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^iOTES THE BACCHUS MARSH DISTRICT. 
By W. H. Ferguson, Assistant Field Geologist. 
To settle tlie age of tlie Palaeozoic rocks in tlie Werribee Gorge, a 
search was made there for fossils, and a band of slate containing 
graptolites was found opposite the shelter shed for tourists. These 
graptolites have a striking resemblance' to those gathered by me in the 
lower part of Sutherland’s Creek, south of the Hanover fault, and 
about 3 miles south of Steiglitz; they also resemble a collection from the 
Geelong Waterworks Reserve, about 6 miles north-east of Steiglitz. As 
the rocks of the gorge are some miles west of the strike of those at 
Steiglitz, it will be interesting to compare the identifications from each 
place; probably the Castlemaine rocks to the west of Daylesford are more 
than 10 miles wide and connect with those of Steiglitz and the Werribee 
Gorge. Within that area are the two goldfields of Blakeville and Black¬ 
wood, where I have found Bendigonian fossils. It is probable that the 
Blakeville and Blackwood rocks pitch south and pass under the gorge; 
at one place on the Werribee the pitch is south at a low angle. The 
folding of the rocks at the gorge resembles that at Steiglitz; the 
anticlines and synclines occur at short intervals. 
In Goodman’s Creek, about 5 miles north of Bacchus Marsh, slate 
pebbles, containing graptolites, Avhich appear in the Castlemaine series, 
were found at the foot of a high cliff of glacial conglomerate. I do not 
think, however, that these pebbles were derived from the cliff, as the 
slate pebbles from the glacial conglomerate are different. It would 
probably be easy to locate up the creek the fossiliferous bed from Avhich 
thev came. 
t/ 
An outcrop of Ordovician rocks in the bed of the Lerderderg River, 
under Parley bridge, is probably the nearest Ordovician outcrop to 
Bacchus Marsh. Another outcrop is seen in or near allotment Ho. 42, 
section XVIII., parish of Merrimu. It stretches across the Lerderderg 
River ubout half-a-mile east of the Barley bridge, and it is not shown 
on the geological sketch map of Victoria. It consists of sandy shales 
and sandstones intersected by many quartz veins. 
There is a fine romantic gorge in the Lerderderg River, about 5 miles 
from Bacchus Marsh. The road to it requires cutting down in one place 
and two gully crossings improved elsewhere to make it available for 
motor traffic. In the upper portion of the gorge, gravels resting on 
Ordovician slates and sandstones have been worked for gold. 
Per mo-carl onifer OILS Rochs {Bacchus Marsh Sandstones), &c. —One 
of the objects of my visit was to make a collection of sandstones, 
especially those useful for building purposes, specimens of glacial 
conglomerate, sandy shales and clay shales of the Permo-carboniferous 
or Bacchus Marsh series. Some of these were collected in the Werribee 
Gorge, but the majority came from the vicinity of Bald Hill. Intrusive 
into the glacial conglomerate on the bank opposite Mr. J. W. Baird’s 
pre-emptive section are two basaltic dykes—one black and decomposed 
