231 



ON THE INQLETON CARBONIFEROUS 

 BASEMENT BEDS. 



COSMO JOHNS, M.I.Mech.E., F.G.S. 



In the Yorkshire NaturaHsts' Union circular, issued for the 

 Ingleton meeting- this year, stress was laid on the necessity 

 for obtaining- such data as would enable the horizon of the 

 Carboniferous basement beds in the district to be compared with 

 the complete series of rocks of similar ag-e in the Bristol and 

 South Wales areas. Since Dr. Vaug-han published * the re- 

 sults of his investig-ation of the faunal sequence in the Bristol 

 area, with their zonal divisions in terms of the corals and 

 brachiopods, his classification has been applied in the Mendips t 

 by Mr. Sibley, in South Wales l by Mr. Dixon, at Rush, Co. 

 Dublin' § by Dr. Matley, and in East Derbyshire by Mr. Wedd. || 

 Its correctness has, therefore, been well established. 



The g-eolog-ical route for the Ing-leton meeting- was arrang-ed 

 so as to include as many exposures of the basement beds as 

 possible. Fossils were only collected from beds where the 

 relationship to the older rocks could be distinctly made out. 

 In most cases the corals were obtained from within a few feet of 

 the upturned edg-es of the ancient rock complex, upon the uneven 

 surface of which the Carboniferous rocks were laid down. 



Many corals were found as a result of the first day's work, 

 but the writer and Mr. W. Robinson of Sedberg-h stayed longer, 

 and were able to obtain further specimens from Norber. Bra- 

 chiopods were only found as indeterminate fragments during- 

 this visit, but the corals were sufficient to enable Dr. Arthur 

 Vaug-han to express an opinion that the beds corresponded to 

 the top of the Syriiigot/iyn's zone and the bottom of the Seminula 

 zone or C^ and Sj^. 



As this was much lower than had been expected, the writer 

 made subsequent visits, ag-ain accompanied by Mr. Robinson. 

 The western side of Ing-leton Dale and Thornton Dale were 

 worked, and, in addition to numerous corals, a number of better 

 preserved brachiopod fragments, together with a few whole 

 specimens, were found. Most of the brachiopods came from 

 exposures opposite the ' granite ' quarry. As it had been 

 reported that Lithostrotion basaltiforme occurred in the base- 

 ment beds at Foxholes,* a careful search was made but without 

 success. Not a single specimen was seen during- the whole 



* Q.J. G. S. 1995, pp. 181-305. t Q.J. G. S. 1906, pp. 324-380. 



:J: Ibid., p. 378, and 'Summary of Progress,' 1904, pp. 44-45. 

 § Ibid., pp. 275-323. II Ibid., p. 379. 



igo6 July i. 



