THE 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST 
Vol. III. JUNE, 1889. No. 6 
QUATERNARY DEPOSITS AND QUATERNARY OR RECENT 
ELEVATION OF REGIONS AND MOUNTAINS IN BRAZIL 
WITH DEDUCTIONS AS TO THE ORIGIN OF 
LOESS FROM ITS OBSERVED CONDITIONS 
THERE. 
By James E. Mills. 
The greater part of the large gold product of Brazil has been 
obtained from Quaternary loose materials. In the years 1875, 
1878 and 1879 I had occasion while examining gold mines 
there for economic purposes to study these Quaternary de¬ 
posits in the provinces of Rio Grande do Sul and Minas 
Gerses, and the subject proved to he of deep interest not only 
on account of its bearing upon the geological history of a large 
continental area but also because loess occurs there under con¬ 
ditions that throw light upon the origin of loess deposits 
generally. 
In Rio Grande do Sul (the most southerly of the provinces 
of Brazil) I went from the city of the same name via Pelotas 
and Bage to “the little village of Lavras in long. 10° 49' west of 
Rio de Janeiro, and lat. 30° 44 7 south, 1 and to Cacapava. My 
more detailed studies of the loose materials of the province 
were made at the so-called Lagoa da Nacao near Lavras. 
At the city of Rio Grande do Sul the coast is low and sandy, 
and the city is built on a sand spit. Pelotas is built on strati- 
1 Determined by Mr. A. A. Stnkey. 
