52 C. Fox-8trangivays — Geology of the 



ft. in. 



Shale 3 



Band of limestone 4 



Shale 1 



Sandy shale 10 



Limestone full of Ostrea 7 



Sandy limestone and shale 1 6 



Shale 6 



Band of limestone 



Shale 



Band of limestone 

 Shale 



8 



8 



10 



13 



Band of nodular limestone 10 



Towards the southern end these beds turn up rapidly at an angle 

 increasing from 10° to 25°, until at 140 yards from the centre of the 

 road over the tunnel the great east-and-west fault is crossed which 

 brings in the I'ed marls of the Keuper. The Diagram gives the 

 general appearance of this section (Fig. 2). 



From this point the line continues on red marl as far as the 

 River Soar opposite Loughborough, passing through a deep cutting 

 in marl with a band of sandstone 3 feet thick dipping to the 

 north at the low angle of from 1° to 2°. The northern end of this 

 cutting is formed of Boulder-clay resting on sands and gravel. 

 The former contains quartzite pebbles and fragments of sandstone 

 and Lias, some of which are of considerable size and generally 

 striated. The gravel is composed mostly of quartzite pebbles, and 

 occurs in pockets or irregular patches in the sand. This drift comes 

 about to the bottom of the cutting on the north side, but thins out 

 near the summit of the hill ; showing that it does not cap the hill 

 in the usual manner, but is deposited against its northern and 

 western flank, as we shall show is the case in some of the sections 

 further south. 



In crossing the valley of the Soar the alluvium was found to 

 vary from about 15 to 19 feet in thickness, and consisted of the 

 following subdivisions ^ : — 



ft. in. 



Soil 2 6 



Loam and clay 6 



Eiver gravel 7 to 10 



The thickest gravels were met with at the north end of the 

 viaduct, and near the centre ; which spots probably mark the 

 ])Osition of old bends in the river. At the Nottingham Road, at 

 the Midland Railway, and at the Canal the marl was reached at 

 8, 14, and 12 feet respectively. 



At Loughborough tlie line crosses a terrace of chalk gravel, which 

 extends for some miles on this side of the Soar valley, as will be 

 shown in the new edition of the Geological Survey Map. This 

 terrace is about twenty feet above the modern alluvium of the river : 

 the gravel, which has an average thickness of ten feet or more, 

 is composed mainly of chalk flints and quartzite pebbles; it is 



^ From information supplied by the resident engineer, Mr. F. D. Sharp. 



