NORTH-WEST OF ENGLAND AND NORTH WALES. 



105 



coloured limestone (Scar limestone ?) ; the small ones are angular, 

 the larger partially rounded. Laminated beds, B B, are of angular 

 limestone gravel ; it is just like the worn Macadam off a road. It 

 contains a larger proportion of dark limestone than the Till it is 

 imbedded in. This limestone is fossiliferous, whereas that in the 

 Till hardly contains any fossils *. 



In fig. 24, a shows white Scar limestone partially worn on the sur- 

 face but not glaciated, and in steps, as shown ; 6, Till similar to A in 

 section fig. 23 ; c, laminated loamy bed ; d, Silurian-grit boulder. 

 These boulders of Silurian rock seem to be always at or near the 

 bottom of the Till. A very large boulder of this rock was lying 

 loose on the limestone. 



Fig. 24. — Another Section in the Quarries between Houghton 

 and Settle. 



At the Ribblesdale Lime and Quarry Company's quarries at 

 Moughton, just in front of the limestone Scar, the underlying Silurian 

 slates are well rounded by glacial action over a space 200 yards by 

 50 yards ; and probably much more rock similarly affected would be 

 seen if the drift were cleared away. I traced this glaciated surface 

 to within 20 yards of the limestone Scar ; and it may approach it 

 nearer, as the Silurians are covered with drift and quarry debris. This 

 is extremely interesting as showing that the Scar has not receded 

 more than 20 yards since a glacier filled Eibblesdale. 



Descending again to the lower lands nearer the sea, we find in 

 walking from the bluff on the Eibble above Bezza Brook, but below 

 Ribchester, towards Blackburn that the drift gets yellow and full 

 of local materials from the Carboniferous sandstones. At the 

 base the debris seems to be from the coal-shales. The valleys 

 have very steep sloping sides ; and no flats or terraces occur after 

 leaving the Ribble. 



At Preston, Mr. De Ranee says, the " Middle Sands " occupy a 

 very large area of the town, one of these knolls rising to the 

 surface, surrounded by the " Upper Boulder-clay to the north- 

 west and east ;" and he enumerates many of the public buildings 

 that are built on this drift. . 



* At the south end of this section a second " bench " showed that the Till 

 was 12 feet deeper than in the section before the limestone rock was reached. 



