G. H. Morton — Recent Borings in the Red Marl. 497 



tradition tbat prevails in the neighbourhood that salt water occurs 

 below the surface. Mr. J. Dickinson, F.G.S., in his Parliamentary 

 Report on " The Salt Districts," refers to a brine spring mentioned 

 by Dr. Browning; and Baines, in his "History of Lancashire," 

 states that it "contained as much salt as that at Northwich." 

 Mr. Fidler informed me that though salt water has been frequently 

 found near the surface in various places in the district, fresh water 

 was found on penetrating to a greater depth. 



I am inclined to think that the salt water found about the surface 

 of the country is in consequence of frequent floods from the sea in 

 former years, and the deposit of spray during storms. The wind 

 carries the tine spray for many miles inland, and a film of salt 

 has been found coating windows at a distance of twenty or thirty 

 miles from the sea after storms, so that it is certain to impart 

 a saltness to the soil over the land along the coast. 



Boring in the Red Marl at Ford on the West of Bidston Hill. 



Another boring in the Red Marl has been in progress during 

 the last two years on the east bank of the Fender, a brook running 

 from south to north into the Birket and finally into Wallasey 

 Pool. The object of the boring was to obtain an additional 

 supply of water for Birkenhead, and I am indebted to Mr. W. A. 

 Richardson, C.E., for the following section of the strata passed 

 through : — 



Feet. 

 Surface-soil ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 



Boulder- clay ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 



Sand ami gravel ... ... ... ... ... ... 16 



Red Marl 454 



Keuper Sandstone ... ... ... ... ... ... 244 



Fault rock 7 



Upper Soft Sandstone of the Banter 133 



900 



The boring was made with a revolving iron disc with steel chisels, 

 two feet in diameter, suspended by a flat rope, but the cores brought 

 up were only four inches across, most of the rocks having been 

 broken into fragments, sand and clay. The cores showed that the 

 strata were horizontal. The Red Marl was found to be much harder 

 than usual, and principally composed of tough argillaceous sand- 

 stones and shales nearly all of a red colour. Very little gypsum was 

 found, and the entire absence of pseudomorphic crystals was 

 remarkable. It seems probable that the deposit was formed in 

 deeper water than the Red Marl at Altcar. 



At Greasby, a village two miles west of the boring, there are some 

 beds about two inches thick containing small ramifying tube-like 

 cavities from -/„- to -/- - of an inch in diameter. They have been 

 supposed to be at the base of the Red Marl, but were found at several 

 horizons in the boring, and evidently do not indicate the base, so 

 that the beds at Greasby may be considerably above it. The Red 

 Marl ended at the depth of 516 feet below the surface, so that 



DECADE IV. VOL. III. NO. XI. 32 



