Yorkshire Xatiira lists at Loftus. 247 



Cleveland district be visited again next year, and that specialists 

 be invited to read papers on this subject. 



On Monday many members returned to their homes. Those 

 remaining" visited the subterranean working's of the Liverton 

 Mine, under the guidance of Messrs. J. J. and G. A. Burton, 

 and in the afternoon continued their investigations in the 

 district.* 



For Geology Mr. J. J. Burton writes: — On Saturday morning 

 the geologists first visited Liverton Mines, where they were 

 shown the surface operations connected with the winning and 

 cleaning of ironstone from the A. spimitus zone in the upper 

 part of the Middle Lias, here situated at a depth of 480 feet 

 from the surface, and several characteristic fossils were 

 obtained. 



From thence they descended by wa}- of the ravine down 

 Skinningrove Beck to the beach, passing over deposits of 

 Boulder Clay which forms the principal surface covering of the 

 sides of the valley. The time of the visit having been chosen 

 to suit the state of the tide, the rocky bed of the sea above low 

 water was found to be fully exposed and afforded much interest. 

 The surface beds first examined belonged to the Ammonites 

 capricorniis zone of the ]^Iiddle Lias ; proceeding' eastward over 

 which a big deposit of Boulder Clay was noticed, practically 

 filling up Hummersea Ba}' and reaching down to high-water 

 mark. Still continuing eastward, the strata were found to rise 

 and the floor of the seashore was formed of Lias shale of the 

 A, jameso7iih^diS. which, according to modern classifi^cation, are 

 the lowest but one in the Middle Lias series. This portion of 

 the coast was found especially interesting, as the cliff's here 

 tower up to a height of over 660 feet and show on their perpen- 

 dicular faces the various beds of dogger, shale, sandstone, and 

 nodules of which the ^liddle and L'pper Lias are composed, with 

 a heavy cap of Oolite cut back to expose the alum shale during 

 the prosperous times of the alum industry, which here flourished 

 for a long time, employing many hundreds of men, until chemical 

 process cheapened the cost and made the burning of shale to 

 obtain sulphate of alumina one of many vanished industries. 

 These old alum workings were subsequently examined, but it 

 may be here stated that the A. communis zone which forms the 

 alum shale is the top series of beds of the_ L'pper Lias, and is 

 -at this point about 107 feet thick, but thickens nearer the Peak, 



* For detailed report of this excursion see 'Yorkshire Observer,' iith July. 

 1905 Augfust I. 



