Mr. N. Wood on the Geology of Northumberland, 8Cc. 305 



line of the coast from the Tyne to the Tweed ; the length on a scale of 

 two inches to a mile ; the heights are arbitrary, being extended in many 

 cases for the purpose of shewing the more minute particulars, which a 

 rigid adherence to a scale would have rendered diminutive. From this 

 Section I shall, first of all, trace the various beds which basset along the 

 line, and shall then endeavour to identify some of the most prominent 

 strata, with the members of the series, to which I conceive they belong. 



The coast of Durham exhibits cliffs of the Magnesian Limestone, 

 with few interruptions, from Hartlepool to near the Tyne. Crossing that 

 river, and commencing at the south end of the Section, we find under 

 the castle at Tynemouth, a cap of the same Limestone, with its accom- 

 panying Yellow Sand and Red Sandstone, reposing unconformably upon 

 the Coal Measures. A Whin Dyke, shewn in the Section, from 12 to 

 14 feet in width, and differing in no respect from those generally found 

 in this district, here intersects the Yellow Sand and Red Sandstone, at 

 right angles to the stratification of the beds ; but it cannot, from the in- 

 cumbent alluvial matter, be ascertained if it also pierces the Magnesian 

 Limestone. The Coal Measures here, consist of the common Sandstones 

 and Shale, rising gently north, with a seam of Coal cropping out at the 

 north extremity of the cliffs. 



Proceeding north, the next rocks which pi'esent themselves are near 

 Cullercoats, and here we find the Slip Dyke, so well known in the Coal- 

 field as the 90-fathom Dyke, run into the sea. The strata are here de- 

 pressed on the north, or dip side of the Dyke, at least 90 fathoms ; and 

 here we again find the Limestone and Yellow Sand reposing against 

 the north face of the slip, which the rise in the beds from Tynemouth 

 had thrown out. The course of the Dyke here is about N. 42° W., and 

 for some distance from the coast to the west, we find the Magnesian 

 Limestone lying nearly horizontal upon the inclined edges of the Coal 

 Measures, along the dip side of the Dyke. It is scarcely necessary to 

 state, that this slip must be of subsequent date to the deposition of the 

 Magnesian Limestone, as that bed is equally affected with the Coal 

 Measures. 



From this Dyke the inclination of the beds is at first rather rapid. 



