280 
UNCONFORMABILTTY OF THB PERMIAN LIMESTONE TO THE RED 
ROCKS WEST OF ITS ESCARPMENT IN CENTRAL YORKSHIRE. 
BY JAMES W. DAVIS, F.L.S., F.G.S., ETC. 
CONTENTS. 
1. — Introduction. 
2. — Short Notice oj Previous Writings 
on this subject. 
3. — General Character of the Carboni- 
ferous Bocks west of the Per- 
mian Escarpment, including the 
Red Rocks older than the Permian 
Limestone. 
4. — General Contour of the Permian 
Formation, 
b. — The Junction of the Permian 
Limestone icith the Underlying 
Formations and their Uncori' 
formability. 
6. — Conclusion. 
(1) INTRODUCTION. 
Extending in a north and south direction, across 
nearly the whole of Yorkshire, are certain beds of 
Sandstone and Shales, which are frequently of a deep red or 
purple colour. They are generally found immediately below 
the Permian Limestone, but in some instances extend con- 
siderably westward from its escarpment. Large masses of it 
may be seen in the southern part of the county, locally 
known as the Red Rock of Rotherham;" and further north, 
remarkable examples occur at Plumpton and Spofforth. The 
Red Shales may be studied at Conisborough, Pontefract, Bar- 
wick-in-Elmete, and numerous other places. These Red 
Rocks have been described as New Red Sandstone, or the 
equivalents of the Rothe-todte-liegende of the Continental 
Geologists, from their resemblance to that formation as exist- 
ing in Germany and Russia ; they have also been considered as 
rocks of the Carboniferous formation, which, from their close 
proximity to the Limestone, have been transformed to a red 
colour by some chemical change, probably by the percolation 
of water-bearing Carbonate of Lime, or Carbonic Anhydride 
in solution, which on coming in contact with the Iron exist- 
