Yol. 6S.'} PALJiioNTOLoar of the waewickshire coalfield. 595 



the Seven-Feet Coal show a progressive thinning from the north 

 to the south of the district ; this is accompanied by a tendency 

 of the seams to come together, until, south of Bed worth, the- 

 Two- Yard, llyder, Bare, Ell, and Slate Coals unite to form the 

 Warwickshire Thick Coal. This phenomenon is a striking illus- 

 tration of the effects of an unequal rate of sedimentation in 

 different parts of the basin of deposition : the ultimate cause being 

 a differential movement in the area. The outcrop of these coal- 

 seams can readily be made out over a large portion of the northern 

 area by following the lines of old workings. At Polesworth a thick 

 coal has been seen in a sewer-excavation in the main street. Three 

 seams — the Eour-Feet, Slate, and Seven-Feet Coals — crop out in 

 the railway-cutting south of Polesworth Station ; while farther- 

 south, near the river, three thin seams (representing the Bencb 

 Coal) may also be noted. The strata are much broken, and dip 

 steeply westwards. 



At Chapel End, near Hartshill, the outcrop of five seams of coal 

 can still be seen in the old clay-pits which are now being used as a 

 waste-tip for Stockingford Colliery ; while in the south, at Chilvers 

 Coton, two clay-pits have been opened up on the outcrop of the 

 Thick Coal, so as to expose six or seven of its constituent seams. 

 Measured sections of both of these clay-pits are given below. It 

 is, unfortunately, impossible to identify any particular seam of coal ; 

 but the series of coals, as a whole, represents the Thick Coal. 



Chilvers Coton Clay-pit, Nuneaton. 



2'hichiess in feet inches. . 

 Smut 



Measures 10 



Coal 5 6 



Fireclay and shale 12 



("Coal 2 0' 



I Fireclay 4 0' 



■{ Coal 1 



I Fireclay 1 



ICoal 1 6 



Sandy shales and fireclay, with ' big balls ' of ironstone. 



(Plant-bed in the lowest 3 feet.) 23 



rCoal 4 0^ 



■| Fireclay, with black shale in the centre 2 6 



[Coal 1 9j 



Sandy shales and fireclay, with ' big balls ' of ironstone. 



(Plant-bed at the base.) 16 0' 



Black coaly shale with spores 1 



Coal 3 . 



Fireclay and shales, with ' big balls ' of ironstone 22 



Coal 3 



Sandy fireclay, shale, sandstones, and thin coal 12 



Coal 3 0' 



Sandy fireclay 5 0' 



Coal 9' 



Fireclay 6 0' 



Total 140 



Dip =21° westwards > 



2u2 



