BEMBRIDGE LIMESTONE. 167 



is now visible near St. John's Road Station, at a height of about 

 15 feet above the sea, but It soon sinks beneath the marsh level, 

 and is altogether lost half a mile further south. The dip at Ryde 

 is southward, but the amount is only about half a degree. 



At the west corner of Apley Wood, about 200 yards south of 

 the sea-wall, an earthy limestone of the ordinary Bembridge type 

 has been quarried beneath the site of some unfinished houses. 

 This was probably the lowest bed of the Bembridge Limestone, 

 but the place is now covered with underwood. The blocks were 

 from fifteen to eighteen inches thick, and contained LimncBa^ 

 Chara, &c. From this point the Limestone is invisible for more 

 than a mile, reappearing in the road, and in a small pit about a 

 quarter of a mile south of Sea View. 



At Ilorestone Point the Limestone again makes a distinct 

 feature, traceable through the tumbled clitf as far as Watch 

 House, or Node's Point, where we again meet with clear sections. 

 The dip is south-south-west. On the south side of W^atch House 

 Point the following; section was measured : — 



Bemhridcje Limestone at Watch House Point: 



Ft. In. 



Limestone, irregular, marly, and most compact in the lower half 

 of the bed, which is, also, the least fossiliferous. Full of Chara, 

 with a few Limnoea and Paludina globuloides. The upjaer 2 feet 

 more ferruginous and less indurated, and is frequently marked 

 by the abundance of Limnaa - - - - - 4 



Dark laminated clay ; the lower part of a lighter colour, and more 

 sandy - - - - - - - -13 



Compact greenish clay (slightly bituminous), with, fragments of 



Cyrena, and now and then a perfect valve - - -09 



Earthy limestone ; the upper part soft and of variable thickness. 



Planorbis discus in the upper part, Limncea throughout 1 G to 2 



Hard green marl, with concretions in the lower part - - 2 6 



At St. Helen's the Bembridge Limestone passes into the sea 

 close to the old church tower, and reappears at Bembridge Point, 

 The upper bed has an uneven, undulating surface, and is covered 

 with a cap, of variable thickness, containing Oysters throughout 

 its entire depth. 



From Bembridge Point to the Foreland the Limestone becomes 

 nearly horizontal, spreading out to form extensive ledges on the 

 foreshore, but not rising above high-water level till Whitecliff Bay 

 is reached. Between Foreland Point and the margin of the bay 

 it forms in great part the floor of the shore, with a hollow and 

 slightly basin-shaped curve, dipping inwards and landwards on 

 the east and south-east. The extension of the broken margin 

 of this shallow trough constitutes the reef of rocks known 

 as Bembridge Ledge, and formerly quarried at low water for 

 building stone. Rolled fragments of the Limestone strew the 

 bay, and mingle with the flint gravel of the drift to form the 

 shingle. At a distance it is conspicuous among the neighbouring 



