258 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Sandpipes at Grays Thueeock. — A short time since I visited tlie chalk 

 pits at " Grays Thurrock," and found the chalk of that district to contain a 

 number of very interesting fossils, especially a large variety of sharks' teeth. 

 The occurrence of numerous sandpipes there is very remarkable. These vary 

 in shape, but the majority are more or less conical. I noticed two, and 

 part of a third, which, from their peculiar form, and other circumstances, 

 causes a difficulty in my mind as to the mode of their formation. 



The chalk in the pit in which these are seen has been excavated to a depth of 

 seventy feet, and on all sides can be detected either perfect sandpipes, or the re- 

 mains of some partially cleared away. Those to which I wish now particularly to 

 draw your attention are on the north side of the working ; they are almost dose 

 to each other, not being above twenty feet apart. I have traced their depths, 

 one to thirty-five feet, another to forty-five feet below the surface of the chalk, 

 on which the bed of dark red clay containing green-coated flints reposes (No. 6 

 in the sections, &c). Their diameters are only about twenty-four inches, and 

 the sides of each are almost parallel, the deviation throughout the whole length 

 not exceeding two inches. It is remarkable that & layer of flints, traceable all 

 round the pit, passes through these pipes (see diagram, fig. 1, b b). Por- 



J'V. 1 —n, the patches of clay exposed by the fall of chalk ; b, the layer of flints passing 

 through the pipes : e, the point whore a flint and its surrovmding clay was procured. 

 The dotted lines show the continuation of the pipes. 



