I.tt 



KNOW 1.1, Dc.i-:. 



June, 1012. 



Ill f.icli c.isf llif distiiiclivf evidences of ice-action are 

 iiiniiistal<eable and widespread. So clear and typical are 

 they in the remoter periods that it is diflicult to realise their 

 antiquity. 



The Cambrian glacial deposits are best developed in South 

 Australia. They form portions of a non-fossiliferous series 

 underlying a very thick formation containing numerous lime- 

 stones crowded with the typical Cambrian fossils. The 

 glacial beds have a lateral extent of two hundred miles, and 

 consist mostly of boulder-clay or till, with stones reaching 

 nine feet in diameter. The included stones are erratics, granites, 

 gneisses, and so on, which cannot be matched anywhere 

 within the limits of South .'\nstralia. Photographs of glaciated 

 stones and an exposure of till shew that the material is 

 identical with that of recent gl.icial deposits. Great earth- 

 pressure, which has been sufficient to produce cleavage in 

 the mudstone base, has not availed to destroy the scratches and 

 facetting of the included stones. 



The most important glaciation of Australia, alike in its 

 variety of features, wide distribution and stratigraphical 

 development is that of the Permo- Carboniferous. Each of the 

 .Australian States and Tasmania have representatives of these 

 deposits. In addition to the features already enumerated in 

 the Cambrian, this glaciation also shews smoothed and striated 

 glacial floors and roche moutonn6e outlines now exposed by 

 denudation. The Cambrian till is interbedded with true 

 marine deposits and is regarded as having been deposited by 

 floating ice. The Permo-Carboniferous. however, must have 

 been land ice. as is shewn by the absence of contemporaneous 

 marine deposits, by striated pavements, and roches moutonnees. 

 The general direction of ice-movement was from south to 

 north, and the centre of distribution must have been well to 

 the south of the present continent. 



The Pleistocene glaciation was relatively small and was 

 restricted to the south-eastern highlands of the present con- 

 tinent and the greatest altitudes in Tasmania. It presents 

 most of the usual features and it is unnecessary to describe it 

 here. 



Striking photographs of the products of the ancient glaciations 

 and a full bibliography are given with this important paper. 



HUMAN SKELETON IN GLACIAL DEPOSITS AT 

 IPSWICH. — The need for caution in dealing with human 

 remains found in recent deposits is exemplified by two very 

 interesting notes by G. Slater. F.G.S., and Professor T. 

 McKenny Hughes in the .April number of The Geological 

 Magazine, on the discovery of a human skeleton in glacial 

 deposits at Ipswich. 



The pit in which the bones were found shews a considerable 

 thickness of sand and gravel, covered by a bed of weathered 

 clay four feet thick, including the soil-cap, and only two feet 

 thick in the trench where the bones were discovered. Both 

 Mr. Whittaker and Dr. Marr, who examined the section after 

 the bones had been removed, identify the material as weathered 

 and decalcified chalky boulder clay. The skull is filled with 

 the same material, and it is thus evident that at the time the 

 skull came into position the clay was in a very moist and 

 waterlogged condition. Dr. Marr thinks it possible that the 

 clay may have flowed from a higher level as a result of being 

 water-logged, but does not undertake to distinguish a thin mass 

 of such slipped material from true, undisturbed boulder clay. 

 According to Mr. Slater there is a slope of fifty feet in half a 

 mile on the plateau to the east of the pit, and he thinks it 

 reasonable to suppose that at least the upper part of the clay 

 in the section is due to rainwash. The bones were found 

 partly in the cl.iy and partly in the underlying sand, and it is 

 difficult to understand how this could have occurred naturally, 

 considering the tlilferent modes of deposition of the clay and 

 sand. According to Mr. Slater all the evidence points to the 

 probability that the man was buried in a narrow and shallow 

 grave, but there is no way of arriving at a determination of 

 the age of the interment. 



