§ 8 GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE OOLITE. 495 



are composed ; and as the colour varies from a pure white 

 to a delicate brown, the surface is elegantly marked with 

 zones of various tints. 



8. Geographical distribution of the oolite. — The 

 strata above enumerated form a striking feature in the 

 physical geography of England, from the southern shore of 

 Dorsetshire to the Yorkshire coast. They constitute a 

 table-land of considerable elevation, the greatest heights 

 amounting to 1500 feet, which extends in a tortuous line 

 from the Dorsetshire coast, through Somersetshire, Wilt- 

 shire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, 

 and Lincolnshire, to the eastern shores of Yorkshire. This 

 tract generally presents a bold escarpment to the west, and 

 slopes gradually to the east, dividing the eastern and 

 western drainage of that part of England.* 



Certain subdivisions of the Oolite predominate in par- 

 ticular localities ; thus, the Oxford clay prevails in the 

 midland counties, — the grey rubbly limestone, called 

 Cornbrash, at Malmsbury, Chippenham, &c. — the Forest 

 marble in Oxfordshire and Somersetshire, — the Great 

 Oolite, at Bath, — the Stonesfield slate, near Woodstock, — 

 and the Inferior Oolite, in the Cotteswold hills. 



On the Continent the Oolite appears in Xormandy, and 

 its characteristic fossils prevail in the quarries around Caen ; 

 diverging into several branches or ranges of hills, it tra- 

 verses France, forms the chief feature of the Jura mountains, 

 and constitutes part of the Alps ; and in the latter, strata 

 belonging to this system appear greatly altered in their 

 mineralogical composition from the effect of metamorphic 

 action. The Oolite of the continent contains the lithogra- 

 phic stones and slates of Pappenheim, Solenhofen, Manheim, 

 &c. ; some beds of which are celebrated for the beauty 

 and variety of their fossil remains. 



* See Geology of Yorkshire, by Professor Phillips. 



