Vol. 59.] THE ASHBOURNE AND BUXTON RAILWAY. 33' 



25. Geology of the Ashbourne Sf Buxton Branch of the London 

 Sf North- Western Railway : — Crake Low to Parsley Hay. 

 By Henry Howe Arnold-Bemrose, Esq., M.A., E.G.S. (Bead 

 June 10th, 1903.) 



[Plates XXII & XXIII.] 



Contents. 



Page 



I. Introduction 337 



II. Description of the Cuttings 338 



III. Petrography of the Rocks 344 



(1) Calcareous Tuffs. 



(2) The Limestones. 



I. Introduction. 



In a previous paper read before this Society, 1 I gave a description 

 of the geology of 6 miles of the new Ashbourne & Buxton Rail- 

 way from Ashbourne to Crake Low. The sections described were in 

 Bunter Sandstone, Boulder-Clay, shales and thin limestones (Yore- 

 dale Series of the Geological Survey), and volcanic tuff. The present 

 paper is a continuation of the former one, and deals with the 

 geology of the cuttings (Nos. 9 to 23) in the next 8 miles as far as 

 Parsley Hay. 



After passing through Yoredale Shales in the second cutting 

 (No. 10), the railway enters the thick beds of Mountain-Limestone, 

 in which it continues as far as Buxton. Several of the cuttings 

 are of considerable length and depth ; but, owing in some cases to 

 the folded state of the beds, and in others to their nearly horizontal 

 position, no very great thickness of limestone is seen. 



It was not found possible to correlate the beds in the different 

 cuttings. Although the limestones in the Cold-Eaton and Heath- 

 cote cuttings are somewhat similar in character and are divided up 

 by intercalations of clay, we cannot be certain that they represent 

 the same series of beds. The clay-partings do not in any wa}~ 

 correspond. They are farther apart in the Cold-Eaton than in the 

 Heathcote cutting. In the former six wayboards of clay are 

 contained in 230 feet of limestone, and in the latter eight in a little 

 more than 100 feet. 



The chief points of interest brought to light by the sections in 

 the cuttings are : 



(i) The numerous folds into which the massive beds of Mountain- 

 Limestone have been thrown on the western side of this part 

 of the Pennine Chain. 



1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. lv (1899) pp. 224-36 & pis. xvii-xviii. 



