Revieivs — Geological Survey of England — Leicester, 315 



The following table gives a list in descending order of the sub- 

 divisions of the strata : — 



Eecent 



and 



Pleistocene. 



Jurassic. 



Triassic. 



Pre- Cambrian 



or 



Arch^an. 



Eecent and 

 Post- Glacial. 



Glacial. 



Inferior Oolite. 

 C Upper Lias. 



Lias. - 



Middle Lias. 



Lower Lias. 



Ehaetic. 

 Keuper. 



Charnian. 



I AUurium. 

 ( Eiver-gravels. 



VaUey-drift. 



Chalky Boulder-clay, -with intercalated 

 beds of sand and gravel 



Older Boulder-clay (upper part). 



Quartzose sand. 



Older Boulder-clay (lower part). 

 ^ Older sand and gravel (?). 



JSTorthampton Sands. 



Shales. 



iMarlstone rock-bed (zone of Ammonites 

 spinatus). 

 Sandy shales and clays with ironstone, 

 etc. (zone of Am, margaritatus). 

 Lower Lias shales, with limestones in 



the lower part. 

 Ehaetic beds. 

 Keuper Marl with lenticular sandstone 



beds, and bands of gypsum. 

 Granite of Mountsorrel, and associated 



rocks. 

 Slates, hornstones, and agglomerates of 

 Charnwood Forest. 



The Keuper Marl crops out along the Soar Valley, covering 

 a considerable area, but the most extensive formation is the Lower 

 Lias, vphich crosses the centre of the district ; between these 

 is a narrow band of Khgetic shales, which has now been mapped 

 for the first time. This is followed by the Middle and Upper Lias, 

 which cover the eastern part of the district, and form the higher 

 ground found in that direction. A few isolated hills of Inferior 

 Oolite rise here and there above the general mass of the 

 Upper Lias Clay. Finally, the whole of these strata are more 

 or less covered by Boulder-clay and sands, which have somewhat 

 altered the general character of the country. 



The soil of the country, being in the main derived from the 

 underlying formations, is mostly clay of a very retentive character. 

 It is diversified here and there by beds of sand and gravel, which 

 render it much lighter. This is particularly the case with the 

 alluvial gravel that occurs along the margin of the Soar Valley, 

 especially about Syston. In the eastern part of the area the rock- 

 bed of the Middle Lias, where not covered by Drift, also forms 

 a light rubbly soil, which is the best arable land in the district. 

 In consequence of the large proportion of heavy clay land the 

 greater part of the country is devoted to grazing purposes, and 

 is noted for its extensive pastures and its excellence as one of the 

 finest hunting countries in the kingdom. 



Although there is no coal -mining in the area now under 

 consideration, the proximity of the coalfields to Leicester, and their 

 early connection by one of the first railways made in the kingdom, 

 have enabled that town to become an important manufacturing 

 centre. 



