CHAPTER XI. 
THE PERMO-CARBONIFEROHS SYSTEM— cowi'Mmea'. 
THE BOWEJSr EIYEE COAL EIELH 
And its Subditisions. 
Coalfield, which extends from the Bowen River in Lat. 20° 30' southward to the 
^ s of the Dawson in Lat. 26°, is capable of subdivision into three distinct formations: 
in which no organic remains have as yet been discovered, and which is, in the 
^ District, considerably altered, and in the Bowen River is divided from the 
j, °®®<iing formation by a series of bedded volcanic rocks ; a Middle, rich in organic 
^ sMns, chiefly of marine origin, but with an admixture of the remains of a terrestrial 
One ’ **''^*^ finally an Upper, full of the remains of a land vegetation (of which 
genus at least, viz., Glossopteris, is common to the Middle Formation), but with at 
intercalated bed in which characteristic species of the marine fauna of the 
ole Formation reappear. The three formations form a continuous series. 
^886 Daintree, I divided, in my Geological Map of the Colony issued in 
Tv ’ Bowen River Coal Field from the Coal Field of the Isaacs, Mackenzie, and 
ifie h i"® i'ii® south ; Daintree’s Map, issued in 1872, showing an extension of 
tli„ area of Peak Downs, to the north-west and north of the latter field. Since 
tijQ g however, Mr. Maitland has examined the intervening district,'* and shown that 
And Mackenzie Coal Fields are in reality continuous, although covered, at the 
t°^ Dowen, Suttor, and Isaacs Rivers, by outlying tablelands of the Desert 
to .j-jj ®y Geological Map (1886), the whole of the Mackenzie Coal Field was ascribed 
Formation, as it had never been examined in detail. The Geological Map 
by jj ®i^ewith, however, shows that the Upper Formation is flanked to east and west 
aud of the Middle Formation — an alteration which is justified by Mr. Maitland’s 
iu Work in the field in the neighbourhood of Nebo, by Mr. Rands’ observations 
at g . ^®^‘®ont District, by Mr. Smith’s discoveries of characteristic “ Middle ” fossils 
Banana Creek, and by Mr. Daintree’s recorded observations at 
has ever L southern portion of this district, however, no detailed mapping 
has done, and the dividing line between the Middle and Upper Formations 
traced, and consequently cannot be supposed to have been laid dowm 
ou the map. 
^^P^-rati^^ ^ made a detailed survey of the Bowen River Coal Field,! 
of the,, time, the Lower, Middle, and Upper Formations. A description 
subdivisions is given in the succeeding chapters. 
J. 
^ 
j,*^i®bane . Geological Observations at the Heads of the Isaacs, the Suttor, and the Bowen Eivers 
“’’'Shane'. ■''■"thority : 1889; 
t Report = 1890- 
and Annual Progress Eeport of the Geological Survey for 1889 
on the Bowen River Coal Field. Brishane : by Authority : 1879. 
