TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 655 



Water Tower, the relations beween Keuper and Bunter are well displayed, and 

 the quarries are worth visiting. Probably nowhere in the district do the Bunter 

 sandstones display such clear evidence of their ^olian origin. They consist of 

 sand grains perfectly rounded and pohshed, each bed containing grains of uniform 

 size. So perfect is this sifting that it looks as if the layers had been passed 

 through sieves of varying meshes. In some layers the grains are 2 mm. in 

 diameter, and in others they are exceedingly fine. A comparison of these sands 

 with others from the Sahara and sand dunes shows clearly the distinction between 

 the deposition by wind agency and in water. Faults traversing the Triassic 

 rocljs conform to the general N. and S. direction so characteristic of Lancashire 

 and Cheshire, and these are joined by E. and W. faults, which, as a rale, have 

 little or no throw. It seems as if the N. and S. buckling which caused the 

 main faults had cut up the rocks into blocks, and the E. and "VV. faults mark the 

 units which dropped successively in the individual blocks. 



Further to the E. the Bunter rocks give place to Coal-measures, but at one or 

 two places in the area, as at Skillaw Clough and Bentley Brook, thin beds of 

 Permian age intervene. 



Succeeding the Coal-measures, Millstone Grit appears in the next platform 

 which forms the hills above Chorley and Horwich. An outlier of Millstone Grit 

 also occurs at Parbold, further to the west. 



The disposition of the rocks already given indicates an approach towards the 

 arch of the great Penine anticline, and on crossing the Penine chain a similar 

 succession, in the reverse order, is met with in Yorkshire. 



The matter is complicated, however, by the occurrence of another line of 

 folding which shows itself in the Rosendale anticline, running E.N.E. to AV.S.W. ; 

 and it is owing to this cross folding that the Millstone Grit is brought to the sur- 

 face on Anglezark Moor and at Parbold. 



As a result of this folding the main faults in the Carboniferous area run 

 parallel with the anticline, and the cross faults at right angles' to the faulted 

 blocks are characterised by having only a slight throw. 



Returning now to the first platform we find the chief interest lies in the glacial 

 and post-glacial deposits which cover the area. The surface of the boulder clay is 

 very uneven, and in the hollows meres have been formed. Many of these have 

 since been filled with peat, and tree trunks, both prone and erect, are found 

 inclosed in it. A great number of these meres, or mosses, are seen, not only about 

 Southport, but in the Fylde, in South Lancashire, and the northern part of 

 Cheshire. 



In all cases they either drain eastwards or formerly did so. Borings in the 

 peat show that they often extend below sea-level, and there must have existed 

 barriers which prevented the waters from reaching the Irish Sea. It has been 

 estimated that the coasts in the neighbourhood are being eroded, in some places at 

 the rate of five yards a year ; so that 400 years ago the land would extend more 

 than a mile seawards ; and if the same rate of waste has obtained since the glacial 

 period there would be a land of meres and mosses extending as far as the Isle of 

 Man. It is possible that the Irish elk found in the Isle of Man crossed by this 

 lost land. 



Along the coast meres can be seen in all stages of decay. Immediately to the 

 east of Southport lies Martin Mere, which is only separated from the sea by a 

 narrow bank at Crossens. At the Alt mouth, at Leasowe, in Cheshire, and in 

 other places, the ancient meres have been cut in two by the sea, and we have peat 

 and tree trunks on the coast below high-water level. These are usually spoken of 

 as ' submerged forests,' and their occurrence in the places mentioned may indicate 

 a lowering of the surface of the land since the trees grew. 



The present mouths of the Mersey, Alt, Douglas, and Kibble have all been cut 

 throtigh ancient meres, and as there is evidence that these formerly drained to the 

 east it is probable that the breaching of the meres has resulted in a reversal oi 

 flow since glacial times, and the present mouths are of comparatively recent date. 



The sandhills on the coast only occur in districts adjacent to rivers. It is 

 probable that they owe their origin to the material brought down by the rivers, 



