30 



SUBMERGED PEAT AND FOREST BEDS. 



has shared in several oscillations of the land in general. It is 

 a portion of the great forest extension of immediate post- 

 glacial times, for it corresponds in every detail, stratigraphicql, 

 botanical and zoological, with the lower post-glacial forest 

 beds of the British and neighbouring continental coasts. 



A remarkable feature of this bed is its apparently in- 

 congruous mixture of plants. Here we have grand old oaks, 

 and a profusion of hazel, vegetation that would not grow in 

 soft and boggy soil. Then amongst the remains of these we 

 find Juncus conglomerate and many other bog-loving species. 

 This is not merely a local feature, but is one that is general 

 throughout this vast forest extension, and of this Professor 

 Greikie gives the following explanation : — 



After the last great glacial epoch and the submergence 

 of land which was coincident with it, there came a time of 

 elevation, accompanied by a warm and generous climate. 

 Vegetation throve luxuriantly, and the vast plains, erstwhile 

 at the bottom of a shallow sea, became clothed with trees ; it 

 was " The Age of Great Forests," and an abundant fauna 

 flourished throughout. Neolithic man was there, and left 

 abundant evidences of his presence. Ages passed. By degrees 

 the climate changed and became cold and wet. Oak and 

 hazel could no longer thrive, and little by little the majesty of 

 the forest disappeared. The trees died and decayed in situ, 

 rotting down to the level of the soil or near it ; then bog 

 plants grew over and between what remained of them. Land 

 subsidence had again set in, and the great sand banks that 

 had marked the sea margin spread by degrees over the plain, 

 the sea following and depositing sand and silt, and as it neared 

 the higher ground, clay and stone fragments to form that bed 

 from 3 to 5 feet thick, which is so clearly shown in all the 

 sections we have of the soil. Sometimes the sea tore up 

 portions of the forest bed, laying bare the glacial rubble 

 drift below, which accounts for oar finding certain portions of 

 the soil, as in the section for the foundations of the Victoria 

 Club already mentioned, in which the " lower peat " is missing. 

 Finally the sea covered the whole erstwhile forest land, and 

 washing our cliffs and sloping shores, left that line of gravel, 

 pebble and sand, that forms the " 25 foot raised beach " so 

 well marked all around our coasts. 



Next we see another period of land elevation. The sand 

 and silt, clay and stone spread by the sea became once more 

 dry land. Vegetation again appeared and furnished the 

 material for our upper peat bed. This is the period of Jersey's 

 last continental connection. Jersey is united with France, 



