Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 edition. Excerpt: ... SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE WESTERN JOURNEY Section I GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL By RAYMOND E. PRIESTLEY, Geologist Of The Expedition rpHE stratigraphy of that portion of the western moun tains which forms the cliffs on either side of the Ferrar Glacier has been well described by Mr. Ferrar in his account of the geological work carried out by the National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-3. In its broad outlines the sequence of rocks may be sketched as follows: (1) at the base lies a thick series of gneisses and schists; (2) a mass of granite with intrusive sills of dolerites lies unconformably on the schistose series; (3) this again is capped unconformably by the series of sedimentary rocks and interbedded volcanics to which Mr. Ferrar has given the name of the Beacon sandstone. In the foothills on either side of the lower slopes of the glacier a series of schists and gneisses, with occasional beds of limestone, is exposed, and the most striking feature of this series is the great variation in texture and mineral composition of these metamorphic rocks. Further up the valley of the glacier these are capped by great masses of granite and porphyry, which are traversed by one sill of dolerite and capped by another. The intrusive nature of these dolerites is abundantly proved by the fact that in places thin veins arising from it can be seen cutting across the granite both above and below, and even in one or two cases enclosing large masses of that rock, which thus appear to have been caught up in the dolerite. On the north side of the Bluff, which forms the western and upper extremity of the Kukri Hills and separates the east fork of the glacier from the Dry Valley, this structure is very conspicuous and the lower sill of dolerite appears to...
