So Nappe HS 
BANDED CLAYS. 17 
At Wells River there are exposures of well-banded clays which deserve 
more careful study than I have given them. About 150 feet west of the toll- 
bridge which connects Wells River and Woodsville, there is an interesting 
exposure of banded clays on the west side of the highway. The banding is 
extremely regular at the level of the road and upward for ten feet. The two 
components of the banding average about an inch in thickness, one half an inch 
for each component. A change in the summer components may be noted 
about twelve feet above the road. The material changes from rock-flour to 
sand. From this point upward the sandy components increase in thickness 
and in coarse texture, and about three feet from the top irregular sand and 
coarse gravel layers appear. Contortions may be seen in parts of the deposit. 
On the left all the layers appear to have been pushed, and the direction of the 
force was from west to east. 
About 100 yards to the N. W. on the level of the upper surface of the ex- 
posure just described, is the Wells River railway station. To the north of 
the station across the tracks is a high bank of banded clay showing a huge 
contorted zone, fifteen to twenty feet thick. It is evident that advancing ice 
produced the results observed here. The clays merge into sand near the top 
of the deposit. From a study of the contortions I believe that the ice tongue 
which caused them came from the northwest, and may not have been more 
than a temporary oscillation. The contortions die out towards the east. The 
lower deposit, first described, and this upper deposit opposite the railway 
station, were continuous with each other at one time. The coarse sands and 
gravels capping the lower deposit gave evidence of approaching ice. Above 
this horizon clays were deposited giving evidence of receding ice. The ice 
then advanced again, during this later phase of deposition, and contorted not 
only the upper deposit of clays, but also the lower deposit. The deposits filled 
the valley at one time and the present terraced condition of the valley is due 
to subsequent river cutting. It is possible that the water from the same ice 
“which contorted these clays was responsible for the banded deposits near 
Newbury (p. 16), and that the ice itself did not then reach Newbury. A 
further study of this interesting locality is desirable. As the main purpose 
of this paper is to compare Pleistocene with Permian extraglacial sediments 
it will not be necessary to follow out the history of these banded clays here. In 
a future paper I hope to present an account of the sequence of events near 
Wells River. 
~ At Woodsville, about 300 yards northeast of the covered bridge which 
