Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.07.1962, Blaðsíða 52
52
1) The Sediments. These have been studied in Búlands-
höfði, Skerðingsstaðafjall, Brimlárhöfði (Stöð) and Kirkjufell
by Pjeturss and Jensen (1904), Bárðarson (1929), and Ás-
kelsson (1938) and here only a few points will be stated.
The beds with marine fauna contain in all 22 species, none
of which is extinct. None of the species is found in Tjömes
below the Cardium Groenlandicum zone of Bárðarson. Among
the species is Yoldia arctica which in Tjömes is not found
below Breiðavík. The marine beds reach a height of 140 m
in Brimlárhöfði and about 180 m in Búlandshöfði.
Besting on the marine beds is a delta formation. According
to Áskelsson, who has traced it in much of the area, it has
been deposited by a river running from the north, which
means that at the time there must have been an extensive
land in the area now occupied by the Breiðafjörður. Just be-
low and above the delta formation there are plant beds in
Brimlárhöfði. The flora contains i.a. species not found in Ice-
land today: Pollen of Pinus, Picea (doubtful), Alnus, and
several foreign Salix species. The climate of this interglacial
is thought to have been as warm or rather warmer than that
of today in this area (Áskelsson 1938).
2a. The Reverse group. Hospers (1953) studied 4 sections
in the lower part of this group. I have published sections of
Brimlárhöfði, Kirkjufell, and Mýrarhyma (1957 a & b) but
later extended my magnetic and geologic study of the Young
rocks. In Brimlárhöfði (268 m) I distinguished 9 lava flows,
all belonging to this group, with a total thickness of about
100 m. In some cases the lavas are considerably altered, and
weathering mostly produces unsharp forms, in contrast to
what is customary in fresh lavas. Kirkjufell (463 m) con-
tains some 15 lavas of the group with a thickness of about
190 m. In addition there is a total thickness of intercalated
sediments of 40—50 m. There is a 10 m thick conglomerate at
170m, a 25 m layer of gravel at 220 m. There occur con-
spicuous infillings in the sediments and in vesicles of lavas,
even at the highest levels (440 m). This probably means that