Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 26.djvu/341

 MOORE AXJSTEA1IAK MESOZOIC G OOLOGY. 233 of fossils as showing the existence of a distinctly marked marine fauna in Australia, and then goes on to say that " the general aspect or facies of the Serpulce, Brachiopoda, Lima, &c. is exactly that of those of the base of the Oolite and Lias beds, whilst some of the Monotis recall the Saliferous beds of Germany." " Perhaps," he adds, " one of the most interesting points in my examination of these fossils is my determination of Professor Bronn's genus Myo- plioria (nos. 23, 24, 29), so abundant in the Muschelkalk of Ger- many, strengthening my general reference of the whole to the base of the Mesozoic series, as well as suggesting, for the first time, the existence of the Muschelkalk in Australia, the only European forma- tion wanting in England." His view of the general series was that they are " not younger than the base of the Oolite, nor older than the Trias." The Rev. W. B. Clarke at the same time suggests (p. 52) the possibility of this group of fossils belonging to the Rhsetic formation, and of the small fish-teeth found with them being identical with those found by myself in the Rhastic fissures near Erome. The evi- dence that will be adduced will show that neither of the above con- clusions is correct, and that the whole series must be assigned to a higher position in the geological scale. The locality from which most of the specimens come is Wollum- billa, on the east side of the Eitzroy Downs, whilst a few are from the Eitzroy Downs, the Mitchell Downs on the Amba river, the downs on the Nive river, the Upper Maranoa west of Bendango, Mount Abundance, Blythesdale, and Bungeeworgorai, all in the Queensland colony. The Rev. W. B. Clarke has also forwarded me a photograph of a Cytherea from the Gregory River, a few miles north of Einnis's Springs, on Stuart's Route from Adelaide to Cham- ber's Bay. As in the case of the remains already noticed from Western Australia, there appears to be little room for doubt that those now under consideration have not been obtained from their parent bed in situ, but from the sides or beds of creeks, and from derived boulders scattered over the face of the Queensland Downs. As there are 38° of longitude between the district from which the Liassic and Oolitic specimens from Western Australia come and that of Wollumbilla, throughout which space as yet no Secondary beds appear to have been found in situ, we have evidence (which is also confirmed by the general character of the Australian continent) that there must have been an enormous denudation of the Secondary scries over a considerable part of its surface between the deposition of the Palaeozoic rocks and that of the Tertiary beds, the missing members of the Secondary series being as yet only made known to us by the comparatively meagre evidence afforded by the series of Mesozoic fossils now under consideration. In his ' Recent Geological Discoveries in Australia ' (p. 52), the Rev. W. B. Clarke states that the Wollumbilla fossils occur in rounded, nodular, or concretionary boulders imbedded in a brittle marl in the creeks and on the downs, which are covered by grits e2