THE GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF NORTHUMBERLAND 95 



of the belt. Occasionally they occur as ridges, either straight, 

 or sinuous, or a combination of these. The material of these 

 deposits varies from clean sand and gravel to partly water- 

 worn, morainic matter mingled with dirt. Often associated 

 with these are flat, featureless deposits of sand and gravel. 

 In the drift-filled valleys they form extensive terraces, difficult 

 to distinguish, except at times in size and contents, from the 

 ordinary river-terraces. Smaller delta-like deposits occur at 

 the mouths of many of the dry valleys, and will be considered 

 later. 



It has been pointed out [9] that the contour and char- 

 acteristic bedding of the kaims may occasionally be the result 

 of underground, post-glacial denudation. The coincidence in 

 direction, however, of the longer axes of isolated kaims (and 

 the same applies to the drumlins or hillocks of boulder clay), 

 and the trend of aligned kaims with the glacial striae over 

 considerable areas would seem to preclude the possibility of 

 the formation of most of the kaims herein described in this 

 way. One may thus regard their peculiar features as original, 

 that is, as due essentially to their glacial origin. 



A few examples of the various types of kaims may be 

 mentioned. Isolated kaims occur at Loansdene Hill and 

 Fenrother, near Morpeth ; at Whelp Law and Coquet Cairn in 

 the upper Font ; aligned kaims are well represented along the 

 Erring Burn, about Throp Hill on the Wansbeck, north of 

 Alnmouth, and west of Lordenshaw near the Forest Burn. 

 Massive kaims containing kettle-holes occur near Hepscott, 

 on Langlee Moor (Shipley) and in the Till Valley, and a kaim 

 belt, capping the drift dam, crosses the Wansbeck between 

 Angerton and Meldon. Of the ridged gravels (eskers) there 

 are three good examples. One crosses the Blanch and New- 

 biggin burns and shows stream-like windings, six in number, 

 to great perfection; the material is clean coarse gravel, 

 cemented in places (Photograph 1). A similar ridge, almost 

 a mile long, with many convolutions, occurs south of the 

 Hallington Reservoir. The Bradford kaims include a similar 

 long ridge, one portion of which is straight and of uniform 



