Shore Formation of Corio Bay, near Geelong. 41 



that there may have been an outlet for part of the bay 

 waters across the low lands from Corio Bay via Connewarre 

 and the Barwon River to Bass's Straits, as suggested by 

 Mr. Latrobe, and as indicated by Mr. Selwyn on the geological 

 maps ; but it must have been under very different conditions 

 to those conjectured by the former, namely, a disruption of 

 the coast line between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, 

 because the deposits are marine, and as a consequence the 

 land must at that time have been submerged to a con- 

 siderable depth below the present level of the sea. 



Between the Geelong wharves and Limeburners' Point 

 there is still the remains of an old excavation, showing in 

 section the exact features as sketched and described by 

 Mr. Latrobe, although the Limekiln is a thing of the past. 

 Above the limestone is a thin bed of broken shell, Turritella 

 and others, and coarse sand, and above this a bed of clay and 

 two thin succeeding beds, surmounted by surface soil. The 

 whole of the beds present the usual features of [an aqueous 

 deposit. 



Towards Limeburners' Point the limestone rises con- 

 siderably, and the superior beds are reduced to one bed of 

 clay about 4 feet thick, and about 2 feet of clay and 

 vegetable soil above, and from this point the whole surface 

 declines to the eastward to below the level of the Samphire 

 flats, between Point Henrytown and Connewarre. 



Assuming that the land was submerged sufficiently to 

 permit the tidal flow of waters across the estuary beds of 

 Connewarre, it is probable that owing to the then changed 

 physical features of the country, a large body of water may 

 have entered Corio Bay from the north-west along the valley 

 west of the You Yangs, now drained by the Moorabool and 

 Duck Ponds rivers; and such being the case the several 

 deposits above the limestone of Corio Bay at Boucher's Kiln 

 can be accounted for, the only really serious element of 

 difficulty remaining being the brief period of time within 

 which such a considerable upheaval (nearly 30 feet vertical) 

 is possible, although the extent of such a movement in the 

 time is not an insuperable objection. 



On the table I submit sample of materials from the old 

 beach, and of a boring pholas embedded in the limestone, the 

 shell being as perfect as if dead only a few years. 



No. 1 is a sample of the old sea beach shells from the 

 locality of Boucher's Kiln, as described. 



