A. R. Hortmod — Up'per Trias of Leicestershire. Ill 



overlying marls. These are covered by Drift, and the section is as 

 follows : — 



1. Drift, with quartzites and flints 



/ 2. Thin laminated sandy flags 



3. Thick-bedded sandstone . 



4. Parting of green marl 

 I 5. Thick-bedded reddish-brown sandstone, 



Acrodus I current-bedded to north-east, with 



Beds. "^ white specks of kaolin and green 



clay galls ..... 



6. Green marl ..... 



7. Thick-bedded sandstone 



8. Thick-bedded brownish-red sandstone 



25 8 (to 24 ft. 2 in.). 



The top beds contain numerous fin-spines of Acrodus keuperinus 

 and teeth of Acrodtis. Estheria minuta occurs in the marl partings. 

 One part of the section to the east shows undulating strata. 



In the railway cutting are 6-7 bands of sandstone, and at the west 

 end green mai4 and grittj' sandstone, 6 feet, below the sandstones, 

 which are 20 feet thick. The upper marly beds are absent here. 

 Some marly bands under the bridge are intercalated in the middle of 

 the sandstone beds and exhibit a delta-bedded character dipping 

 to the east. The false bedding at Ashleigh House is similar in parts, 

 having a curved, not straight outline. This cutting is about a mile in 

 length and the beds are fi;iely exposed. Fossils were obtained when 

 the line was opened by J. Plant (see Pala3ontology), but are difficult 

 to obtain now. Many occur in the flaggy basement beds. Where the 

 Glenfield footpath crosses the line the outcrop forms a branch striking 

 north-west towards Braun stone Frith. 



These sandstones are continuous northward along the west bank of 

 the River Soar as far as Mountsorrel, but the outcrop is discontinuous. 

 It is in the Dane Hill or New Parks district that they are best 

 developed in Leicestershire. The similarity of these beds to those in 

 the Warwickshire area, as described by Brodie, is very close, not only 

 lithologically but also from the palaeontological point of view. Brodie 

 and others have found the Warwicksliire Sandstone more prolific in 

 number of species, and plants especially are better preserved there. 

 This may be due to local conditions, and is not the result of less 

 interest in the formation in this county. The question of the peculiar 

 distribution of the Triassic flora and fauna will be discussed elsewhere. 



Turning to the surrounding area in which borings have been made 

 for coal through the overlying Trias, -reference maybe made to one 

 at Stretton Baskerville (300 O.D.). Here under 130 feet Drift, etc., 

 242 feet of Keuper Marl, 250 ft. 6 in. Lower Keuper Sandstone 

 reposed upon 58 ft. 5 in. Caldecote volcanic rocks. This thickening 

 of the Lower Keuper to the south is supported by similar sections 

 to the north. The south-easterly attenuation in Leicestershire and 

 district is apparently everywhere modified in proximity to the 

 older rocks. 



At AVeston, near~Balkington, 300 feet clavs, marls, and sandstones, 



