531 



Eyemouth Harbour Works — Geological Notes, 1884-86. By 

 the Resident Engineer. 



In the construction of the new harbour works at Eyemouth, 

 some interesting geological sections were exposed. The site of 

 the excavations was in the bed of the river Eye about 400 yards 

 upwards from its mouth. On the east side of the works the 

 strata are composed of stratified rock of the same kind as that 

 exposed on the shore between Eyemouth and Burnmouth where 

 it rises into high cliffs ; and which has been termed by some 

 local geological writers as "greywacke" or " grey wacke slate." 

 It is divided into very clearly defined layers, standing at a very 

 high angle — about 70 degrees to the horizon — and varies very 

 much in hardness some layers being very hard with clearly 

 marked quartz veins ; while others are soft and marly, becoming 

 rapidly disintegrated by atmospheric influences where exposed. 

 It is particularly noticeable that all over its upper surface, it is 

 remarkably smooth, resembling polished ashlar; while in places, 

 clearly defined scratches were observed, which were probably 

 caused by ice. Much of the rock contained considerable 

 quantities of iron, and generally the colour of all the rock met 

 with gave indication of the presence of that mineral. Where 

 the rock dipped below the excavations, it gave place to a thick 

 deposit of soft bluish coloured sandy silt, thickly inteivpersed 

 with decayed vegetable matter in the form of branches and 

 trunks of trees, leaves, etc. A fine specimen of the trunk of a 

 black oak was met with : it was much decayed and had become 

 soft. On the extreme west side at about 16 feet below the river 

 bed, the excavation was composed verj T largely of layers of leaves 

 which were as distinctly marked as if deposited the previous 

 autumn. When dissolved in water this material gave a fine gray 

 coloured sand, leaving the water very muddy and discoloured. 

 The horns of a stag, in fair preservation, were discovered in the 

 middle of the excavation at a depth of about 1 feet ; they were 

 of large size. Springs were frequently met with in the bottom 

 of the excavation, some of these of considerable volume. The 

 average depth of the excavations was about 1 3 feet ; the upper 

 two feet being composed of strong river gravel. 



25th September, 1885. D. K. 



