Manchester, 8., and L. Raihcay Extension. 



probably derived from the Chalky Boulder- 

 clay further up the valley. This gravel is \ 

 continued along the railway with some « h. 

 intermissions as far as Quorn' Lodge, where 

 it gets thinner and becomes mingled with 

 Boulder-clay and earlier gravels, so that the 

 sections are rather obscure. In fact, the 

 cuttings about here show how difficult it is 

 to separate gravels which are of late Glacial 

 age from those which are Post-Glacial, One 

 section showed contorted beds of clay and 

 sand, but its relation to the gravel was not 

 clear. From the general aspect of these 

 sections I am inclined to think that the 

 terraces must have been begun to be laid 

 down immediately after the later Glacial beds, 

 and while a little ice was still lingering in 

 these valleys. 



After crossing the little valley west of 

 Quorndon, the railway continues in Keuper 

 Marl until we reach the hill west of the new 

 reservoir at Rusheyfields Lane. Here there 

 was a deep section in Boulder-clay, but the 

 greater part had been sloped down before I 

 saw it. The north end of the cutting, how- 

 ever, was exposed, and showed about six feet 

 of sand, loamy in part, with a little pebbly 

 gravel at the bottom resting on Boulder-clay, 

 with many large Lias fragments, and a few 

 granite and Carboniferous Limestone blocks, 

 many of the boulders, especially the Lias 

 fragments, being striated. No chalk fragments 

 were observed here, although they are plentiful 

 on the opposite side of the valley at the foot 

 of Buddon Wood and in the branch line 

 which is being taken to Mountsorrel quarries. 

 In this branch line there is a good section of 

 the Chalky Boulder-clay, which at the northern 

 end near Hawcliff Hill is seen reposing on 

 Boulder-clay without any chalk, there being 

 at places a little sand between the two. 

 Nearer Nunckley Hill the Chalky Boulder- 

 clay rests directly on the Keuper Marl, the 

 Lower Boulder-clay having thinned out in this 

 direction. 'We Chalky Boulder-clay here con- 

 tains many Lias and granite boulders. 



At Nunckley Hill the branch railway cuts 

 through a boss of granite, the junction with 

 the overlying beds being, as usual, very steep. 

 On the eastern side the Boulder-clay rests on 



53 



s- t) 



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