Geology 



of about 50 feet above tide-level. On the outer edge 

 of the terrace we descended a low cliff and found our- 

 selves on a terrace similar in all respects except for the 

 absence of mosses or other vegetation, and showing 

 every indication of having been battered and scoured by 

 the action of the waves, which were even then breaking 

 in sheets of foam on its seaward margin. The rock of 

 these two terraces, the present beach, and the older 

 raised beach was the same gray basalt which con- 

 stituted the chief part of the shingle at Seaview, and 

 this rocky headland was doubtless the source from which 

 the boulders had been derived (Plate II.). 



On returning to the surface of the upper terrace, and 

 crossing it, we found that the lower parts of the great 

 cliff, which consisted of basalt, were penetrated by 

 numerous water-worn caves, giving further evidence 

 that the sea had once reached this level. We retraced 

 our steps a little way in the direction of Seaview, and 

 endeavoured to find the place where the chalk and the 

 basalt came into contact, and, as this would probably be 

 found most easily in the cliffs, we travelled along their 

 base. 



A point was soon reached where the junction of the 

 two rocks was well seen, the section being as indicated 

 in Fig. 9. 



The chalk to the west was continuous with that at 

 Dipton Burn, and dipped at the same angle, but as it 

 approached the margin of the basalt the bedding planes 

 became ill-defined and the rock became yellowish in 

 colour, until at about 10 feet from the actual junction it 

 consisted of a white crystalline substance, not unlike loaf- 

 sugar in appearance, but more crumbly. So friable was 



82 



