TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 531 



FBI DAY, AUGUST 16, 1878. 

 The following Papers were read : — 



1. On the Exploration of Kent's Gave. Fourteenth Report. 

 See Reports, p. 124. 



2. Sixth Report on the Victoria Gave Settle. — See Reports, p. 377. 



3. Report on Fermanagh Gaves. — See Reports, p. 183. 



Fourth Report of Commission on Underground Waters. 

 See Reports, p. 382. 



5. The Relative Ages of the Raised Beaches and. Submerged Forests of 

 Torbay. By W. Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S., 8fc. 



Near Hope's Nose and Berry Head, the northern and southern horns of Torbay, 

 Devonshire, there are fine examples of a raised beach about 30 feet above the 

 level of the existing tidal strand ; whilst along the central shores of the bay, at 

 Tor Abbey, Paignton, Godrington, and Broad Sands, there are exposed at low 

 water, more or less frequently, considerable accumulations of clay, with 

 stumps of trees rising vertically, and having roots and rootlets ramifying through 

 the mass. In short, Torbay presents admirable studies of the raised beaches and 

 submerged forests found so frequently at intervals along the entire coasts of 

 Devon and Cornwall, and affords evidence, so far at least as the bay is concerned, 

 that during the formation of the beach the country was about 30 feet lower than 

 at present, whilst at the time of the forest growth it was not less, but may have 

 been much more, than 80 feet higher than now ; and that, in each case, the move- 

 ment was so uniform and so tranquil as not to destroy or to modify the approxi- 

 mate horizontality of the areas. It has always been admitted that the beaches and 

 the forests cannot have been coeval ; and there has been a prevalent but not an ' 

 unchallenged belief that the beaches are the older. The object of this paper is to 

 afford proof, through evidence hitherto overlooked, of the correctness of this 

 chronology. 



The parish of Paignton, forming the central shore of the bay, is terminated on 

 the north-east by a narrow gulley, through which a rivulet reaches the sea. At 

 this point the sea cliff is no more than 20 feet high ; as it extends towards the 

 south-west it gradually reaches 55 feet, and thence, with a gentle declivity, it 

 descends to within a foot or two of the sea-level, at about -25 mile from the 

 rivulet. Beyond this, the coast for a considerable distance is a sandy plain, 

 covered with greensward a very few feet above high-water level. The cliff" just 

 mentioned consists of two zones ; the lowermost being the well-known Trias of 

 South-Eastern Devon, whilst the uppermost belongs to a much more recent 

 formation. 



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