341 



THE FOSSILIFEROUS DRIFT DEPOSITS AT KIR= 

 MINGTON, LINCOLNSHIRE, AND AT VARIOUS 

 LOCALITIES IN THE EAST RIDING OF YORK= 

 SHIRE.* 



J. W. STATHER, F.G.S. 



The Specton Shell-bed. — -As mentioned in last year's report, 

 this fossiliferoLis estuarine sand was first described by Professor 

 Phillips in his ' Geology of Yorkshire,' and later by Mr. G. W. 

 Lamplug-h in the Geological Magazine for 1881. As the bed is 

 almost always obscured by slips, so that its relations to the 

 drift are open to question, it was decided to examine its posi- 

 tion by excavations. 



Since the presentation of the last report several excavations 

 have been made in the neighbourhood of the exposures seen by 

 Professor Phillips and Mr. Lamplugh, and your Committee 

 reports that, though the results obtained are corroborative of 

 the accounts given by the observers above named, they also 

 include certain new points of interest. 



The largest excavation was made in the ridge between 

 Middle Cliff and New Closes Cliff at Speeton, and at this place 

 beds were exposed as follows — 



(rt) Boulder clay (lower part only excavated) 

 ((b) Fine chalky gravel 

 Estuarine (r) Yellowish sandy silt with shells ... 



Shell- Ud) Black Silt 



bed. I {e) Black silt with sandy streaks and a little gravel 2 o 



\\^f) Fine gTavel, chiefly of chalk ... ... ... 4 o 



(5") Speeton clay (base of Bel. jacuhini zone iV and 

 ' Compound nodular band ' ^' forming- the upper 

 portion of the sloping cliff of Secondary clays 84 

 feet above beach level). 



It will be seen from the above section that the shell-bed is 

 here 17 feet 8 inches thick and its base is about 86 feet above 

 the present beach. 



The gravel (/) rests on the Bel. jaculnin clays, but contains 

 some material washed from the lower beds of the Speeton clay, 

 such as fragments of Bel. lateralis etc. 



* Report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. G. W. Lamplugh (Chair- 

 man), Mr. J. W. Stather (Secretary), Dr. Tempest Anderson, Professor 

 J. W. Carr, Rev. W. Lower Carter, Mr. A. R. Dvverryhouse, Mr. F. W. 

 Harmer, Mr. J. H. Howarth, Rev. W. Johnson, Professor P. F. Kendall, 

 Mr. H. B. Muft", Mr. E. T. Newton, Mr. Clement Reid, and Mr. Thomas 

 Sheppard. Presented to Section C of the Meeting of the British Association, 

 York. 



1906 September i. 



