Yol. 68.] AEDEN SANDSTONE GEOUP OF WAEWICKSHIEE. 279 



Mr. W. Campbell Smith thanked the Author for his acknowledg- 

 ment of his observations in the area, but pointed out that these 

 had added nothing to the completeness of the map. His own work, 

 so far as it had gone, showed that the sandstones all over the 

 area were included in a zone between 100 and 200 feet below the 

 base of the Rhgetic. The strong feature frequently seen above the 

 sandstones was due to a hard band of marl, and not to sandstones. 

 He had seen these Upper Keuper sandstones at Inkberrow and in 

 the Pendock area, where they showed characters precisely similar 

 to those now described. One very striking fact was the fi^equent 

 appearance of a bed, relatively rich in teeth and bones of fishes, at 

 about 2 feet above the base of the sandstone group. He thought 

 that there was ample evidence for the existence of a north-west to 

 south-east axis of folding, these folds being actually seen in the 

 Henley-Eowington railway-cutting; but he suspected that some 

 of the minor complications, shown on plotting the contours of the top 

 of the sandstones, might be due to the rapid variations in thickness 

 which were observable in very many parts of the district. 



Mr. T. 0. BoswoETH could not agree with the Author that the 

 sands were marine, but thought that they were the product of waters 

 flowing down from surrounding hills and spreading out over the 

 desert basin. Estheria occurred throughout on the included seams 

 of grey clay-shale, while the garnets and other heavy grains showed 

 the peculiar smoothing described by the speaker, and not yet 

 observed in any proved sea-sand. The few molluscan remains, so far 

 discovered, were in such bad preservation that no one could certify 

 them to be marine. 



The gentle folding shown on the Author's maps was not easily 

 proved. The evidence depended on the assumption that all the sand- 

 stones observed might be mapped as on one horizon. On account of 

 the false and lenticular bedding, no reliance could be placed oa the 

 dips, except in those few cases where they were observed in long 

 continuous sections. 



The term ' Charnian Axis ' used by the Author suggested some 

 interesting ideas. It must be observed, however, that the Keuper 

 Marls, so well exposed overlying the old rocks in Charnwood 

 Forest, showed no evidence of any post-Triassic movements. 



There were various ways, besides ordinary folding along parti- 

 cular axes, by which strata might become inclined. Owing to 

 lenticularity, the proportion of sandstone to marl in a complete 

 vertical section of the Upper Keuper varied greatly from place to 

 place ; consequently, on drying and under compression by rocks 

 above, there would be a differential contraction in the thick- 

 ness of the formation which might cause gentle undulations such 

 as those described. 



Dr. A. Wade said that the presence of rounded sand-grains in 

 this sandstone did not necessarily mean that it was not accumu- 

 lated as a marine deposit. Recent personal observations in the 

 E,ed-Sea area had convinced him that, under certain conditions. 



