74 Harris and Crawford ; 



once more appear in force." They add 37 that " it would be pos- 

 sible to regard the conglomerates as unconformably and overlying 

 the Upper Ordovician shales, or as being conformable and under- 

 lying the beds which contain the graptolites." They adopt as 

 the more probable view " that there is one marked band of con- 

 glomerate repeated in Emu Creek by faulting or folding, and 

 that it underlies the Upper Ordovician shales. Probably it forms 

 the basal member of that series, and rests unconformably upon 

 the Lower Ordovician series." At two localities where we ob- 

 served the conglomerate coming almost to the water's edge in 

 Emu Creek, it seemed to us to rest upon the upturned edges of 

 shales, almost certainly the same as those which further down- 

 stream yield Upper Ordovician graptolites. At the second out- 

 crop the shales were so nearly in contact with the conglomerate 

 that we tried, though unsuccessfully, to clear the loose boulders 

 and expose the junction. Our conclusion is that at Emu Creek, 

 as at Riddell's Creek, the Kerrie Conglomerate is younger than 

 Upper Ordovician graptolite shales. 



(b) Age of the Kerrie Conglomerate. 



The Conglomerate has been stated to consist of rounded 

 boulders and pebbles of quartzite, and it would be difficult to 

 imagine a more unpromising rock in which to search for fossils. 

 That fossils occurred in it seemed at first probable, since Ba 73, 

 near the mouth of Conglomerate Creek, refers to " a pebble from 

 the conglomerate." It soon appeared that this fossil was most 

 likely obtained from the Grits, which outcrop at this spot, but 

 which were not recognised by the Geological Survey. In spite 

 of the unpromising nature of the Conglomerate, we were suc- 

 cessful in finding fossils in it. In fact, west of Conglomerate 

 Creek, loose boulders of Conglomerate can be obtained which 

 would be mistaken for Grit were it not that the matrix is shown 

 in many instances. The fossils are the same brachiopod and 

 crinoid fragments, and it seems probable that the Conglomerate 

 here is composed partly of waterworn pebbles from the Riddell 

 Grits. Pebbles can be obtained from the Conglomerate, which 

 show every gradation of fineness shown by the Grits. Elsewhere- 

 the Conglomerate seems to have been derived mainly from the 

 quartzose bands of the Upper Ordovician. 



37. Op. cit. p. 42. 



