156 DESCRIPTION OF THE STRATA. 



regularity, and their great elevation, to a considerable distance : but, 

 before they reach Lofthouse alum house, the upper sti-ata are partly 

 discontinued, while the lower gradually descend; so that, immedi- 

 ateljf beyond the alum house, the Staiths beds come down to the 

 beach. From thence to Skinningrave, these beds are of a great 

 thickness, forming a perpendicular cliff; but little or nothing of the 

 higher beds appears above them. 



At the deep ravine of Skinningrave, there is another interruption 

 of the whole strata ; probably occasioned by a partial subsidence, as 

 well as by denudation or washing away. In Huntcliff, the lower beds 

 rise to a great height, in the most northerly pai't of the cliff; but most 

 of the upper beds are still wanting, or rather, are retired back from 

 the front of the cliff, and concealed in the alluvial slope. In going 

 round Huntcliff, we observe the beds on the west side of it descend- 

 ing with great regularity towards Saltburn, where they are covered 

 with a deep alluvium. 



It is proper to remark, that the apparent rising and falling of the 

 strata, along the coast between Staiths and Saltburn, is more owing 

 to the dip of the strata, than to any real undulations in their coui'se : 

 for, as they have a regular dip towards the south, we find them lower 

 in the more southerly parts of the coast, as at Staiths, Skinningrave, 

 and Saltburn ; and higher in the more northerly parts, as at Boulby, 

 Rockcliff, and Huntcliff. The last, being the most northerly point, 

 is the place where the lowest shale acquires its greatest elevation ; and 

 had the cliffs been continued further in that direction, we might have 

 found it rising still higher. There is, however, a real undulation at 

 Skinningrave; the indentation of the shore at that creek being insuffi- 

 cient to account for the great depression of the strata. 



Detached from Huntcliff, at the distance of about five miles, are 

 the Redcar rocks, a large group of shelving beds, covered by the sea 

 at high water, and very dangerous to mariners. They belong, as has 



