278 



papers read. 



Notes on the Moore Park Borings. 



By James C. Cox, M.D., F.L.S., &c. 



Plate XII. 



Tlie borings at Moore Park, of which the accompanying plate 

 gives a good illustration, were commenced in May, 1879, under 

 the able superintendence of Mr. John Ooghlan. The spot selected 

 for making the bore is situated about half-a-mile south of Baptist's 

 Grardens, at the end of Bourke Street, Surry Hills, and is about 

 20 feet above the level of the sea. The drill used on this occasion 

 was one of the Hydraulic Feed Diamond Drills, having a diameter 

 of 2f , and drawing a core of two inches in diameter. The boring 

 continued uninterrupted up to the 10th April last (1880), when, 

 at a depth of 1860 feet, operations were stopped through one of 

 the tubes giving way, owing to a flaw in its side, at a depth of 

 300 feet from the surface. 



In consequence of the very sandy nature of the spot selected 

 for this experiment a stand three-inch pipe was driven for a 

 distance of 143 feet, and at this point rock was reached. The 

 bed of sand passed through had all the character of the ordinary 

 drift sand of the surrounding hiUs, and was saturated with water, 

 though the water did not rise higher than four feet six inches 

 from the top of the tube. The rock first tapped was a white 

 cellular sandstone, very soft, and, owing to the large size of the 

 ceUs, easily broken. This strata of white sandstone continued 

 for a depth of 900 feet from the point where it was first struck, 

 only altering in density as it descended. At a depth now of 

 1043 feet from the surface, a ferruginous clay was tapped. This 

 rock is known on this coast as the red iron band, the character of 

 which is so well known that it does not require any minute notice, 

 varying in colour according to the percentage of iron it contains. 

 This ferruginous band was found to be 263 feet thick, carrying 

 us to a depth of 1306 feet. The same band was struck at the 



