﻿PLIOCENE 
  PERIOD 
  IN 
  ENGLAND. 
  731 
  

  

  the 
  formation 
  of 
  loess 
  has 
  been 
  referred, 
  and 
  which 
  is 
  altogether 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  from 
  that 
  succession 
  of 
  gravel 
  or 
  sand 
  by 
  a 
  thick 
  bed 
  of 
  brick- 
  

   earth, 
  which 
  obtains 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  gravel 
  g 
  and 
  the 
  Cyrena- 
  

   formation. 
  I 
  am 
  not, 
  however, 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Horn- 
  

   sea 
  gravel 
  which 
  yields 
  shells 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Cifrena-foY- 
  

   mation 
  accumulated 
  before 
  the 
  depression 
  converted 
  it 
  into 
  marine 
  

   gravel 
  in 
  Holderness 
  *, 
  as 
  it 
  seems 
  from 
  well-borings 
  to 
  descend 
  

   below 
  the 
  present 
  sea-level 
  to 
  a 
  considerable 
  depth, 
  thus 
  occupying 
  a 
  

   similar 
  position 
  to 
  the 
  freshwater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Clacton 
  section 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  to 
  the 
  gravels 
  which 
  fill 
  the 
  partially 
  submerged 
  valleys 
  pene- 
  

   trating 
  the 
  Lincolnshire 
  coast 
  beneath 
  the 
  marsh 
  there, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  

   was 
  revealed 
  by 
  the 
  borings 
  and 
  excavations 
  for 
  the 
  Grimsby 
  docks. 
  

   The 
  position, 
  however, 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  h, 
  that 
  are 
  clearly 
  posterior 
  to 
  the 
  

   Hessle 
  Clay 
  (see 
  figs. 
  XLVI. 
  and 
  XLIX.), 
  points 
  to 
  the 
  sea-level 
  on 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  side 
  of 
  England 
  having 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  minor 
  glaciation 
  

   been 
  below 
  that 
  at 
  which 
  it 
  now 
  stands, 
  and 
  the 
  land 
  there 
  to 
  have 
  

   extended 
  somewhat, 
  though 
  perhaps 
  to 
  no 
  very 
  great 
  distance, 
  be- 
  

   yond 
  the 
  limit 
  it 
  now 
  reaches 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  north-west 
  this 
  was 
  

   otherwise, 
  for 
  Mr. 
  De 
  Ranee, 
  in 
  the 
  twenty-seventh 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  

   ' 
  Journal 
  ' 
  (p. 
  660), 
  describes 
  what 
  he 
  terms 
  the 
  postglacial 
  sea 
  

   (by 
  which, 
  as 
  he 
  does 
  not 
  make 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  term 
  postglacial 
  in 
  the 
  

   sense 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  have, 
  he 
  means 
  the 
  sea 
  subsequent 
  to 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Clay 
  of 
  the 
  north-west) 
  as 
  having, 
  after 
  the 
  emergence 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Clay, 
  occupied 
  the 
  very 
  low 
  plain 
  between 
  the 
  rivers 
  Mersey 
  and 
  Bibble 
  

   which 
  was 
  skirted 
  by 
  low 
  cliffs 
  formed 
  of 
  that 
  clay, 
  and 
  as 
  having 
  

   in 
  this 
  position 
  deposited 
  the 
  " 
  Shirley-Hill 
  sand," 
  described 
  by 
  him 
  

   as 
  underlying 
  the 
  main 
  peatf; 
  and 
  he 
  connects 
  this 
  with 
  the 
  sand 
  

   containing 
  marine 
  shells 
  at 
  Rampside 
  (shown 
  in 
  fig. 
  ML 
  by 
  the 
  

   letter 
  H) 
  and 
  with 
  another 
  bed 
  west 
  of 
  Pilling, 
  between 
  Fleetwood 
  

   and 
  Lancaster, 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  south 
  of 
  Rampside, 
  which 
  also 
  contains 
  

   marine 
  shells 
  and 
  underlies 
  the 
  main 
  peat. 
  The 
  sand 
  shown 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Mackintosh 
  in 
  the 
  section 
  he 
  found 
  disclosed 
  by 
  the 
  Mersey- 
  

   Dock 
  excavations, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  in 
  fig. 
  LIII. 
  reduced 
  from 
  his 
  repre- 
  

   sentation, 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  also 
  the 
  same 
  formation 
  ; 
  and 
  this 
  I 
  have 
  

   accordingly 
  marked 
  H. 
  It 
  therefore 
  seems 
  clear 
  that 
  in 
  Lancashire 
  

   and 
  Cumberland 
  the 
  passing 
  away 
  of 
  the 
  minor 
  glaciation 
  took 
  

   place 
  before 
  the 
  sea-line 
  had 
  quite 
  fallen 
  to 
  that 
  position 
  in 
  which 
  

   (by 
  subsequent 
  oscillation) 
  it 
  now 
  stands 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  

   this 
  line 
  in 
  the 
  north-west 
  was 
  about 
  as 
  much 
  above 
  that 
  which 
  it 
  

   now 
  occupies 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  below 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  east 
  ; 
  for 
  though 
  Mr. 
  George 
  

   Maw, 
  from 
  whose 
  short 
  paper 
  in 
  the 
  Geol. 
  Mag. 
  of 
  1869 
  (p. 
  72) 
  I 
  

   have 
  reduced 
  fig. 
  LIL, 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  bed 
  I 
  have 
  marked 
  H 
  there 
  as 
  

   indicative 
  of 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  the 
  clay 
  G', 
  and 
  its 
  subsequent 
  depres- 
  

   sion 
  beneath 
  the 
  sea, 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  me 
  only 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  I 
  am 
  not, 
  however, 
  aware 
  that 
  the 
  Cyrena 
  has 
  occurred 
  at 
  Hornsea. 
  The 
  

   ibssiliferous 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  gravel 
  is 
  near 
  the 
  railway-station. 
  

  

  t 
  By 
  this 
  term 
  of 
  "main 
  peat" 
  Mr. 
  De 
  Eance 
  explains 
  that 
  he 
  means 
  the 
  

   peat 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  depressed 
  beneath 
  the 
  present 
  sea 
  by 
  the 
  last 
  movement 
  of 
  

   Britain, 
  and 
  is 
  found 
  beneath 
  marine 
  silt 
  and 
  salt 
  water 
  at 
  many 
  points 
  round 
  

   the 
  coast, 
  as 
  mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  sequel 
  of 
  this 
  memoir. 
  

  

  3c2 
  

  

  