GRISTHORPE CLIFFS. 79 



feet. 



Oxford clay 120 f These will be particularly described, 



Kelloways rock 25 } when we come to treat of the 



Clay and cornbrash rock 5 [ castle hill at Scarborough. 



Carbonaceous shale and sandstone 50 



Between Gristhorpe and lied cliff, the upper strata have been re- 

 moved from the shore, and the wide hollow so produced partly filled by 

 diluvium ; but the Kelloways rock, and the carbonaceous shale and 

 sandstone still rising northward, allow the oolitic limestone beneath them 

 to appear at low-water between a remarkable rock surrounded by the 

 sea at high-water, and Red cliff. The relative position of the several 

 rocks may be gathered from the general section, and the particular 

 characters of the carbonaceous sandstones and shales, and the inferior 

 oolite, may be understood by consulting the enlarged representation of 

 this interesting spot. 



Here in the upper part, above the layer marked h, we observe 

 towards Red cliff the same shales and thin sandstones, which were 

 noticed at the base of Gristhorpe cliff; and below, the beds, h, g, f, e, d, 

 are so many portions of the sandstones and shales which lie at the bottom 

 of that carbonaceous series: a is the oolite. 



I shall describe them in a reversed or ascending order. 



a. The inferior oolite, its top level with high-water, in thick, solid, obliquely lami- 

 nated, partially oolitic beds, with oxide of iron in the partings. It is full of 

 fragmented milleporae, crinoidea, and echinida. The upper surface is covered by 

 a dichotomous millepora. This rock closely resembles that which occupies the 

 projecting point called Ewe nab, north of Cayton bay. 



c. Argillo-arenaceous layers, separated by carbonaceous partings, containing some 

 ironstone nodules, and small white shells, especially in the upper part. This is 

 excavated by the sea along the shore in a hollow course between a and d. 



d. 1. Solid beds of ironstone nodules, from three feet six inches to four feet six 

 inches thick. 



2. A parting of shale, with imperfect plants. 



3. Sandstone in confused beds, with laminae of shale and carbonized wood ; 

 its surfaces and partings irony. 



