Geological researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan, during the years 1862-1865.

GEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES
IN
CHINA, MONGOLIA, AND JAPAN.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE GENERAL OUTLINES OF EASTERN ASIA.
IF we examine a Mercator Chart of Eastern Asia, we are instantly struck with
the parallelism of many of its most important features. A straight line (A, B, P1.
VII) drawn in the longer axis of the Gulf of Pechele, trending nearly northeast
(N. 470 E.), if prolonged in both directions, will be found to coincide with the
entire middle course of the Yangtse, between Sz'chuen and Yunnan, with the
longer axis of the great delta-plain between the highlands of Shantung and western
Chihli, with the mouth and lower course of the Liau river, with the valley of the
lower Amur, and finally crossing the Sea of Ochotsk, it is parallel to, and nearly
coincides with, the direction of the Gulf of Penjinsk.
Using this line as a standard of reference, we find that the long straight western
shores of the two greatest indentations, the Sea of Ochotsk and the Bay of Bengal,
are nearly in a line with each other and parallel to our standard. The same may
be said of a line connecting the islands of Formosa, Kiusiu, Nippon and the Kuriles.
The trend of the southeastern coast of China, the upper course of the Yellow river,
the Lake Baikal, and the courses of many of the principal rivers of Eastern Siberia;
that of Kamtschatka and the coast of Manchuria are all separate instances confirming this rule.
We are naturally led to look for the cause of this in a similar uniformity in the
trend of the mountain ranges, and, indeed, although the directions of these are
difficult of determination, I hope to be able to show that such a parallelism really
exists. The long, submerged chain represented by the Kurile and Japanese islands
is an unmistakable instance, while, in the northern part of the continent, the Stanovoi
and Yablonoi ranges, and all the ridges of Trans-Baikal, are examples of mountains
nearly or quite parallel to our standard, and inclosing extensive longitudinal valleys.
The same may be said of the Byrranga mountains, and of almost all the ridges east
of the Lena river. Indeed, while the trends of nearly all the mountains of Northeastern Asia lie between N. N. E. and E. N. E., the majority of them approach very
nearly the N. E. S. W. direction.
Having seen that this regularity exists in the ranges of the better explored parts
1 April, 1866. ( 1 )