A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



Kainozoic eras are met with. The history of the formations present 

 is however replete with interest, for not only are they grandly 

 developed, but they have attracted the attention of some of the most 

 celebrated observers in British geology, and conclusions which have 

 revolutionized the science have been arrived at from investigations of 

 these rocks in the laboratory or in the field. 



In the following tables giving the classification and sub-divisions of 

 the Staffordshire rock formations in descending order the results of recent 

 investigation and re-surveys have been embodied ; where the age of 

 certain groups remains under discussion the published opinions of the 

 latest authorities have been adhered to. 1 



TABLE OF STRATA IN STAFFORDSHIRE 



Period 



Formation 



Character of Material 



Approximate thick- 

 ness in feet 



Recent 



Alluvium, Peat . 



Mud, silt, gravel, peat ; 

 bordering streams, rivers 

 and in hollows . 



up to 15 



Pleistocene 



Old River Drift 

 Glacial Deposits 



Gravel, sand, loam, etc., 

 of ancient river terraces 



Pebbly loam (Ratchel), 

 sand, gravel, clay, cave 

 earth . 



up to 40 



up to 130 



Keuper 



Rhaetic . . 

 Keuper Marl 



Waterstones and Lower 

 Keuper Sandstone 



Grey marl and black shales 

 Red marls with thin sand- 

 stones (skerries), beds of 

 rock salt and gypsum . 

 Red and white sandstones, 

 building stones and 

 false-bedded red sand- 



stones , 



up to 125 



up to 2,000 



up to 400 



1 For more detailed information the following works should be consulted : Memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey, 'The Geology of the South Staffordshire Coalfield,' by J. Beete Jukes (1859) ; The Iron Orel 

 of Great Britain, pts. ii. and iv., by Sir W. W. Smyth (i 862), for a description of the ironstones and for a 

 list of fossils by J. W. Salter ; The Geology of the country round Stockfort, Maccksfield, Congleton and Leek, by 

 E. Hull and A. H. Green (i 866) ; The Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midland Counties of England, by 

 E. Hull (i 869) ; The Geology of the country round Stoke-upon-Trent, by W. Gibson and C. B. Wedd (1902); 

 The Geology of the Cheadle Coalfield, by G. Barrow (1903) ; Summaries of Progress of the Geological Survey 

 from 1899 to 1902. A Sketch of the Geology of the Birmingham District, by Prof. C. Lapworth, Geologists' 

 Association, 1898, gives a concise account of the stratified deposits of South Staffordshire, also a short 

 description of the igneous rocks by Prof. W. W. Watts, and a brief summary of the ancient glaciers 

 of the midland counties, by W. J. Harrison ; there is in addition a useful list of bibliographical refer- 

 ences. A full account of the organic remains of the North Staffordshire Coalfield has been published by 

 John Ward in Trans. North Staff. Inst. Min. Eng. vol. x. (1890) ; while the order and nature of the 

 ironstones and coals are given by C. J. Homer in the Proc. Inn and Steel Inst. (1875). Several 

 important papers treating of the local geology are scattered through the Trans. Birm. Philos. Sac., The 

 Midland NaturaKst, and the Trans. North Staff. Field Club. The last-mentioned society publishes from 

 time to time a bibliography by John Ward. 



The county includes the following maps of the Geological Survey on the scale of one inch = one 

 mile : Sheets (Old Series) 62, N.E. Lichfield, Tamworth ; 62, N.W. Cannock Chase ; 62, S.E. Sutton 

 Coldfield, Birmingham, Coleshill ; 62, S.W. Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley ; 72, N.W. Hanley, Stoke- 

 on-Trent; 72, N.E. Ashbourne ; 72,8. W. Stafford, Stone; 72, S.E. Burton-on-Trent, Tutbury ; 72, S.E. 

 Market Drayton, Eccleshall. Sheets (New Series) 123, Stoke-upon-Trent ; 1 10, Maccksfield. 



