62 Froceedmgs of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



be given of the deposits in which they occur. The floor on 

 which the limestone quarries rest is not visible, but from an 

 examination of the surrounding strata the bed-rock is clearly 

 either the glacial boulder clay or Lower Silurian : almost 

 certainly the latter in the case of Burnip's quarry. 



The series exposed in the quarry sections consists mainly of 

 magnesian limestone, with intercalated beds of calcareous sand, 

 grit and gravel. They are well stratified, especially towards the 

 upper part of the sections. The several beds exposed have 

 undergone a considerable amount of disturbance and contortion ; 

 they have a general dip in towards the bottom of the valley, the 

 average dip being about 20°, although angles of 30' have been 

 noted. 



There can be little doubt that the cause of the disturbance 

 and contortion of the beds is to be found in the character of the 

 beds themselves. By the solvent action of percolating waters 

 caverns and hollows have been formed in the limestone ; at a 

 later stage subsidence has taken place in, as might have been 

 expected, a more or less irregular manner. In places where a 

 band of clay adjoins a limestone bed it may be noticed that the 

 clay has been forced into cavities dissolved out of the limestone ; 

 the effect of this intrusion of the clay is to give an appearance of 

 unconformity, which is, however, at once dispelled by a moi-e 

 complete study of the sections. In connection with this matter 

 it may be noticed that the lowest points to which the quarries 

 have been worked are still at a moderate height above the level 

 of the creek draining the area. 



Sedioi at Alkeniade's Quarry. 



All the beds represented cannot be seen exposed in one face, 

 but by following out the strikes and dips the following section 

 has been constructed, showing the relative positions of the 

 various beds and their approximate thickness in each case. 



In descending order we have : — 



(1) Gravel and ferruginous conglomerate, 8 feet. 



(2) Very tine blue clay, interspersed with finely-laminated 



lim'estone shales of varying texture and hardness, 

 and containing lenticular masses of hai'd, compact 



