THE BURNING CLIFF AT LYME REGIS. 155 



FT. 



(Hard grey marl and shales - 19 



Blue Lias.-, Shales with 9 beds of limestone - 24 



^Beds of limestone and shale, seen for - 7 



About 252 



The Blue Lias and the overlying 50 feet of nearly black shale 

 form the first tier of cliffs. The band of ferruginous cement- 

 stones containing Am. Birchi is locally known as the " firestone 

 nodules," and it can be seen in the lower part of the second tier 

 of cliffs, the top of which is from 170 to 180 feet. The rest of 

 the Black Marl beds compose the upper slope and cliff. Still 

 higher and nearer to Black Ven there is a fourth cliff rising to 

 300 feet, above which the Lias is surmounted by the Cretaceous 

 Beds, consisting of sandy clays (Gault) and soft yellow sands 

 (Upper Greensand). These beds throw out springs where they 

 rest on the Lias. 



2. THE BURNING MOUND. 



This is merely a mound or pile of debris which has slipped 

 from the second tier of cliff on to the plateau below, which is 

 here about 100 feet wide (as seen in the illustration, Plate 2). 

 The materials composing it are shales, iron pyrites, and cement- 

 stones, and they have come from the beds which include the 

 " firestone nodules." This slip and the consequent formation 

 of the mound took place early in January, 1908, and the mound 

 began to smoke about January i9th, soon after which date 

 reports of a volcano at Lyme Regis began to circulate in the 

 newspapers. 



Needless to say, no volcanic action is concerned in the matter, 

 and the burning of the mound (as was the case at Holworth 

 Cliff in April, 1827) is merely a case of spontaneous combustion 

 due to the decomposition of iron-pyrites, or more accurately to 



