101 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



as that of the carboniferous rocks, which, as a general rule, is one in ten, 

 or an angle of 5° rising S.W. and clipping X.E. In some places the angle 

 is greater, as on Hardendale Fell and Nab, while in others they are almost 

 horizontal, showing that agencies have been at work, irregularly heaving 

 and lowering, throughout the long period of their formation. As a general 

 rule, deposits made by water are laid horizontally ; whence then the in- 

 clined angle at which these rocks now lie ? There is no certain evidence 

 of any upheaving power having caused it on the west side, but the disturb- 

 ance is to be found on the east. Crossing over the basin in which is the 

 New Red Sandstone, we come to another series of carboniferous rocks, 

 similar to those enumerated, in being made up of limestones, sandstones, 

 with coal seams, and clay shales, but with this difference, that they form a 

 high mountain-range, known as the Crossfell Range. If we examine these 

 in the lower series, we find first the Silurian as the lowest or Skiddaw 

 slates traceable, with few exceptions, for many miles. Above it is a con- 

 glomerate of cpiartz, pebbles, and coarse grit, near Knock Pike, which on 

 Roman Fell is the true Old Red Sandstone ; next in ascending order are the 

 carboniferous rocks, the lowest a limestone of a reddish colour, then a 

 thick shale, followed by a sandstone, to be seen near Howgill Castle ; 

 this is again superimposed by a limestone, measuring 120 feet in thick- 

 ness, and in many respects similar to the before-mentioned Morland lime- 

 stone. This is traceable up to the middle of Crossfell, and immediately 

 upon it rest the varied strata of millstone grit. To the south, how- 

 ever, along the same range, it is followed by a series of limestones, sand- 

 stones, coal, etc., and in one case a layer of basalt twent3 T -four yards thick, 

 which has been overlaid. These are in the Dufton mining-district, where 

 the Morland limestone is the chief lead-bearing stratum. From the top 

 of this range, in the direction of Alston, may be crossed the strike of many 

 different rocks, up to the last of the true coal-measures in Durham. After 

 the formation of the last limestone in the valley, we see that the laws of 

 nature have still gone on, raising and lowering the land, while the sea has 

 continued to deposit other series of rocks, one upon another, each in its 

 turn becoming dry land, and so on till the last of the coal-formations. 

 Then comes a great convulsion, when a mighty crack has rent the hard 

 surface of the earth from north to south, many miles in length, and now 

 known to geologists as the Crossfell Fault ; the effect of which has been to 

 raise the east side into the high mountain-range of Crossfell ; and to lower 

 the west side, and form the rich basin of the Vale of Eden. So much has 

 been done, between raising one side and lowering the other, that the Silu- 

 rian and Old Red, which are found at Shap Wells and on Raftlar.d. have 

 been brought to light, the distance between these, from the formations in 

 situ at Shap, to the fault at Crossfell, being about ten miles direct ; and 

 the dip being about one in ten, these strata at present would be about a 

 mile dec]) ; so the upheaval on the one hand, and depression on the other, 

 may be probable causes of the dip we now find. 



"The volcanic rocks causing this disturbance, may be found, at the 

 bottom Knock Tike, as a granite, pushing up a cone of greenstone ; also 

 Dufton Pike as a micaceous porphyry; and Mur ton Pike similarly. At the 

 time of tills great disturbance, as the level of the one side was lowered, the 

 .New Red Sandstone sea rushed over the sunken country, from the north, 

 tearing and rushing with a mighty force ; breaking up into fragments the 

 old-deposited Limestone, and mingling with the heterogeneous mass a 

 matrix of red sand, etc., in which way we may, in all probability, account 

 for the immense masses of breccias resting upon the older strata, in the 

 southern extremity of the New Red basin. The red sand brought by this 