Stress has been laid on the point that no indication of a 

 grave could be seen in the section. Professor McKenny 

 Hughes has an interesting letter on this subject in the same 

 issue of T/ic Geological Magazine. He instances the case of 



a Kom.in and Saxon cemetery ex|X)sed at Favershain. In 

 ordin.iry dry stales of the weather no sign of disturbance 

 could be detected in the section that would indicate an 

 interment. The graves were dug in homogeneous brick-earth, 

 with no lines of stratification or bands of pebbles to be broken 

 across, and thus betray disturbance. In wet weather, how- 

 ever, a slight darkening of the moved soil in the graves could 

 be detected. 



In the case of a skeleton recently discovered at Barrington 

 by Professor Hughes, as also at Ip.swich, no signs of disturb- 

 ance were noted in the enclosing earth, but in view of the 

 above facts, no importance can be attached to the absence of 

 such signs. Professor Hughes thinks that the clay above the 

 Ipswich skeleton was merely "soil" or "head." and not true 

 boulder-clay at all. 



In a letter to the May Geological Magazine, Mr. Keid 

 Moir, the discoverer of the Ipswich skeleton, adniits the 

 importance of Professor Hughes" observations on the obliter- 

 ation of all signs of interment in a homogeneous material. 

 He points out, however, that Mr. Slater has apparently 

 changed his opinions, for in a report signed by Mr. Slater 

 and dated October 21st, 1<J11. there occurs a statement to 

 the effect that the pit in which the bones were found shewed a 

 clear and undisturbed section of weathered boulderclay. over 

 the calcareous sands in which the remains were partly 

 embedded. He also corrects the statement of the gradient of 

 the plateau to the east of the site, reducing it to twenty-six 

 feet in the half-mile. 



METEOROLOGY. 



By John A. Curtis, F.R.Met.Soc. 



The weather of the week ended .April IJth, as set out in 

 the weekly weather report issued by the Meteorological Office, 

 was at first unsettled, with showers in all districts, and a good 

 deal of snow or sleet in the North. The latter part of the 

 week was generally fine. Temperature was below the average 

 in all districts except Ireland S., and the English Channel, 

 where it was very slightly above the normal. The difierenccs. 

 however, were very slight except in Scotland. N. and E. The 

 highest readings reported were 6J° at Oxford and Hereford, 

 on the 7th; with 62° in several places. In Scotland, N., the 

 maximum was only 54 \ and in the English Channel 57° was 

 the highest reading reported. 



The lowest readings were 20" at Balmoral and West Linton 

 on the 12th. but readings of 26° or less were observed in 

 all districts except in Ireland, where the minimum was 31°, 

 and in the English Channel where it was 40°. 



On the grass low readings were reported at many stations, 

 the lowest being 14 at Birmingham and Newton Kigg. .At 

 depths of one foot and four feet, however, the temperature was 

 still above the average. 



Rainfall was less than usual very generally, but in Scotland 

 E. it was slightly in excess of the normal, while in Scotland, N. 

 it was three times as much as usual. .At Glencarron nearly 

 four inches of rain was collected during the week, while at 

 Tottenham and Dungeness the week was rainless. 



Sunshine was in excess in ICastern districts, by nearly two 

 hours a day in many places, but in Scotland, N.. and in 

 Ireland it was in defect. At Westminster the daily average 

 duration was 5-7 hours (43%). .At Yarmouth it was 8-1 hours 

 or 60% per cent. 



The sea water was warmer than usual, the means ranging 

 from 42°- 1 at Berwick, to 50°- 5 at Scilly and Salcombc. 



The week ended April 20th was dry and bright generally, 

 but some hea\y falls of rain were reported in Ireland on the 

 20th. A thunderstorm was experienced in Canterbury on the 

 18th. Temperature had risen considerably, and was above 

 the average in all parts, very considerably so in Scotland. 

 The highest readings reported were 71° at Raunds, and 70° at 

 Lincoln, Hillington, Bawtry and Oxford. Frost was, however, 

 experienced at many stations, the lowest readings being 27° at 

 Marlborough and Llangammarch Wells. In Scotland, N.. the 

 lowest reading was 35°, and in Ireland 34°. In the English 

 Channel the temperature did not fall below 41°. On the grass 

 low readings were again reported, the lowest being 20° at 



