336 REPORT— 1897. 



■white sand was found, in which were pebbles of granite, quartzite, and 

 flint. In the other part of the shaft the clay continued, with numerous 

 bits of the grey glauconitic sandstone in a layer, much broken, dipping to 

 the south, which is the direction of the slope of the surface of the ground 

 at Moreseat. The mass of sand increased down to 8 feet, where it ended. 

 At the bottom of the sand there was a block of granite a foot in diameter, 

 and under it a large flint pebble. At 10 feet there was, on one side, a, 

 mass of black clay with a soapy feel, in which sandstone fragments, much 

 worn, were found. This black clay stopped at 11 feet. At 14 feet it 

 began to appear again, and to take the place of the yellowish-brown clay, 

 which ended at 16 feet. The lower part of it contained many stones. 

 From this level the black clay continued all the way down to 30 feet, 

 where it was succeeded by red laminated clay, without stones of any kind. 

 The black clay contained large stones of granite and quartzite and small 

 fragments of the glauconitic sandstone all the way, but the stones grew 

 fewer in number the deeper the shaft was sunk, and the sandstone frag- 

 ments had almost ceased at 27 feet. The excavation could not be carried 

 farther than 30 feet, because, on reaching the red laminated clay, water 

 began to come in, and the funds were exhausted. 



The Committee regret that they were unable to ascertain the nature 

 of the solid rock under the shaft. Most likely it would have been found 

 to be granite, the rock seen at the sea- coast from Cruden Bay to Peterhead. 

 The shaft was evidently in glacial drift clay all the way, and therefore tlie 

 sandstone fragments were not in situ, but had been transported, apparently 

 from the north. By a series of pits a few feet deep made in this direction 

 it might be possible to follow the sandstone fragments farther up the hill, 

 and a shaft sunk at the uppermost place Avhere they could be found might 

 discover the bed from which they came ; yet the Committee cannot ven- 

 ture to express a confident opinion that another excavation would be more 

 successful than the last in finding the origin of the Glauconitic Sandstone. 

 Many appearances indicate that the latest changes on the surface of the 

 ground in the district in which Moreseat is situated were caused by local 

 glacial sheets, perhaps not on a great scale, yet capable of moving great 

 quantities of loose and soft matter. The white sand in the shaft seemed 

 to have been moved bodily from a bed seen to the north-west at a higher 

 level. The original seat of the Glauconitic Sandstone may have been to 

 the north of the shaft, a little farther up the hill, and yet the bed may 

 have been entirely removed by ice descending the hill. If, however, the 

 British Association renew the grant, the Committee will be happy to 

 make another attempt to find the origin of the Moreseat fossils. Some of 

 the gentlemen who have aided in the work might be added to the Com- 

 mittee. 



Mr. Tocher, F.I.C., analysed the clays found in the shaft, and ascer- 

 tained that the reddish colour of the one was due to ferric iron, and the 

 black colour of the other to ferrous iron. There is at Aldie, about a mile 

 from Moreseat, a band of very black igneous rock. There may be also 

 some of it above Moreseat, concealed by superficial drifts, and if so it 

 would account for the colour of the black clay. 



Mr. Insch collected a large quantity of sandstone fragments containing 

 fossils. These were examined by Mr. A. J. Jukes Browne, and will 

 ultimately be deposited in a museum in Aberdeen for preservation. 

 Mr. Jukes Browne is of opinion that the sandstone was a deposit made in 

 clear water of a moderate depth, not far from land, and that the fossils in 



