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in. 



KEPOET TTPOS TffE EAISED BEACHES OE THE XOETH- 

 EAST OE lEELAyi). TVITH SPECIAL EEEEEEXCE TO 

 THEIE EAU^'A. Er E. LLOYD PEAEGEE. B.E.. il.E.I.A. 

 (Plaie T.) 



[Eead jA>-rAET 27, 1896.] 



The present Paper is, to a certain extent, supplementarr to the 

 Eeport on the Estuarine Clays of the Xorth-East of Ireland, sub- 

 mitted to the Academy in 1892.' It is a matter of regret to me that 

 the termination of my residence in the Xorth of Ireland prevented a 

 more fnll and detailed survey of the raised beaches of the north-east ; 

 but it may be doubted if this would have added much of novelty to 

 our knowledge of the characters and fauna of these deposits, as the 

 more important localities, such as Lame and Portrush, have now been 

 well worked up. 



The raised beaches of the north-east have come in for a good deal 

 of attention from geologists, and the literature of the subject is com- 

 paratively extensive. Only a few papers, however, contain more 

 than short and general descriptions, and but very few contain definite 

 information relative to the f axina of the beds. It is to these last alone 

 that I shall have occasion to refer. But let it be said, that from the 

 writings in general we gather that at frequent intervals round the 

 north-eastern coast there exist accumulations of gravel and sand, 

 varying in level from high- water mark to about twenty feet above it, 

 and containing throughout marine shells of species, in most cases 

 still living in the vicinity, and, frequently mixed with these, 

 worked flints of distinctly human origin, so that these beds were 

 accumulated, and their elevation effected, during the human period. 

 The raised beaches frequently rest on bine marine clay, characterized 

 by Scrohicularia piperata. Tapes decmsafus, and other littoral shells. 

 Overlying the same clay, in the more open bays and estuaries, we 

 frequently find a deposit of blue marine clay, filled with shells that 

 frequent water of five to ten fathoms in depth. I have elsewhere- 



1 Proc. E. I. Academy, 3rd ser., vol. ii. * Loc. cit. 



