Flull— Copper-bearing Rocks of Alderley Edge. 67 
Succession of Beds in Descending Order. 
m Red Marl . : c é , : . Red and grey laminated marls. 
b* Waterstones . . : 1) ( Brownish flaggy sandstones and 
marls. 
63 Freestone White and brown freestone. 
 Copper-bearing sandstone eee Soft white, yellow, and variegated 
ig tae ae sandstone. 
6! Conglomerate : oe ree Hard quartzose conglomerate, un- 
j derlain by bands of marl, form- 
ing the base of the Keuper 
3} | series. 
( Soft fine-grained yellow and red 
ee ey ch) DEED |, moat meee, eke ne 
Sandstone. 
The beds in the above series which claim the greatest share 
of our attention are those at the base of the Keuper series 
(b', 6”); for in these occur the copper and other minerals. The 
basement-bed is, however, remarkable for its petrographical 
peculiarities. It consists generally of a white firmly cemented 
conglomerate, the pebbles of which are mostly rounded frag- 
ments of whitish and coloured quartz-rock, in all respects 
similar to those which occur so largely in the middle division 
(Pebble-beds) of the Bunter. They are certainly not derived 
from the Millstone-grit, as they are much larger than the 
pebbles which occur in that formation, whereas a second recon- 
struction would have tended to diminish their size. For a 
length of time I have been of opinion that this conglomerate 
base of the Keuper has derived its pebbles of quartz from the 
Bunter Sandstone, on account of the unconformity of the 
members of the Trias as proved by actual sections in other 
districts.* But however this may be, it affords a striking con- 
trast to the fine-grained pebbleless sandstone of the Bunter, 
which supports it and forms the flanks of the hill. 
Copper, in the state of green and blue carbonates, is dis- 
seminated in this conglomerate, to a small extent at Alderley 
Edge, but in a much greater degree at Mottram St. Andrew’s, 
about a mile to the north-east of the Edge, down in the plain. 
Its position there, so far below, and beyond the base of its con- 
temporaneous beds at the Edge, is due to the great east and 
west fault already alluded to, which throws down the beds to 
the north. The conglomerate is here exposed in a quarry, 
resting on the soft red sand of the Bunter. It is about 6 feet 
thick, lies between two bands of marl, and drops at an angle of 
6° towards the west. It was in this place that the copper-ore 
* See Professor Ramsay’s Presidential Address, Geological Society, 1863. 
F 2 
