the latter and the 
Irwin River Beds, in both of which sections the glacial 
boulder bed occurs in all its grandeur, _ 
In the same year, 1897, I paid a visit to the Irwin 
River district in connection with proposals to test the 
seaward extension of the Coal Measures by boring. Beneath 
the coal seams are calcareous shales and limestones, con- 
taining a series of fossils, the facies of which is more akin 
to the Carboniferous than the higher Permo-Carboniferous. 
1 found associated with the marine series a boulder bed 
the debris of which strew the surface for a considerable 
distance, but no undoubted striated pebbles weie detected, 
at that time, among the boulders. 
It was not, however* until four years latei that dennite 
proof of the glacial origin of certain beds in the Permo- 
Carboniferous Series of W estern Australia was foithcoming. 
In the year 1900 a geological reconnaissance was made by 
myself between Cue and Carnarvon, in connection with 
investigations as to the artesian water possibilities ol the 
Gascoyne River valley. The sections exposed extended 
from the fundamental Archaean complex beneath to the 
Mesozoic beds above, and in the valleys of the \\ ooramel 
and the Minilya Rivers, near the Tropic of ( apneorn, there 
was discovered an extensive deposit ol undoubted glacial 
origin, which was traced across country for about sixty 
miles. The stratigraphical position of the conglomerate 
showed it to be not very far from the base of the series as 
developed in this locality. 
The field season of 1907 afforded me a much better 
opportunity of examining these beds in greater detail, 
when travelling between Carnarvon and Roeboume, in- 
vestigating the mineral resources of the country between 
these two places. The results of this reconnaissance showed 
the northern limit of the glacial conglomerate to be on the 
Lyndon River, in the vicinity of Tchugareywurdoo Pool, 
and thus proved the bed to extend as a narrow; band for a 
distance of about 200 miles in this portion ol the State, 
between latitudes 23 0 and 26° south. . , 
The geological survey of the Irwin River Coal bield, 
completecl by my late colleague, Mr. W. I). Campbell in 
1908, has added very considerably to our knowdedge of the 
Permo-Carboniferous Series, and has resulted in the dis- 
covery of a glacial boulder bed of some considerable im- 
portance, which extends for a distance of about twenty-tour 
miles. This glacial conglomerate does not occupy any 
great area, being unconformably overlaid by a considerable 
thickness of Jurassic strata. The area though relatively 
small affords us much additional information with regard 
