144 r. A. BATHEE ON EECENT OPENINGS IN 



down by recent denudation to a thickness of 6 ft. The whole is 

 overlain by trail formed during the erosion of the coombe, 3 ft. thick 

 at the east end. 



Section C, running parallel with the river, and beginning about 

 1(10 yards north of the brick -pit. The strata dip F.N.W. along 

 the line of section. The marlstone rock-bed (3) is at the base. 

 The clay (y), which overlies it, increases in thickness towards 

 N.lSr.W., and where measured showed 11 ft. The rubbly bed (/3) 

 is here 17 ft. 8 in. ; as it dips it is covered by a bed of more homo- 

 geneous limestone (a), which, where the section ends, measures 

 15 ft. This is of finer texture and burns into a very pure lime ; it 

 weathers into a white powder and is easily distinguishable from the 

 dirty yellow of the Clypeus-grit. 



The sections above described may be compared with that given 

 by HuU (op. cit) as occurring in the lane from Pawler to Tapples 

 "Wood, on the west side of the valley ; the beds here are 14 ft. below 

 the level of those on the east side. 



Generalized section of the strata at Pawler : — 



ft. in. 



a. Pure limestone, weathering white ITy 



(3. B,\xhhlj jeWow limestone, with C. Plotii 17 8 



y. Blue clay, with Upper-Lias fossils 11 ft. to 5 



^. Marlstone rock-bed, with Iron-ore 9 



e. Marlstone sands 11 



^, Blue clay, known by boring for 120 0-f- 



The beds /3, y, 3, and e have been described by previous writers : 

 (3 is the uppermost bed of the Inferior Oolite series ; a should, I 

 believe, be classed with Great Oolite, though it is perhaps below 

 the Stonesfield Slate ; in the absence of fossils its exact horizon 

 cannot be determined. 



The bed i^ contains, among other fossils, in its upper part Ammo- 

 nites margaritatus and, slightly below, A. capricornus ; on this evi- 

 dence it would be referred to Middle Lias ; at the same time it is 

 undoubtedly homologous with beds at no great distance classed as 

 Lower Lias by previous workers. See two papers by Mr. T. 

 Beesley, (1) " The Lias of Eenny Compton," reprinted from ' Ban- 

 bury Guardian,' 1877 ; (2) " Geology of East portion of Banbury 

 and Cheltenham Eailway," Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. v. no. 4. The 

 life-zones there described seem to agree with those at Fawler, but 

 the character of the rocks is most variable. The Fawler series closely 

 resembles that found in Dorsetshire, where clays beneath the marl- 

 stone sands, containing A. margaritatus, are called Middle Lias *. 

 If, as I hope, the workings at Fawler are continued, we may expect 

 to find the paloeontological line between Middle and Lower Lias 

 within another 20 ft. 



In order to determine the relations of the bed <^, the banks of the 

 Evenlode were examined for several miles up stream. The Survey 

 map brings " Lower Lias " down the valley to within | mile of 



* E. C. Day, " Middle and Upper Lias of the Dorsetshire Coast," Quart, 

 Journ. Geol. Soc. xxx. p. 278, 1863. 



