338 ME. W. HTLL ON THE LOTVEE BEDS OF THE TJPPEE 



than 10 feet are shown below this, having slipped out on the yield- 

 ing surface of the underh-ing clay in such a way as to leave no 

 doubt as to the continuit}' of the bed. 



I was unable to find the actual junction of the Eed Chalk with 

 the Speeton Clay, but, judgiug from the fragments which I saw on 

 the shore, it would seem that the base of the Eed Chalk is some- 

 what nodular, the colour rendered dull by a tinge of bluish grey, 

 due apparently to the working-up of the underlying clay. This 

 apparent passage from Eed Chalk to blue clay is noticed by Prof. 

 Wiltshire, who says *, " This red band gradually becomes nodular 

 and of a bluish cast, and finally merges into Speeton Clay." 



The Eed Chalk passes up and into firm deep red material, and 

 is, where clearly exposed, nodular. The nodules are potato-like, 

 calcareous lumps, separated by a well-defined matrix of a marly 

 nature. The nodular character passes gradually away upwards, 

 and the upper 4 feet are a smooth and moderately hard material of 

 rather a lighter colour. The bed is altogether free from fragments 

 of ironstone, quartz, and other mineral fragments which are so con- 

 spicuous in it at Hunstanton, in Lincolnshii'e, and along the western 

 escarpment of the Yorkshire Wolds ; but, as before, its base contains 

 small portions of the underlying strata worked up in it (see p. 355). 



As at Hunstanton and throughout the country already described, 

 Belemnites minimus is the most common fossil occurring throughout 

 the bed. 



Thus it seems there is a remarkable thickening of the Eed Chalk 

 as it is followed along the northern escarpment of the Wolds from 

 18 inches at Wharram to 30 feet at Speeton. 



(B.) Tlie Lower Chalk, 



The first exposure of any part of the Lower Chalk worthy of note 

 north of the Humber occurs in the Greystones pit, about three 

 quarters of a mile north of the village of Melton, near Welton. 

 Only a few feet of the Grey Chalk are exposed above the talus slope, 

 which now greatly obscures the face ; but the Belemnite-marls are 

 well shown in the upper part of the pit, consequently that shown 

 beneath them must be the Grey Chalk. 



Grey Chalk is seen in a cutting on the Beverley Eoad, near Brant- 

 ingham, and again in a small pit on the hillside nearly a mile north 

 of South Cave, and in a cutting of a road leading up to the Wolds 

 near by. But no exposure of importance occurs until the cuttings 

 of the railway to the east of South Cave Station are reached. As 

 before noted, the sides of the cuttings are obscured by debris &c., 

 which renders a detailed description somewhat difficult; nor can 

 the whole series be seen in a continuous section. The following 

 details are, I believe, fairly accurate. 



Section of the Lower Chalk in the cutting of the Hull, Barnsley, 

 and West Eiding Junction Eailway t. The first part is taken 85 yards 



* Wright's ' Mon. British Cretaceous Foss. Echinodermata,' p. 8. 

 t See Section ly. p. 366.; 



