PROCEEDINGS 



OF 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



1833. No. 31. 



February 27. — William Henry Booth, Esq., of Old Square, Lin- 

 coln's Inn; and Chaning Pearce, Esq., of Bradford, Wilts; were 

 elected Fellows of this Society. 



A paper, commenced during the last Session, entitled " Descrip- 

 tion of Parts of the Kingdoms of Valencia, Murcia, and Granada, in 

 the South of Spain," by Capt. Cook, R.N. F.G.S., was concluded. 



The district described in this memoir is stated to comprise the 

 mountainous country which intervenes between the southern 

 boundary of the plains of La Mancha and the Mediterranean. The 

 formations of which it is composed are divided by the author into 

 primary, secondary, tertiary, and volcanic. 



The primary rocks are said to consist chiefly of granite, mica- 

 slate, and clay-slate, with occasional beds of limestone, talcose 

 and chlorite slate, and serpentine. These primary formations con- 

 stitute the mountain ranges of the Sierra Morena, Sierra Nevada, 

 Sierra Filabres, the Lomo de Vaca, and some minor hills near Velez 

 Malaga, the river Almazora, and the valley of Almazarron. 



The secondary deposits are stated to consist almost entirely of 

 compact, dolomitic limestone, generally destitute of organic re- 

 mains, and resting on the primary slates ; but on the flank of the 

 Sierra Morena, and in the neighbourhood of Granada, a red sand- 

 stone is said to be interposed between the limestone and the older 

 formations. The principal districts composed of this limestone are 

 the hills which range between the plains of La Mancha and the Me- 

 diterranean, the Sierra de Segura, the Sierra de Gador, celebrated 

 for its lead mines, and the rock of Gibraltar. 



The tertiary formations are stated to consist chiefly of conglo- 

 merates, sand, marl with gypsum and salt, and coarse friable lime- 

 stone, containing organic remains. They are said to form low hills, 

 and to occupy the plains and the valleys, surrounded by the ridges 

 of secondary limestone. The principal localities, mentioned by the 

 author, are the plains of Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Carthagena, 

 Aguilas, and Granada ; the valleys of the Segura, Lorca, Almeira, 

 and the Guadilquivir. Allusion is also made to the basins of Baza 

 and Alhama, described by Col. Silvertop in a memoir laid before 

 the Society during a former Session. 



The igneous or volcanic rocks are but briefly noticed : the lo- 

 calities cited are Almazarron and Cape de Gata. 



A 



