Geological Sections through the Andes of Peru and Bolivia: III—From the Port of Callao to the River Perene

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Abstract
I. Introduction. This paper deals with the geological structure of the Andes of Central Peru, as represented by a horizontal section drawn from the island of San Lorenzo off the Pacific coast at Callao to the River Perene, a tributary of the Apurimac, one of the headwaters of the Ucayali. It is a third contribution to a series of papers written as the result of a two years' expedition to South America (1910–12) undertaken on behalf of the late Mr. W. E. Balston, F.G.S. The district traversed is one of the best-known and most populous in Peru, for through it passes the northern Transandine route from Lima, the capital of the country, to the port of Iquitos on the Amazon, whence steamers sail direct to Europe. The first half of the section follows the line of the central railway of Peru. This is the well-known Oroya line, famous not only as the highest railway in the world, but also as a wonderful feat of engineering, rising as it does to an altitude of over 15,000 feet in a course of 100 miles. The line ascends the steep-sided valley of the Rimac by means of a series of sinuous curves and zigzag ‘switchbacks,’ cut for the greater part in the face of the solid rock. After passing through no fewer than 65 tunnels it reaches the summit of the watershed between the Atlantic and the Pacific river-systems at Ticlio, 15,665 feet above sea-level, and thence descending to 12,000 feet terminates at

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