54 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Nov. 16, 



fragment of a Succinea, and three small entire specimens too fragile 

 to be preserved*. 



The following extract from the Proceedings of the Society, vol. ii. 

 p. 449, describes a somewhat similar deposit, discovered by Mr. Bower- 

 bank in another part of the island, at a much greater height : — 



" During a recent examination of the greensand at Gore Cliff, 

 Mr. Bowerbank discovered on the top of the cliff, and overlying the 

 chalk-marl by which the cliff is capped, a bed consisting of detritus of 

 chalk and chalk-marl, and enclosing in every part examined by him 

 numerous specimens of existing species of land-shells. The deposit 

 extends from near the edge of the cliff to the foot of St. Catherine's 

 Down, a distance of about 660 yards. The range of the deposit he 

 could not ascertain, as at a short distance from the spot examined 

 by him the cliff assumes its usual vertical form." 



The only particulars to be added to the above description are the 

 following : — The accumulation varies in depth from 7 to 1 2 feet, as 

 seen in the face of the cliff. It exhibits no traces of alternating de- 

 posit. A line of dark clay, in some places black, divides it from the 

 chalk-marl. It is not covered by a warp-drift of brown loam, though 

 such a deposit occurs at about the same height in the vicinity. It 

 appears to be a portion of a deposit which had a greater extension 

 seaward and has been removed by denuding action, as it forms a ridge 

 which ranges along the edge of the cliff and slopes towards the land, 

 so that there is a slight hollow between the edge of the cliff and the hill 

 of St. Catherine's Down. The variations of soil in this district depend 

 mainly upon the warp-drift, which at Tolland's Bay covers the cal- 

 careous deposit, and is spread over the surface of the Isle of Wight 

 generally. There, as in Norfolk and Wales, the subjacent strata, 

 whether of the chalk or the strata above or below it, only exert their 

 full influence on the soil upon high and sharp summits and steep 

 escarpments, where the warp-drift is either less than 6 inches thick 

 or wholly wanting. 



This dependence of the composition of the soil on the warp-drift 

 rather than on the subjacent strata, is strikingly exemplified in the 

 coast-sections extending from Black Gang Chine to Freshwater Bay. 

 We have there sands and clays of various colours and composition 

 cropping out and covered by a loamy warp-drift, which varies but 

 little in colour and texture, and which is associated with flint-gravel, 

 the two deposits following the irregularities of the denuded surface. 

 The same appearances are exhibited on the outcrops of the several 

 eocene strata, on the opposite coast, from Hordwell to Christchurch. 



* At a subsequent visit, in company with Mr. Rose of Swaffham, flint-gravel 

 was found exposed in part of this section, forming the base of the tufaceous 

 deposits. In this gravel shells of the genus Unio have been discovered by the 

 President, from whom we may expect a more detailed description of this and 

 other similar deposits in the Isle of Wight. — [Jan. 10, 1854.] 



