Dr. Woolacott — A Raised Beacli in Durham. 65 



origin are, however, much more striking in the field. It is 

 undoubtedly a bed laid down on the margin of the sea, and is in 

 situ. It has not been carried by ice into the position in which it 

 occurs, nor has it been reassorted since its deposition on the ancient 

 shore. 



o 60 12,0 



» I \ 



Scale Off f^€t 



Fig. 1. — Section of the cliff at Easington showing the position of the Raised 

 Beach. M.L. Middle Magnesian limestones and breccias — the eastern 

 equivalents of the fossiliferous Reef which forms Beacon Hill. R.B. The 

 60 ft. Raised Beach resting on the rock-platform, which probably rises 

 slightly as it passes beneath the deposit. S. In a cutting made in the face 

 the calcreted gravels were proved to be 15 feet in thiclaiess, covered by 

 a thin deposit of soft sand with shell fragments, above which was reassorted 

 boulder clay (Common Clay), the whole being covered by washed soil. 

 X. Calcreted gravels in the railway cutting which have a regular upper 

 limit and are probably marine. G. Present-day shingle. 



The more interesting features of the deposit are (1) it rests on a 

 horizontal platform of Middle Magnesian Limestone at about 60 feet 

 above sea-level (Figs. 1 and 2). At one part on the south side of the 

 path the shelf has been bored by a small boring organism, and there 

 can be no doubt that it is a real wave-cut terrace. This platform can 

 be distinctly followed both ways (Plate V, Fig. 2), and can be 

 seen to pass in the latter direction from rock on to true boulder 

 clay (Fig. 2), when it becomes less uniform and distinct.^ (2) The 



1 It is important to notice that the platform must have been cut on boulder 

 clay. This clay is the Main or British Drift of this coast containing Lake 

 District and Cheviot erratics. Even if the Raised Beach is restricted to the 

 narrowest limits, yet the platform must have been cut on boulder clay. 



VOL. LIX. — NO. II. 5 



