GEOLOGY 



ward until covered and hidden by the next overlying formation. This 

 rule does not apply how^ever to the Pleistocene and recent deposits — the 

 gravels, sands and clays of comparatively modern origin, often termed the 

 ' superficial ' beds in contradistinction to the ' solid ' strata on which they 

 rest ; for, as we shall presently see, these are scattered in patches indis- 

 criminately over the whole district. There is also a slight tilt of the 

 ' solid ' rocks in the opposite direction at the north-eastern corner of the 

 county, by which the beds are bent upwards to the north, so that a 

 shallow trough or ' syncline ' is formed, wherein Eocene deposits are 

 preserved, with higher ground composed of Chalk on both sides. 



To grasp the full significance of the structural arrangement we 

 must look beyond the limits of the county. It will be found that at 

 a short distance to the southward, in Sussex, the northerly dip of the 

 strata ceases to be perceptible ; and soon a gentle dip to the opposite 

 quarter sets in, which gradually carries down the older rocks beneath 

 the surface and brings in newer formations the farther southward we go ; 

 so that we find the same series of deposits in ascending sequence in a 

 southward traverse across Sussex as in a northward traverse across Kent. 

 The great arch of the strata thus indicated is technically known as the 

 ' Wealden anticline.' In their prolongation westward through Surrey 

 and Sussex into Hampshire the corresponding formations on the 

 opposite sides of this anticline curve in towards each other until they 

 meet, so that the successive belts from the Chalk downwards may be 

 followed continuously from the Kentish coast westward and southward 

 around the central Wealden area and then back eastward to the coast 

 of Sussex, Moreover, although on both sides they disappear eastward 

 beneath the waters of the Channel, they are evidently extended under 

 the sea-floor, for they reappear in the same order on the French coast 

 to the northward and southward of Bas Boulonnais ; after which, when 

 traced still eastward, the opposite belts soon again converge and join. 

 The Wealden anticline is thus rounded off at both ends, and the central 

 area may be pictured as an elongated dome from which the strata dip 

 away all round. This ' dome of elevation ' has been so severely planed 

 down and carved out by the long-continued denudation to be presently 

 described, that its very core is now laid bare in south-western Kent and 

 the adjacent parts of Sussex and Surrey. The position of the county on 



of the same memoir for details of some Kentish well-sections ; 'The Pliocene Deposits of Great Britain ' 

 by C. Reid (1890), for the ' Lenham Beds ' ; ' The Cretaceous Rocks of Great Britain,' vol. i., by A. 

 J. Jukes Browne (1900), for the Gault and Upper Greensand ; and vol. ii. (1902) by the same author, 

 for the divisions of the Chalk ; also ' Guide to the Geology of London and the Neighbourhood ' by 

 W. Whitaker (ed. 6, 1 901), for a brief account of the north-eastern part of the county. The Memoirs 

 on ' the Weald,' ' the London Basin,' and ' the Pliocene ' contain full bibliographies of the geological 

 literature of these subjects up to the date of their publication ; therefore it has not been deemed 

 necessary to give references to the earlier authorities in the present sketch. References to a few 

 important later papers will be found in subsequent footnotes, but for further information as to the 

 more recent literature the reader should consult the Catalogue of Geological Literature issued annually 

 since 1894 ^7 ^^^ Geological Society of London. The reports of excursions in Kent in Proceeedings of 

 the Geolopits' Association will also be found useful, both for the descriptions of sections and for the 

 references. The county is embraced in the following maps of the Geological Survey, on the scale 

 of one inch = one mile : Sheets (Old Series) i, 3, 4 and 6, with very small portions of Sheets 2 and 5. 



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