An ^olian De^Josit at Clevedon. 421 



Now we have seen that the distribution of the sands decidedly 

 indicates that the winds were from northerly directions. But, 

 further, the whole assemblage of heavy minerals is (except for the 

 absence of augite) that which is persistently found in the Glacial 

 sands of South Wales. ^ The two most characteristic minerals of 

 these deposits, andalusite and idiomorphic rose garnet, are present 

 at Clevedon.^ 



The evidence, accordingly, leaves little doubt that for the source 

 of the alien sands we must look to the fluvio-glacial deposits of the 

 Channel hollow, swept up in great clouds by northern winds, to be 

 dropped by them under the lee of the nearest hills of Northern 

 Somerset. 



Recapitulation. 



The Pleistocene deposits of Clevedon consist of sandy breccias 

 and loamy sands, banked up mainly under southern crags. From 

 their faunal and physical relations they may be assigned to a 

 relatively late portion of Pleistocene times, probably that of 

 the retreat of the ice-sheet from South Wales. The land appears 

 to have stood some 25 to 50 feet above its present level, so that the 

 inner reaches of the Bristol Channel were laid bare. All the 

 characters of the deposits indicate that they are essentially products 

 of aeolian action, supplemented locally by the work of frost. Their 

 distribution and their contents show that the winds were from 

 northerly directions, and suggest that the sands were derived from 

 the fluvio-glacial accumulations of South Wales and the Channel 

 hollow. Their characters correspond in a remarkable manner with 

 those of the Eur- Asian Loess, indicating a similar mode of origin ; 

 though explicit correlation is not made in this paper. In any case, 

 however, the Clevedon drifts tell us of steppe conditions, of a dry 

 cold climate, with a steppe fauna livuig on the land and of severe 

 winters, with violent northerly storms of dust and snow. 



Literature. 



S. H. Reynolds, " A Bone Cave at Walton, near Clevedon " : Proc. Bristol 



Nat. Soc, 1907, pp. 184-7. 

 H. N. Davies, " Supplementary Notes on the Clevedon Bone-Cave and 



Gravels " : Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc, 1907, pp. 188-9. 

 Martin A. C. Hinton, " Note on the Occurrence of the Alpine Vole (Microtus 



nivalis) in the Clevedon Cave-deposit": Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc, 1907, 



pp. 190-1. 

 Martin A. C. Hinton, " On the existence of the Alpine Vole {Microtus 



nivalis Martins) in Britain during Pleistocene Times " : Proc Geol. Assoc, 



1907, pp. 39-58. 

 S. H. Reynolds, A Geological Excursion Handbook to the Bristol District, 1912, 



pp. 84-5. 



^ See note by Dr. H. H. Thomas in " Geology of Anglesey " : Mem. Geol. 

 Surv., pp. 757-8. 



2 See H. H. Thomas on " Detrital Andalusite " ; Min. Mag., 1909, p. 241 ; 

 and remarks by the same author in the discussion on the present paper at the 

 Geological Society on 8th December, 1920. 



