Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 26.djvu/974

 Jamboli this river runs through an extensive " massif " of granite and gneiss, the summits of which attain an altitude of 3000 feet. Towards the south-west, between Adrianople and Philippopoli, this is connected with the primitive " massif " of Despoto Dagh or Rhodopi.

5. The eruptive district of Jamboli, Aidos, and Burgas, situated on the Black Sea, between the " massif" of Tundscha and the Balkan, presents an abundance of Doleritic cones, possessing all the characters of extinct volcanoes, and is connected with very extensive submarine deposits of tuff containing organic remains of Cretaceous character.

6. The chain of the Balkan. — A fissure of dislocation running continuously from Burgas, on the Black Sea, to the region of Pirot or Scharkioi, north-west of Sofia, corresponds with the south slope of the Balkan. From the Black Sea to Sliwno the escarpment or southern slope of the chain is composed of Eocene or Cretaceous deposits, disrupted by porphyries. West of Sliwno, from Tschipka to Karlowa, granite, gneiss, and micaceous and argillaceous slates make their appearance. On the northern border of the basin of Sofia, Triassic sandstones and limestones complete the southern margin of the chain. Hot springs and an almost uninterrupted series of most diversified eruptive rocks mark the course of the chief fissure of the Balkan. The highest summits (6000-7000) feet) are between Sliwno and Sofia.

7. The Intermediate Mountain-ranges. — These are the Karadscha Dagh (highest summit 3500 feet) between Eski Saara and Kisanlik, and the Sredna Gora (highest point about 5000 feet) north of Philippopoli. These chains form portions of a granitic and syenitic "massif," which has sunk down between the Balkan and the Rhodopi and become overlain by a series of mesozoic strata.

8. The Upper Basin of the Maritza (Plain of Philippopoli). — This is wholly covered with diluvia and alluvia, from which syenitic cliffs (the summits of the sunken." massif ") project near Philippopoli.

9. The Rhodopi or Despoto Dagh. — This is bounded on the east by the lower Maritza, and on the west by the river Struma (Strymon). Its highest summit rises to 9000 feet ; and it forms an extensive primitive " massif" with many eruptive Trachytes of later date, and with local Eocene and Miocene freshwater deposits, some with seams of Brown coal, at an altitude of from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea-level.

10. The district of Vitosch. — The Vitosch mountain is a colossal syenitic " massif," rising 7000 feet above the sea-level. From it the chief rivers of European Turkey (the Maritza, the Struma, the Isker, and the Morawa, or rather its affluent the Nischawa) take their origin. The foundations of this district consist of ancient crystalline rocks, with " massifs " of syenite and granite. A mass of Triassic deposits rests upon them, and is overlain by a vast system of limestones (perhaps Jurassic) interrupted here and there by Cretaceous deposits and newer Tertiary basins with Brown coal.

11. The small basins along the foot of the Balkan, such as those

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