249 



4thly. The coal-fields of the Bristol Channel have no well- 

 defined line of bearing, and have produced but small effects on the 

 range of the superior secondary formations, which from the south 

 coast to the latitude of Derby are nearly parallel to the mean range 

 of the grauwacke chains above indicated. On the contrary, the great 

 carboniferous chain north of Derby has produced a direct influence 

 on the bearings of the newer formations. 



He then briefly describes the structure of the great carboniferous 

 chain of the North of England. The forces of elevation appear on 

 the whole to have acted (though not without considerable devia- 

 tions) on a line bearing nearly north and south. The position of 

 the High Peak limestone, and the great north and south faults on 

 its western side, are first noticed ; and the axis of elevation is con- 

 tinued by help of an anticlinal line through the region of millstone 

 grit, separating the Yorkshire and Lancashire coal-fields. The re- 

 appearance of the carboniferous limestone, its high elevation, and pro- 

 longation to the Scotch border, and the faults which range near its 

 western escarpment are then noticed ; and the great Craven fault (de- 

 scribed in detail by Mr. Phillips) is traced still further towards the 

 north from the hills of Barbondale to the foot of Stainmoor. The na- 

 ture of the dislocations is illustrated by sections ; and it is shown 

 that the prolongation of the Craven fault from Mollerstang to Stain- 

 moor foot has thrown down the carboniferous system with an in- 

 verted dip into the valley of the Eden, and produced a dislocation 

 precisely similar in kind to that near Ingleton, described in detail 

 by Mr. Phillips, and indicated in one of Mr. Conybeare's sections. — 

 It is further shown that these dislocated mountain masses, becom- 

 ing more expanded and less inclined, are prolonged without any 

 further break of continuity into the northern zone of the Lake Moun- 

 tains. A great fault which ranges at the foot of the Cross Fell Chain, 

 and meets the Craven fault at the foot of Stainmoor at an obtuse 

 angle, is then described ; and it is shown that when it strikes the 

 carboniferous chain above Brough, an effect is produced precisely 

 similar to that which accompanies the prolongation of the Craven 

 fault. By the intersection of these faults, the very complex rela- 

 tions of the mountain masses, in the last ramifications of the Eden, 

 and the insulated position of the Lake Mountains are at once ex- 

 plained. 



Lastly. The author speculates on the origin of the phenomena 

 described, and points to the different crystalline rocks appearing near 

 the carboniferous chain. He proves that the great breaks took 

 place immediately before the oldest deposits of the new red sand- 

 stone, and endeavours to show that they were produced by a vio- 

 lent and transitory, and not by a long-continued action. 



Jan. 19. — Robert Trotter, Esq. of Borde Hill, Cuckfield, Sussex; 

 and Thomas Hodgson Holdswerth, Esq. of Gray's Inn Square, were 

 elected Fellows of this Society. 



The reading of a paper, entitled " Supplementary Observations 

 on the Structure of the Austrian and Bavarian Alps," by Roderick 

 Impey Murchison, Esq. Sec. G.S. F.R.S. was begun. 



