Bernard Hobson — Permian Breccias of 8. Devon Coast. 319 



regard to the Oddicombe Cliffs : " Mr. Hunt, turning to the cliffs, 

 remarked that the conglomerates were too angular and irregular for 

 marine action, and on too vast a scale for river action. He knew of 

 no agency to which they could be attributed. Mr. Teall at once 

 pointed out that similar accumulations were known in the Himalayas, 

 where the disintegration of strata exceeded the available transport; 

 the conglomerates were torrential." ^ To come to my own 

 observations — At every locality on the coast visited there was clear 

 evidence that these breccias and conglomerates have been deposited 

 by water. The section at Roundham Head, Paignton, first described, 

 is perhaps the most convincing exposure, but at every locality the 

 bedding in the breccias and conglomerates is clearly seen. 



The fact that the large boulders in the breccia lie with their longer 

 axes parallel to the bedding-planes has been mentioned in describing 

 the section between Teignmouth and Dawlish. Well-rounded 

 pebbles like those of a marine shingle beach or of many rivers are 

 exceedingly uncommon. Most of the fragments are either angular 

 or subangular, and this, together with their general local character, 

 is against their having been transported far. Their angular 

 character may be due to the action of frost. On none of the boulders 

 or fragments did I observe any strige which I could regard as being 

 of glacial origin. In favour of their being deposited by torrents and 

 in originally inclined beds of deltaic character, is the huge size of 

 some of the blocks occurring amongst much finer material, for it is 

 difficult to imagine two such contradictory conditions occurring in 

 combination as a current of torrential velocity flowing far over 

 a comparatively horizontal surface of deposit, and at the same time 

 transporting huge blocks. On the other hand, it is a very remarkable 

 fact that just where the largest blocks occur at the Ness and Bundle 

 Head there is a gentle syncline with horizontal beds in the centre 

 and a gentle dip to N.N.E. and S.S.W. on the respective sides (shown 

 on Geol. Survey map).- Here, if anywhere, one would have 

 expected a deltaic angle of dip. This is a point in favour of possible 

 transport by ice. Unless this be considered an exception, no definite 

 evidence in favour of glacial action in transporting the fragments in 

 the breccias was found. This fact, however, would not exclude the 

 possibility that the breccias might be of fluvio-glacial origin. Not 

 only have they been deposited by, but probably in, water. This is 

 indicated by the frequent current-bedding, and by the presence at 

 West Town (Ide) and Pocombe, near Exeter, etc., of sandstone veins ^ 

 in the contemporaneous lavas. It would be rash to conclude that 

 evidence of glacial conditions may not yet be found by local 

 geologists who can examine the contact of the breccia with the 

 underlying Devonian and Carboniferous rocks, and might possibly 



1 See also Eev. Dr. A. Irving, Quart. Journ. Geol. See, 188S, p. 157. 



2 Pengelly (Trans. Plymouth Inst., 1862-3, p. 29) gives the dip at Ness Point as 

 5° to N. 129 E. nig.=E. 15|° S. true. 



3 Ussher, " Geology of Exeter" : Geol. Survey Mem., 1902, p. 59, B. Hobson, 

 "Basalts and Andesites of Devonshire, etc.": Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, 1892, 

 p. 500. 



