460 Notices of Memoirs — British Association — 



if they keep their course. Where exposed at the surface each post- 

 Carboniferous syncline between two axes contains a coalfiehl. It 

 remains to future exploration to ascertain whether similar conditions 

 hold good under the Oolitic and Cretaceous areas of Central England. 



In speaking of the north and south disturbances I have in more 

 than one case stated that the post-Carboniferous movement was but 

 a renewal of activity along an old line of disturbance. The fact is 

 proved by the unconformities visible among the pre-Carboniferous 

 rocks, and it is important for the reason that the geography of this 

 part of the globe at the commencement of the Carboniferous period 

 had been determined by these movements. It has long been known, 

 for examjjle, that the parts of the counties of Stafford, Warwick, and 

 Leicester traversed by the axes of upheaval were not submerged till 

 late in the Carboniferous period. On the other hand, some of the 

 area lying immediately west of the Malvernian axis was submerged 

 at an earlier date, as is shown by the existence of Carboniferous 

 Limestone at Cleobury Mortimer and, in greater development, in the 

 Forest of Dean. The borings near Northampton also proved the 

 presence of Carboniferous Limestone, a fact which is in favour of 

 the occurrence of concealed coalfields, in so far as it indicates that 

 the whole Carboniferous series may have once existed there. It is 

 remarkable that none of the borings in the south and east of England 

 have touched Carboniferous Limestone, all having passed into older 

 or newer rocks. The existence of that formation is neither proved 

 nor disproved. 



The determination of the age of these disturbances and a discussion 

 of the pre-Carboniferous geography may seem at first sight to be 

 only of scientific interest, but that problems of great economic 

 importance are involved has been shown recently. It has long 

 been known that the principal coal-seam of South Staffordshire 

 deteriorates westwards as it approaches the pre-Carboniferous ridge 

 evidenced in the neighbourhood of Wyre Forest. There seemed, 

 however, to be no theoretical reasons why it should not keep its 

 characters on either side of the fault which forms the western 

 boundary of the South Staffoi'dshire Coalfield, inasmuch as that fault 

 came into existence after the deposition of the Coal-measures. A shaft 

 recently sunk has proved the correctness of the inference. The seam 

 has been found to be well developed to the west of the fault, and 

 a considerable addition has been made to our productive coalfields. 



So much has been written about the range of the Devonshire 

 disturbance under the south of England that I shall add no more than 

 a brief comment on some of the evidence on which reliance has been 

 placed. We have seen that there has been some post-Triassic move- 

 ment along old lines of disturbance in North Wales and the Midlands 

 and along the Malvern axis. It is suggestive, therefore, to find that 

 in the region which we believe to be underlain by the east and west 

 disturbance east and west folding forms the dominant structure of 

 the Secondary and Tertiary rocks. 



The anticlines of the Vales of Pewsey and Wardour, the London 

 syncline, the Wealden anticline, the Hampshire syncline, and the 



