GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 
By A. N. Lkwis. 
The canty) site near Quiet Corner, in 
the extreme south-east of Adventure 
Bay, was not in the vicinity of any 
geological formations of outstanding in¬ 
terest. Indeed, it is difficult to find a 
spot t hat provides a w ide field for every 
branch of nature study and combines 
the necessary qualities of a good camp 
site. iBut Adventure Hay was new 
ground for the Field Naturalists' Club, 
and so provided ample materials lor a 
week of exploring trips. 
Our Island, however blessed bv nature 
as a reservoir of scientific phenomena, 
cannot be expected to supply over its 
whole surface unwonked fields of pre¬ 
eminent interest. There must be some 
localities that can only be called ordin¬ 
ary, and we are too fond of labelling such 
places as uninteresting. But the atti¬ 
tude that only points of unique signifi¬ 
cance are interesting is the attitude, not 
of the student, but of the tourist. Geo¬ 
logical laws must be proved to la* of 
universal application. Interesting loca¬ 
lities must be connected by uninteresting 
ones. To test your laws and to connect 
your formations the whole surface of 
the land must be investigated. Experts 
study the interesting formations, and 
only an expert can speak with authority 
on them. A student can supply infor¬ 
mation about places of less interest 
which tlie experts have no time to study 
in detail. In this way a student can 
add his quota to the sum of knowledge, 
and can give the expert real assistance 
while raising himself to the status of an 
expert. This work is most essential, 
but can only be accomplished by refus¬ 
ing to regard any single area of the 
earth’s surface as uninteresting. There¬ 
fore. a student of geology, on arriving at 
a new locality, should proceed to investi¬ 
gate what he actually finds there. lie 
will lie well advised to proceed on the 
following lines: 
(1) Read all available writings on tlie 
locality. 
(2) Walk over all the country within 
a day’s trip of the camp, and obtain a 
general idea of its geology, and, if pos¬ 
sible, put the distribution of rocks on a 
chart. 
(3) Examine the igneous rocks, and 
determine—■ (a) Their nature; (b) their 
crystallisation and composition as far aa 
it can be superficially observed; (c) the 
methods and peculiarities of weathering; 
(<1) the nature of soil formed on and 
from them. 
(4) Examine the sedimentary rocks, 
and determine -(a) Their geological age; 
(b) component beds and strata; (o) the 
nature of the sediment of which they 
were made; (d) the fossils contained, and 
I lie strata to which the types are pecu¬ 
liar: (e) the angle and direction of dip 
and strike. 
(.">) Examine carefully the junctions of 
all different types, and determine—(a) 
Which is geologically tlie older; (b) whe¬ 
ther metamorphism exists, and to what 
extent it affects either of the adjoin¬ 
ing rooks. 
Ill) Trace any faults or other struc¬ 
tural breaks. 
(7) Account for the topography of the 
region. 
(5) Connect the stratagraphy with 
that of surrounding regions. 
(9) Observe any effects of human occu¬ 
pation. 
Finally, commit all investigations to 
writing, and if the locality has been de¬ 
scribed before, compare your notes with 
what lias been previously written. Then, 
most important of all, forward your ob¬ 
servation* to some place where they will 
he used -to the Geological Survey, or, 
as a paper to the Royal Society. Many 
a locality has been investigated by keen 
observers, whose memory was their only 
place of record, and many days have 
been wasted reinvestigating the place 
years later. The smallest information 
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