( 236 ) 
ON A GLACIAL CONGLOMERATE IN THE TABLE 
MOUNTAIN SANDSTONE. 
By ArtHur W. Rocers, M.A., F.G.S8. 
(Read February 6, 1901.) 
During the progress of the Geological Survey in the Clanwilliam 
Division last year a remarkable conglomerate was found, apparently 
lying in the Table Mountain Sandstone. The conglomerate is pecuhar 
in containing flattened and striated pebbles scattered through a muddy 
matrix. 
The observations were made on the Pakhuis Pass, over which runs 
the road from Clanwilliam to Calvinia. The accompanying map and 
section illustrate the geological features of the locality, and show the 
position of the outcrops to which reference will be made in the 
following description. 
The conglomerate occurs on a horizon known as “ the shale band,”’ 
on account of its being the thickest and most constant band of 
argillaceous material in the great arenaceous deposit called the 
Table Mountain Sandstone. The shale band has been followed 
more or less continuously from the Hex River Mountains, round the 
south and west of the Warm Bokkeveld, through the Scurftebergen, 
Cold Bokkeveld Mountains, and Cederbergen.* The position of the 
shale band is usually marked by a steep slope at the foot of an 
escarpment formed by the overlying sandstone, and covered with 
fragments fallen from it. This feature may be well seen at several 
places on the west side of the Hex River Valley, and in Mitchell’s 
Pass. The rock itself is very rarely exposed on the slopes or where 
a gorge or ravine crosses the outcrop, but only in artificial road 
cuttings. In Mitchell’s Pass the part of the shale band exposed on 
the roadside is a sandy shale, red in colour owing to weathering. 
* The shale band was first recognised by Mr. Schwarz in the Hex River and 
Warm Bokkeveld Mountains. In the 1st Ann. Rep. Geol. Comm. C. G. H. for 
1896, p. 27, he describes two shale bands, one near the top of the Table Mountain 
Sandstone, and the other near the bottom: the upper of these two is the one 
referred to above. The course of this band between the Schurftebergen and 
Pakhuis is described in the 5th Ann. Rep. for 1900. 
