404 MR. L. RICHARDSON ON" THE INFERIOR OOLITE [NOV. I907, 



1 but as the eye passes along the face of the quarry to the northward, attention 

 is at once directed to a bed which conies in almost imperceptibly, between the 

 Limestone beneath and the Oolite overhead, being approximately conformable 

 to the latter.' 



The intervening deposit Is of Rhsetic age. At first, only the lower 

 beds of the series are present ; but, as the section is followed in a 

 northerly direction, higher and higher beds come in, until, in the 

 little quarry by the side of the road to the mills, the Inferior Oolite 

 is seen resting upon the White Lias, the top-bed of which is quite 

 as much bored by annelids and well-planed as the Carboniferous 

 Limestone of the neighbourhood. Theoretically, if a section were 

 drawn from Hapsford to Bath, above the White Lias should suc- 

 cessively come in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Lias. 



In places where the Inferior Oolite rests upon the Carboniferous 

 Limestone, it becomes arenaceous and cherty. De la Beche, 1 

 Mr. J. McMurtrie, 2 and Mr. H. B. Woodward 3 have noticed such 

 rocks ; and formerly they were well displayed when the road from 

 near Bradford's Bridge to Whatcomb Farm, north of Frome, was 

 taken under the railway. Now. however, this section is very poor. 

 Mr. McMurtrie has noticed these siliceous beds in the railway- 

 cuttings opposite Hapsford, and I have observed masses of similar 

 rock in some of the fields adjacent to the line there. 



At Oldford, north of Frome, is a large disused quarry, in which 

 very massive beds are seen. Mr. Woodward has recorded the 

 thicknesses of the strata, and noticed that the bottom-bed resembles 

 the Doulting Stone. 



(B) Quarry at Oldford, near Frome. 



Thickness in feet inches. 

 f 1. Oolite, white : about * 4 



ii. anabacia - 



Limestones. 



III. Doulting 



Stoni 



( a. < 2. Limestone, in two beds of about equal 



[ thickness 2 6 



■{ b. 3. Limestone, irregular, very shelly, with 



Anabacia complanata: to 8 inches. 4 

 ^ c. 4. Limestone; top-portion bored by Litho- 



phagi, and well planed 2 



( f 5. Limestone 2 3 



\ 6. Limestone 2 6 



7. Limestone 1 [ 2 



8. Limestone I massive, coarsely J 1 



9. Limestone I oolitic j 2 8 



v 10. Limestone J [_ 2 6 



j 11. Limestone, rubbly 4 



12. Limestone, massive ; Pec fen (Syncy- 



clonema) demissus, Phillips, Serpula 



cf. Umax, Groldfuss 3 2 



13. Limestone, massive, yellowish 2 6 



^ 14. Limestone, coarse-grained, yellowish. 



1 Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. i (1846) p. 287. 



8 Proc. Bath Nat. Hist. & Antiq. F.-C. vol. v (1883-85) pp. 102-103. 

 3 ' The Jurassic Eocks of Britain— The Lower Oolitic Rocks of England 

 (Yorkshire excepted)' Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. iv (1894) p. 92. 



