446 



ME. E. M. DEELEY ON THE PLEISTOCENE 



deposit. jS'otliing could be more marked than the difference between 

 the Quartzose Sand and the Chalky Sand in this neighbourhood. 



South of these sections there are numerous exposures of Older 

 Pleistocene sand, surrounded on all sides or even covered by Middle 

 or J^ewer Pleistocene flinty deposits, but still preserving their dis- 

 tinctive features unimpaired. 



N'ear Leicester Abbey, in a pit on the river- escarpment to the 

 north-west, the Quartzose Sand is seen passing beneath the Middle 

 Pennine Boulder-clay and Chalky clay. It rests directly upon 

 Keuper marl. The sand is light in colour, splendidly false-bedded 

 by currents from the south-south-west, and almost free from erratic 

 pebbles of any size. The lower nine feet is false-bedded, but in the 

 upper portion the bedding becomes horizontal, and the deposit finally 

 changes abruptly into brown sandy Boulder- clay. 



Two sections are to be seen at Aylestone *, south of Leicester, 

 one on the hill east of the church, and the other near the highroad 

 south of the village. Here it has been described as a " fine sand 

 varying from nine to fifteen feet in thickness, false-bedded through- 

 out, marked with streaks of lignite, and containing a few fragments 

 of GrypTioea and Belemnites." 



Other exposures may be seen at Oadby and Wigston. Near 

 Oadby racecourse 9 or 10 feet of light reddish sand rests upon 

 brick-earth, which separates it from the Early Pennine Boulder-clay 

 below. The change from Boulder- clay to brick-earth with mo- 

 rainic masses of Boulder-clay, then to brick-earth with sandy seams, 

 and through a series of interstratified sand and loam-beds into clean 

 false-bedded sand, indicate clearly the changes which occurred 

 between this and the previous stage. The Middle Pennine Boulder- 

 clay and Melton Sand are here quite absent. Chalky Clay having 

 been forced over the sand, contorting, faulting, and tearing it up. 

 One large contortion trends north and south, representing an ice- 

 flow from the east. At Wigston both the sand and the brick-earth 

 are greatly disturbed. 



In the Yalley of the "Wreak the Quartzose Sand crops out from 

 between the Older Pleistocene Boulder-clays continuously for miles 

 on both sides of the river. At Eotherby brick-yard it is seen beneath 

 the Middle Pennine Boulder-clay. Here it occurs as a reddish, 

 stratified, silty, or tolerably clean sand. It contains beds of strong 

 clay in the upper portion and passes down into silty sand or brick- 

 earth. A total thickness of 20 feet was exposed without reach- 

 ing the bottom. The outcrop of this bed may be traced along 

 the hillsides to the east of Prisby. Several small sections and some 

 tolerably large ones occur along this line. The most important one 

 is to be seen in the village of Prisby itself, near the mill ; here it is 

 a light, clean, bedded sand, with occasional pebbly beds ; it much 

 resembles the Aylestone sand. The false-bedding indicates currents 

 from the west. 



On the north side of the valley the Pleistocene deposits have been 



* Transactions of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society, 1882- 

 1883. 



