Vol. 59.] FOSSIL FLOKA OF THE CUMBEELAND COALFIELD. 3 



II. The Fossil Floka of the Cumberland Coalfield. 



A. The Sandstone Series. 



The Sandstone Series may be typically studied in the sea-cliff's 

 immediately north and south of Whitehaven. The series has there 

 been largely denuded, and the uppermost beds are not present. 



The upper portion of the Sandstone Series was recognized in 1891 

 by the late Mr. Brockbank, 1 in a section at Erizington Hall, some 

 3 miles to the east of Whitehaven. The upper beds were there 

 found to contain bands of /S^irorois-Limestone, and were overlain by 

 20 feet of Permian Brockram. Further reference will be made to 

 this important section, in considering the evidence as to the age 

 of the Sandstone Series. 



The Sandstone Series is also overlain by Permian rocks at the Croft 

 Pit of the Whitehaven Colliery Company, 1 1 or 2 miles south of White- 

 haven, and possibly in other localities. There are few exposures, 

 if any, of these beds at the present time, and only one fossil plant 2 

 has, so far as I can ascertain, been collected from the Upper Division 

 of the Sandstone Series. 



The sandstone forming the cliffs along the coast to the north and 

 south of Whitehaven belongs, 3 as will be shown here, to the Lower 

 Division of the Sandstone Series, and may be spoken of as such. 

 Sections of the coast-line were given by Sedgwick 4 in 1836, and 

 by Dunn 5 in 1860. To the north of Whitehaven that portion of 

 Brans ty Cliff, which extends from the William Pit to the Countess 

 or Lamb-Hill Pit, G consists of yellowish-grey, or whitish freestones, 

 with alternations of shale and other argillaceous rocks, and thin 

 bands of haematite and coal. The beds dip south-westward. The 

 cliff probably averages considerably more than 100 feet in height, 

 and at the William Pit, Whitehaven, the Sandstone Series is believed 

 to extend to 120 feet below sea-level. The total thickness of the 

 Sandstone Series here may be taken as at least 200 feet, if not 

 more. 



(1) Localities and Horizons of Plant-Remains. 



A considerable number of plant-remains were collected from the 

 Lower Sandstone Series of Bransty Cliff. The friable arenaceous 

 shales, alternating with the massive freestones, are full of plant- 

 impressions. The average height of the different shale-bands, from 

 which the specimens were collected, may be taken as 50 to 80 feet 

 above the base of the Sandstone Series. The sandstone itself, 



1 W. Brockbank (91) p. 422. 



2 This is a single pinnule of a fern-like plant, Neuropteris, in the possession 

 of Mr. J. D. Kendall, "F.G.S. ; and was obtained by him at Millyeat. I am 

 indebted to Mr. Kendall for an opportunity of seeing this specimen, and for 

 nmch information on the Whitehaven district. 



3 W. Brockbank (91) p. 420. 



4 A. Sedgwick (36) pi. xxv, fig. 1. 5 M. Dunn (60). 



This is the first pit along the shore, north of the William Pit, and rather 

 more than half a mile from it. 



B2 



