36 ME. C. J. GILBERT OX DEPOSITS OF HIGH-LEVEL [vol. lxXV > 



deposition. The partings are very thin, and in the lower portion 

 of the beds as many as eighteen partings occur in the space of 

 ltj inches. A careful examination of one section on the north side 

 of the pit reveals these partings distributed as follows, counting 

 from the top : — 



1st foot 2 partings. 



2nd , 7 



3rd 6 



4th 6 



5th , 10 



6th , 44 



It will be noticed that the lower section of the sands is more- 

 fin ely laminated than the upper. False-bedded lenticles are some- 

 times developed ; but the lenticles are not cut off at the upper 

 end, as is common with sands deposited by rapid current-action. 

 Isolated flint-pebbles occasionally occur, even in the centre of the 

 bed, up to 3 inches in length, which may have been clashed over the 

 beaches hereafter mentioned, and also thin lenticular patches in 

 which the sand is mixed with very fine quartz- and flint-pebbles,. 

 in about equal proportions, with occasional small pebbles of lydite. 

 These patches do not extend more than from 1 to 2 feet. 



Very tine particles of white mica are distributed throughout 

 the formation, but never in sufficient quantities to form separate 

 layers. The deposit varies in thickness from about 5 feet on the 

 south side to 6 feet on the north side of the pit. It is all quite 

 compact, and becomes hard on exposure. 



Mr. W. Humphrey, of Little Pott en End. who worked in these 

 pits for many years, states that in other parts of the Common the 

 loamy sand, when present, has not usually been found in such 

 thickness as in this pit, and that it is sometimes in two or three 

 bands of varying depth ; but underneath it. the stratified gravels 

 are always met with. 



On the south side of the pit, the beds at first dip slightly west- 

 wards, and then suddenly bend clown at a high angle in the same 

 direction, letting in the pocket of Glacial beds before mentioned. 

 This is presumably due to ice-pressure, under which the sands have 

 become compressed into a tough band about 18 inches wide. On 

 the north side of the pit, on the contrary, the dip is in the opposite 

 direction, that is, eastwards. This latter variation is probably 

 due to the sinking of the beds into a solution-hollow in the Chalk. 



There are two or three minor faults or landslides in the loamy 

 sands and underlying pebble-beds, and on the east side there is the 

 wedge-fault, or landslide already mentioned, along a curved face, 

 bellying westwards, which throws down the Glacial beds and the 

 sands and gravels about 5 feet. (See PL II.) 



There is almost invariably a sharp break between the loamy 

 sands and the underlying gravel. They do not usually merge one 

 into the other, but are separated by a clear line of demarcation, 

 often with the thin grev lamina right on the "junction, suo'gestino- 



