NEW RED FROM TRURO TO AVON ESTUARV. 



89 



Fig 25. — Section on tJie West Side of the Mouth of Petite Bivcr. 



a a 



(a) Carboniferous Strata, highly inclined 



(i) Triassic Red Sandstone. 



" T had in the past summer an opportunity of examining these beds 

 at Walton (Petite) and otlier pUaces, and Avas much gratitied by finding 

 that the New Red might be traced, as a narrow and occasionally inter- 

 rupted band, from the mouth of the Shubenacadie nearly to the 

 mouth of the Avon ; thus connecting as far as possible the distinct 

 patches of New Red described in my former paper. At some points 

 also I found very distinct coast-sections, showing the unconformable 

 superposition of the New Red on the Lower Carboniferous beds. A 

 good instance of this occurs at Petite River. 



" Near the mouth of the river, the Lower Carboniferous formation 

 appears with the same characters observed at Windsor and on the 

 Shubenacadie. It includes a large body of gypsum, extensively 

 quarried for exportation, and a bed of limestone with veins of oxide 

 of manganese. In the neighbourhood of these beds, the softer rocks 

 have been denuded and do not appear. Still nearer the mouth of the 

 river, however, there is a distinct section, showing black shales, with 

 calcareous bands, dipping at a high angle to the south, and under- 

 lying the beds above mentioned. In a short space these beds become 

 contorted, and then dip steeply to the north. 



" Succeeding these black shales, in ascending order, the Lower 

 Carboniferous rocks are seen in the section. These beds pi-obably 

 underlie the gypsum and limestone, which would recur on the north 

 side of the anticlinal formed by the black shales if the section extended 

 sufficiently far. Before reaching the extremity of the point on the 

 east side of the river, however, the edges of the beds sink to the level 

 of the sea, and the lower members of the New Red are unconformably 

 superimposed upon them. It is a somewhat instructive fact that the 

 beds of the underlying series are at this place both redder and softer 

 than the overlying New Red Sandstone." 



I notice this section particularly, because it gives a clear conception 



