﻿Z 
  ME. 
  H. 
  T. 
  BEOWN 
  ON 
  THE 
  PERMIAN 
  

  

  east 
  of 
  a 
  line 
  drawn 
  north 
  and 
  south 
  through 
  Ingleby 
  and 
  Measham,- 
  

   are 
  conformably 
  overlapped 
  by 
  the 
  Lower 
  Keuper 
  *. 
  

  

  The 
  Trias, 
  throughout 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  area, 
  rests 
  upon 
  the 
  

   truncated 
  edges 
  of 
  Carboniferous 
  rocks, 
  either 
  upon 
  Coal-measures, 
  

   or, 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  district, 
  upon 
  Millstone 
  Grit 
  or 
  

   even 
  Yoredale 
  Shales 
  ; 
  there 
  are, 
  however, 
  found 
  here 
  and 
  there, 
  

   intercalated 
  between 
  the 
  Bunter 
  and 
  the 
  Carboniferous, 
  some 
  thin 
  

   beds 
  of 
  purple 
  marls, 
  breccias, 
  and 
  sandstones, 
  seldom 
  exceeding 
  in 
  

   aggregate 
  thickness 
  30 
  or 
  40 
  feet, 
  but 
  differing 
  remarkably, 
  in 
  

   lithological 
  characters, 
  from 
  both 
  the 
  overlying 
  and 
  the 
  underlying 
  

   rocks. 
  

  

  My 
  attention 
  was 
  first 
  seriously 
  directed 
  to 
  these 
  rocks 
  during 
  a 
  

   re-survey, 
  on 
  the 
  six-inch 
  scale, 
  of 
  a 
  tract 
  of 
  country 
  lying 
  imme- 
  

   diately 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  Burton- 
  on- 
  Trent, 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  obtained 
  

   induced 
  me 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  careful 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  Coal-field 
  ; 
  for, 
  although 
  described 
  and 
  mapped 
  as 
  Permian 
  by 
  

   the 
  Survey 
  geologists, 
  doubts 
  have 
  been 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  expressed 
  

   by 
  various 
  observers 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  true 
  stratigraphical 
  relations 
  of 
  these 
  

   somewhat 
  obscure 
  rocks. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  true 
  relation 
  of 
  this 
  brecciated 
  series 
  to 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  

   there 
  cannot 
  be 
  the 
  slightest 
  doubt 
  ; 
  for 
  when 
  its 
  various 
  members 
  

   are 
  traced 
  for 
  a 
  little 
  distance 
  along 
  their 
  line 
  of 
  strike 
  they 
  are 
  

   found 
  to 
  repose 
  successively 
  on 
  Carboniferous 
  strata 
  belonging 
  to 
  

   very 
  different 
  horizons. 
  This 
  well-marked 
  unconformity 
  has 
  been 
  

   referred 
  to 
  by 
  Professor 
  Hull 
  in 
  his 
  Survey 
  Memoir, 
  and, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  

   I 
  know, 
  only 
  one 
  geologist, 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Molyneux, 
  F.G.S., 
  has 
  

   attempted 
  to 
  link 
  the 
  brecciated 
  series 
  with 
  the 
  Carboniferous 
  

   System. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  ' 
  Burton 
  on 
  Trent, 
  its 
  History 
  and 
  its 
  Waters,' 
  Mr. 
  Moly- 
  

   neux 
  regards 
  these 
  rocks 
  as 
  Upper 
  Coal-measures, 
  and 
  correlates 
  

   them 
  with 
  the 
  breccias 
  and 
  clays 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  Coal- 
  

   measures 
  of 
  North 
  and 
  certain 
  parts 
  of 
  South 
  Staffordshire. 
  He 
  bases 
  

   this 
  opinion, 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  upon 
  a 
  fancied 
  lithological 
  resemblance 
  

   between 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  districts, 
  and, 
  secondly, 
  upon 
  the 
  

   supposed 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  breccias 
  of 
  the 
  Leicestershire 
  Coal-field 
  do 
  

   not 
  appear 
  " 
  in 
  any 
  section 
  beneath 
  the 
  highest 
  known 
  workable 
  

   seams 
  of 
  coal 
  of 
  the 
  Ashby 
  Coal-field" 
  (op. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  153). 
  This 
  state- 
  

   ment 
  certainly 
  does 
  not 
  bear 
  close 
  examination 
  ; 
  for 
  besides 
  being 
  

   lithologically 
  very 
  dissimilar 
  to 
  the 
  Upper 
  Coal-measure 
  breccias 
  of 
  

   the 
  North-Staffordshire 
  Coal-field, 
  which 
  are 
  well 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  

   neighbourhood 
  of 
  Stoke-on-Trent, 
  these 
  brecciated 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Lei- 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  Bunter 
  eastwards 
  was 
  first 
  noticed 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Hull, 
  

   and 
  is 
  mentioned 
  at 
  p. 
  61 
  of 
  the 
  Memoir 
  on 
  the 
  Geology 
  of 
  the 
  Leicestershire 
  

   Coal-field. 
  As 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  the 
  slightest 
  evidence 
  of 
  any 
  unconformity 
  between 
  

   the 
  Bunter 
  and 
  the 
  Keuper 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  the 
  thinning-out 
  of 
  the 
  

   former, 
  and 
  its 
  complete 
  overlap 
  by 
  the 
  Lower 
  Keuper, 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  satis- 
  

   factorily 
  explained 
  by 
  assuming 
  the 
  proximity 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  coast-line 
  of 
  early 
  

   Triassic 
  times, 
  or, 
  if 
  we 
  accept 
  the 
  views 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Bonney 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  

   the 
  Bunter, 
  of 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  left 
  bank 
  of 
  that 
  great 
  northern 
  river 
  which 
  

   brought 
  down, 
  from 
  beyond 
  the 
  Scottish 
  border, 
  the 
  rounded 
  pebbles 
  of 
  the- 
  

   Middle 
  Bunter. 
  

  

  