COLE : ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF WOLD DALES. 131 
of comminuted fragments of chalk and flint, which appear, 
both in nature and deposition, different from the cherty 
gravels of the bottoms (see Appendix E). In some cases, as 
at Fimber (Cole Nab) and Burdale, they extend upwards, 
from the dale bottom to the top, 100 feet ; in others, as at 
Huggate (Holm Dale), they are found fringing the top only, 
at an elevation of more than 100 feet above the dale bottom, 
and 600 feet above the sea level; and occasionally, as at 
Friday thorpe, they are met with on the tableland itself, 
apart from any dale. These facts moreover are to be noticed, 
that, as a rule, these gravel beaches face the north, that 
they are most frequent at the junction of two dales, and that 
they consist entirely of local matter. 
L When and how were they deposited ? And 
2. What effect has subaerial denudation had upon them 1 
An answer to these questions will, it is believed, serve 
to throw some light upon the origin and formation of the 
dales. 
1. They must have been deposited either by marine 
currents or by glacial agency. From this alternative there 
seems no escape. I cannot admit that they are " rain -wash." 
This idea is negatived by their position. But when were 
they deposited ? Bearing in mind the well - ascertained 
facts that, during the glacial epoch, the land was submerged 
to a depth of upwards of 1,000 feet, and subsequently 
re-elevated to a somewhat higher level than that of the 
present outline, with probably minor oscillations between, 
it is impossible to suppose that the present gravel beaches 
date back to a point of time previous to the last emer- 
gence. They are the remnants of the last agency,* 
whether glacial or marine, and nothing else has touched 
them since but subaerial denudation. 
* Page, Geology for General Headers, 3rd Edit., p. 238. 
