Notices of Memoirs — W. Whitaker — Drift in Stour Valley. 511 



IV. — On a Great Depth of Deift in the Valley of the Stoub. 

 By W. Whitakek, F.R.S.' 



SEVERAL cases of great irregularities in the thickness of the 

 Drift have been shown by borings in Suffolk, and the existence 

 of deep channels filled with Drift has been practically proved, as 

 also in the neighbouring counties of Essex and Norfolk. In some 

 cases these channels cannot be shown on the map, the Glacial Drift 

 being hidden by deposits of later age, and this is markedly the case 

 in the upper part of the valley of the Cam, where at one place 

 (Newport) the Drift has been pierced to the depth of 340 feet 

 without reaching the bottom. 



In Suffolk the greatest amount of Drift recorded is at Brettenham 

 Park, where apparently a thickness of 312 feet has been found. 

 But this and all other records in East Anglia are now put into the 

 shade by the result of a boring near Glemsford railway station. 

 This is at a low level in the valley of the Stour, in the tract formed 

 by the sand and gravel that crop out from beneath the Boulder-clay 

 of the higher ground. Here one would have expected, perhaps, 

 some 50 feet of Drift, but certainly not more than 100. No less 

 than 477 feet have been passed through before reaching the Chalk. 



The gravel and sand that form the surface reached to a depth of 

 51 feet, as might have been expected ; but then the unexpected 

 occurred, no less than 228 feet of Boulder-clay (partly sandy) having 

 been found, with a mass of sand and clayey sand beneath. 



We seem here, then, again to have evidence of a very deep Drift- 

 filled channel. A well in the village, at a higher level, has reached 

 Chalk after passing through 120 feet of Drift; so the channel does 

 not reach far northward, nor does it reach to Foxearth, in Essex, 

 about a mile to the south, where there is a still less thickness of 

 Drift. As to its direction or extent, however, we can say little 

 as yet. 



One may add that a boring (? unfinished) in Euston Park has 

 proved over 150 feet of Drift, at a spot where no Drift is shown on 

 the map. This may be simply a huge pipe. 



V. — Some Cambkidgeshire Wells. By W. Whitaker, F.R.S.^ 



SINCE the publication of the latest Geological Survey memoir 

 dealing with the county further records of nineteen additional 

 well-sections at sixteen places have been obtained. 



These vary in depth from 40 to 284 feet, and pass through various 

 formations from Drift to Lower Greensand. None have any special 

 interest ; but the whole forms a useful addition to our knowledge of 

 the geology and water-supply of the county. 



• Abstract of paper read before the British Association, Cambridge, Section C 

 (Geology), August, 1904. 



DECADE V. — VOL. I. — NO. X. 30 



