The Lincolnshire Keuper Escarpm ent 
And its Bearing on, and Relation to the County. 
On the west side of the County of Lincoln, a long cliff, or 
escarpment, of the Keuper, the highest formation of the Triassic 
series, runs in a fairly straight line from north to south, for a 
distance of about eighteen miles, bordering the eastern bank of the 
_ river Trent ; the formation of the cliff being the natural result of 
_ the carving out by that river of the valley through which it flows. 
_ These upper Keuper beds consist of red and variegated marls which 
are readily affected by erosion, but in places this soft, yielding, 
substance becomes indurated by slabs and veins of gypsum, and 
other materials, which enable it to resist denudation to a great 
extent. Hence we have, in some places, hardened masses of 
‘Keuper rock standing out in bluffs and headlands; while in 
others, where the soft marls prevail, and have been subjected to 
water erosion, the surface gets worn down almost to the ordinary 
level of the land around. What these unprotected areas meant in 
telation to the County when the Trent floods prevailed, we shall 
presently see. 
Starting from the north of the County we meet with. the first 
| erosion. From this hill the escarpment runs southwards through 
