RECONNAISSANCE IN SOUTHWEST LIAU-TUNG. gI 
resistance, stands out from the lowland in a prominent series of hills, 
lies directly upon the upturned edges of the limestone and shale series, 
which is described later as the Fu-chéu series. In the vicinity of the 
contact the shaly strata are steeply inclined toward the south, and the 
rocks are full of local contortions and slickensides. The occurrence of 
the conglomerate lying with discordant stratification upon the limestones 
raises the hypothesis that we are dealing with an unconformity, the 
Fu-chéu series being in that case older than the Yung-ning. But von 
Richthofen reports that he found the red sandstones lying conformably 
beneath the Fu-chéu series in several localities. He says: “I have 
numerous cases to cite in which I carefully investigated the stratigraphy 
of these red sandstones, and was able with positive certainty to determine 
their age relative to the strata with the principal primordial fauna.’’* 
This information, coupled with the evident local deformation of the lime- 
stones at this contact, indicates that the conglomerate was not deposited 
upon the limestones, but has been overthrust upon them from the north. 
The quartzitic rock, being the most rigid in the series, would naturally 
determine the locus of the overthrust. 
If the relation is that of anoverthrust, an inference as to the age of the 
Yung-ning sandstone must depend upon the statement of von Richthofen, 
quoted above, that it lies conformably beneath Cambrian limestones and 
shales. 
No traces of organic remains have yet been found in the formation, 
nor are they to be expected in any noteworthy quantity in such a deposit. 
The heterogeneous composition and cross-bedding of the sandstone indicate 
that it was formed in very shallow water, either along a seashore, or in 
a lake basin, or even by shifting streams operating upon the land surface. 
As to the probable thickness of the red sandstones, the conditions 
in this particular area afford but little evidence. On account of the 
undulatory bedding, the average of which is equivalent to horizontality, a 
thickness of a few hundred feet would suffice for the local occurrences. 
From his observations in several localities, von Richthofen estimates that 
the formation is at least 2,000 feet, 600 meters. 
Southeast of Fu-chéu there is another exposure in which sandy rocks 
are prominent, and this is evidently an eastward continuation of what 
von Richthofen considered a second outcrop of the Yung-ning sandstone. 
Here the strata are, however, markedly different. The sandstone which 
I observed in this area had few, if any, of the distinguishing characteristics 
of the Yung-ning formation. The colors are white, grayish, or yellowish, 
but never red; the bedding is regular, and conglomerate was not observed 
* China, vol. II, p. 73. 
