There is probably no part of Europe where the Newer Pliocene formations enter so
largely into the structure of the earth's crust, or rise to such heights above
the level of the sea, as Sicily. They cover nearly half the island, and near its
centre, at Castrogiovanni, reach an elevation of 3000 feet. They consist
principally of two divisions, the upper calcareous and the lower argillaceous,
both of which may be seen at Syracuse, Girgenti, and Castrogiovanni. According
to Philippi, to whom we are indebted for the best account of the tertiary shells
of this island, thirty-five species out of one hundred and twenty-four obtained
from the beds in central Sicily are extinct.
A geologist, accustomed to see nearly all the Newer Pliocene formations in the
north of Europe occupying low grounds and very incoherent in texture, is
naturally surprised to behold formations of the same age so solid and stony, of
such thickness, and attaining so great an elevation above the level of the sea.
The upper or calcareous member of this group in Sicily consists in some places
of a yellowish-white stone, like the Calcaire Grossier of Paris; in others, of a
rock nearly as compact as marble.
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