68 Introduction to Geology. 



The preceding sketch {figAB.) from Dr. Buckland, from 

 Section B. of the formations near Appleby, exhibits this series 

 partly resting upon vertical beds of greywacke. 



The Uppe7^ Series consists of all the formations between the 

 coal and the chalk, as will be hereafter detailed. These rocks 

 seldom incline considerably in this country, like the precedmg 

 class. The directions, or lines of bearing, of the English strata 

 stretch in an irregularly parallel direction across the island, 

 from the south-west to the north-east. As these beds rise to 

 the north-west, their uplifted edges are often abrupt, forming 

 escarpments. The oolite limestone and the chalk furnish the 

 boldest examples of these outcrops, while the clays and soft 

 strata form intermediate valleys and low plains. See the sec- 

 tion {fig. 16.) of the principal secondary formations in the 



midland counties. 



16 



Tertia7y. 



Tertiary Class. — After the consolidation of the chalk, it is 

 apparent that its surface was subjected to the violent oper- 

 ations of mighty waters, which occasioned the partial removal 

 or destruction of that formation ; and there are indications of 

 a long interval of time between the deposition of the chalk 

 and the succeeding strata. Their organic remains are very 

 different, and the other characters of this series are also dis- 

 similar. All these circumstances, announcing an important 

 geological epoch, are sufficiently remarkable to suggest an 

 arrangement of the beds above the chalk, under the separate 

 class of Tertiary Fm^mations. 



It is well observed by Professor Sedgewick, that " the Eng- 

 lish formations which rest immediately upon the chalk belong 

 to a distinct epoch in the natural history of the earth ; for they 

 are not coextensive with, nor always conformable to, the beds 

 by which they are supported, but rather resemble materials 

 which have been mechanically drifted into the deep depressions 

 or water-worn denudations of the older rocks. They are, 

 therefore, generally limited to the extent of certain preexist- 

 ing inequalities in the surface of the globe. 



