﻿Clement Beicl — Pliocene Beds near Cromer. 301 



show clearly the changes which occur in these beds I will describe 

 each one separately, commencing at the base.^ 



Weyboukn Beds anb Forest Bed. 



Beds of sand with numerous seams of clay and an abundance of 

 shells are shown resting immediately on the Chalk at Wey bourn. 

 These constitute the well-known " Weybourn Sands " with which 

 Messrs. Wood and Harmer correlate the upper shell-bed of Belaugh, 

 Wroxham, and other places in the Bure Valley. It will be desirable 

 to retain the name " Weybourn Beds," as, besides being already 

 known, they have the advantage at Weybourn of not occurring, as 

 is the case in the Bure Valley, in proximity to any other marine and 

 shell-bearing sands. The shell-beds at Weybourn vary in number, 

 but careful collecting from each separately has convinced me that 

 they all belong to one palteontological division. As these beds are 

 traced towards Cromer, the upper portion becomes more and more 

 interstratified with clay, which gradually takes the well -laminated 

 character which is so conspicuous near Mundesley. 



At Eunton, resting directly on the Chalk, there is a bed of sand 

 and nearly unworn flints full of double valves of Mya arenaria and 

 Tellina ohliqua ; this is succeeded by two or thi'ee feet of marine crag, 

 the upper part of which is mixed with land and fresh-water shells, 

 and occasionally contains large bones. From this bed I obtained the 

 scapula of an elephant now in the Museum of Practical Geology. 

 Above this " Elephant-bed " is the " Forest-bed," consisting of a 

 large quantity of drift wood, one tree trunk which I measured being 

 upwards of 18ft. in length. This locality has yielded no leaves or 

 seeds, and all the wood is much worn : a few marine shells occur 

 with the wood. The Forest-bed passes up into laminated clays, 

 seams of gravel cemented with iron locally known as "pan,"^ and 

 sands with marine fossils. The shells correspond with those in the 

 lower bed, but the list, owing principally to the fewer and smaller 

 exposures, is not yet so large. From Eunton the Forest-bed thickens 

 to the S.E., and as it increases the sands are replaced by laminated 

 clays, and marine shells become scarcer, although they are still to be 

 found at Mundesley and Bacton. The underlying shelly crag can 

 be traced as far as Sidestrand, beyond which place the foreshore is 

 nearly always hidden by sand. 



The usual character of the Forest-bed is well exhibited on the 

 foreshore opposite the Cromer lighthouse, where it consists of 

 masses of drifted peat, wood, and stools of trees imbedded in 

 greenish sand, with layers of clay pebbles. The well-known. 

 Mammalian remains occur in the sandy and gravelly beds, and, 

 although not worn, they are commonly broken. 



I have examined most of the localities where the " Forest-bed " 

 has been seen as far eastward as Bacton, and have pulled up every 

 tree- stump that I could discover on the foreshore. The roots always 



1 Detailed descriptions of the sections and complete lists of fossils will be given ia 

 the Survey publications. 



2 Pan occurs at various horizons. 



