Vol. 55.] GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY I RUGBY TO CATESBY. 81 



D to E (fig. 1, p, 66). Brown and bluish clay, irregular junction 

 with the gravel, not a trace of a fossil. A few small lumps of chalk 

 occur here and there, and a few pebbles near the point where the clay 

 joins the gravel. Thickness 4 to 8 feet. 



E to r. Upper part inclining to brown ; lower part, where deep, 

 bluish-grey when wet, very light-coloured when dry, similar in 

 colour to the micaceous loams of the Middle Lias at Catesby, but 

 contains no mica. Not a single fossil, but at one place where a 

 stream of water had been running (from it?) were found a few 

 pebbles, angular fragments of flint, and numerous well-rounded 

 ch alk-f ragmen t s . 



E to H. Brown to grey or bluish-grey, colour depending upon 

 the variation in proportions of sand and clay, and wetness. Highly 

 contorted, plastic when wet ; rubbed with a toothbrush when dry, 

 it leaves an irregular corrugated surface due to the sandwiching of 

 clay and sand (more sandy than nearer Bugby ?). Not one fossil 

 seen, and scarcely a trace of chalk.^ 



(iii) Chalky Lower Boulder Clay. 



At about 53 miles 27 chains (fig. 1, p. 66) there is a sudden 

 change in the contorted Boulder Clay. While north of this point 

 the clay is remarkably free from all inclusions, south of it the clay 

 is extremely chalky, so much so that it looked almost white when 

 seen from the opposite side of the line. On the western side of the 

 railway the two clays were sharply separated, by an inclined wedge 

 of sand yielding a considerable amount of water. On the eastern 

 side the sand was not present, but still the junction between the 

 two Boulder Clays could be seen to be inclined at somewhat the 

 same angle, although the junction was not so sharp. Between this 

 place and where it thins out towards I, the clay is very streaky, and 

 there are elongated and twisted patches of gravel in it, containing 

 Gryphcea and other fossils ranging up to the Oolites, and a good 

 variety of pebbles. These inclusions make it porous enough to yield 

 water. 



The Boulder Clay which extends from about 53 miles 45 chains to 

 53 miles 58 chains, although regaining very much the brown 

 coloration of the main mass farther north, still contains a large 

 amount of chalk. At 53 miles 51 chains, for instance, it was very 

 white-looking, and sandy layers in it yielded water. At 53 miles 

 43 chains the bed is particularly sandy, and of a good red colour. 



1 There can be no doubt that this brown contorted Boulder Clay is of 

 contemporary age and continuous with the extensive sand-beds of Hillmorton. 

 These reach a depth of 170 feet not far from the highly-inclined bank of 

 Lower Lias clay, against which the upper part may be seen to rest. This 

 matter is briefly discussed in the Keport of an Excursion of the Geologists' 

 Association to Eugby in May 1898 ; see Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv (1898) p. 430. 



Q. J. G. S. No. 217. 



