1851.] SEDGWICK PALEOZOIC ROCKS OF WESTMORELAND. 43 



But the great group (fig. 2, «, «'), however much disturbed, is in its 

 true geological order in the series. 



At Intack Brow are traces of the conglomerates of the old-red- 

 sandstone ; almost buried, however, under great masses of drifted 

 matter which has descended from the mountains. Next comes the 

 lowest group of the carboniferous limestone, which is unusually com- 

 pact in structure, is rather thin-bedded, and has an aggregate thick- 

 ness, not, I think, less than that of the great Scar-limestone in the 

 Yorkshire chain between Craven and the foot of Stainmoor*. Over 

 the limestone group comes the red sandstone of Smardale quarries, 

 which is about 1 20 feet thick (fig. 2, 6'), and well deserves a more 

 detailed description than I can give of it in this paper. It is ex- 

 tensively used for building ; and, before I saw the quarries, I had 

 considered it as a most characteristic exhibition of the new-red- 

 sandstone. Its true relations, however, admit of no doubt ; for the 

 upper beds of the limestone group, above-noticed, dip under the sand- 

 stone at an angle of 10° or 12°. And about 200 yards below the 

 quarry, the red sandstone is, in its turn, seen to dip under higher 

 beds of limestone which abound with characteristic carboniferous 

 fossils. The bottom beds of the sandstone are reddish-grey, flaggy, 

 and calcareous. Then follows a series of beds of a grey, reddish-grey, 

 variegated, and of a dark brick-red colour. Some of these beds are 

 thin, and form a flagstone, the beds of which are separated by laminae 

 of cream-coloured marl ; and on the surfaces of such beds are, here 

 and there, beautiful impressions of Fuci, and perhaps of Annellides. 

 Other beds show the ripple-mark in great perfection, and obscure 

 impressions of undescribed plants, identical with some that are seen 

 among the grits alternating with the limestone in Lower Teesdale. 

 Some of the brick-red beds are of great thickness, and among theni 

 are thin bands of a red conglomerate ; but the thickness of the beds 

 is seldom continuous for many yards. All the beds are more or less 

 variegated by irregular yellowish blotches, such as we so constantly 

 see in true new-red-sandstone, and in the triassic groups. The frag- 

 ments of plants, in whatever bed they appear, are generally too ill- 

 preserved to show any good specific characters. 



The points deserving of remark in the previous section are : — 

 1 . The pecuhar character of the disturbance produced by the Cra- 

 ven fault ; — 2. The good normal series from the Coniston limestone 

 to the Ireleth slates, &c. ; — 3. The great mineral change in the car- 

 boniferous deposits at the two ends of the section. 



Sections of Thornton Beck and Ingleton Beck. — So far as regards 

 the relative position of the several groups, both of these sections were 

 correctly described by Mr. PhiUips in a paper before alluded tof . 



* Commencing with the calcareous mountains in the valley of the lire, or of 

 the Ribhle, we have a great uniformity of structure until we reach the neighbour- 

 hood of Kirkby Stephen and Brough ; but we lose this uniformity in following the 

 Pennine chain northwards from Brough; and we find as great a change while 

 following the calcareous ridges which skirt the north flanks of the Cumbrian 

 mountains. As they approach the west coast of Cumberland, they become very 

 degenerate in thickness. 



t Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd Ser. vol. iii. 



