RejMrts & Proceedings — Geological Society of London. 379 



June 24, 1914.— Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S., President, in 



the Chair. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. " The Paradoxidian Fauna of a part of the Stockingford Shales." 

 By Vincent Charles .Tiling, B.A., F.G.S. 



This communication deals mainly with a small subdivision of the 

 Stockingford Shales occurring at tlie base of the Oldbury division. 

 The beds have been termed the Abbey Shales, and are about 100 feet 

 thick, consisting mainly of blue laminated shales, although glauconitic 

 sandy horizons occur at frequent intervals. This small subdivision 

 passes down into the Purley Shales, while it is separated from the 

 overlying shales (which are probably of Lower Maentwrog age) by 

 a calcareous conglomerate lying upon an eroded surface of the 

 underlying blue shales, although the irregularity of the eroded surface 

 does not appear to be great in the somewhat poor exposures. 



The beds have been examined in a series of trenches situated near 

 the Abbey Mound in Hartshill Hayes, and have yielded over fifty 

 different species of Trilobites — each, ranging through one or more of 

 about fifteen fossiliferous horizons in the sequence. The fauna 

 shows marked affinities with those of the equivalent beds in AVales, 

 Scandinavia, and Bohemia, and the following subdivision into zones 

 has been, attempted : — 



Horizon. 



G3-G1 ..... Upper dai;i(?is fauna. 



F 3-F 1 



E 3-E 1 (pars) 

 E 1 {i}ars)-D 1 

 C 3-B 1 

 A 4-A 1 



Lower davidis fauna. 

 Hartshillia fauna. 

 Upper liicksii fauna. 

 Lower liicksii fauna. 

 P. aurora fauna. 



The importance of the Abbey Shales lies in the possibility which 

 they afford of a close correlation between the Swedish and British 

 Paradoxidian faunas, for the intermediate geographical position is 

 accompanied by an intermediate type of fauna forming a link between 

 these two well-known areas. 



The following is a brief summary of the correlation which appears 

 to airrce best with the available evidence: — 



South Wales. 



P. davidis zone. -! 



Hartshill. 

 Upper P. davidis fauna. 

 Lower P. davidis fauna. 



P. liicksii zone. 



{Hartshillia inflata fauna, 

 f Upper liicksii fauna. 



"1 Lower liicksii fauna. 



P. aurora zone. P. aurora zone. 



Scandinavia. 

 P. davidis zone. 

 Ct. aqualis subzone. 



Agnostus parvifrons 



subzone. 

 Ct. exsulans subzone 



{pars). 



In addition, the evidence suggests that the Upper Purley Shales 

 correspond to the rest of the Ct. exsulans zone and also the P. iilandicus 

 zones of Sweden. 



