44 RESEARCH IN CHINA. 
in these limestones, he was not in a position either to verify or to set aside 
his hypothesis. During our surveys in Shan-tung we secured sufficient, 
although meager, paleontologic evidence of the fact that the so-called 
‘Kohlenkalk”’ is of Ordovician age;* furthermore, it is a conformable 
member of the Sinian system, and is separated from the Carboniferous by 
an unconformity. 
We found the Ordovician limestone broadly exposed in the north- 
western part of the Shan-tung mountains; near Ts’ai-kia-chuang and in 
the hills southeast of that place; in several localities between Sin-t’ai and 
Yen-chuang, and in the region around Po-shan. Doubtless it is exposed in 
many other districts in the province. The hills immediately south of Tsi- 
nan-fu are composed of this limestone. 
Throughout central Shan-tung, as far as our observations extended, 
two members of the Tsi-nan limestones may be recognized. ‘The lower is 
a variable sequence of light-colored argillaceous limestones or dolomites 
and thin shales. The upper member, which comprises about nine-tenths 
of the formation, is a brown dolomitic limestone of uniformly fine texture, 
and occurs in massive strata. 
IN THE CH’ANG-HIA DISTRICT. 
Stratigraphy.—Both divisions of the Tsi-nan formation are to be 
found in the northern part of this area. The lower member is mainly 
calcareous, but is characterized by a large percentage of earthy and dolo- 
mitic material. The rocks are buff, gray, and even ashy white in color. 
Certain layers are soft and shaly, while others feel distinctly sandy to 
the touch and yet indicate by their habit of weathering that they are 
soluble rocks; upon microscopic and chemical examination the latter prove 
to be crystalline dolomites. Slabby earthy limestones constitute the major 
part of the formation. No fossils were found anywhere in this member. 
The upper limestone member overlies the shaly strata without visible 
interruption. With very little variation, it consists of moderately thick 
beds of dark dolomitic limestone, which has a brownish cast of color on 
freshly broken surfaces; but develops on exteriors a decidedly blue-gray 
tint. It is aphanitic in texture and breaks with an irregular fracture, 
which does not follow any definite lines of cleavage. In many cases where 
the rock has suffered slight deformation, short gash-veins of white calcite, 

* Several Ordovician fossils were described by Frech in 1895 from Sinian limestone near Nan-king 
(Neues Jahrb. fur Mineralogie, 1895, p. 47). Lorenz has recently published a statement of the Ordo- 
vician age of the Tsi-nan limestone based on fossils found by him south of Tsi-nan-fu in 1902. Beitrige 
fur Geologie und Paleontologie von Ostasien, I Teil, Marburg, 1905, by Dr. Phil. Theo. Lorenz. The 
fossils which we collected from Ordovician rocks have been determined by Dr. Stuart Weller, whose 
report will be found in the volume on paleontology. 
