,,the ,,geological ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,wight4 ,illustration3 ,photo by ,j4 ,milman ,brown1 ,shanklin4 ,,gore ,,cliff--,,upper ,,greensand ,,with ,,chert ,,beds ,the ,geological ,story of the ,isle of ,wight ,,by ,,the ,rev4 ,j4 ,,cecil ,,hughes1 ,b4,a4 ,with ,illustrations of ,fossils by ,,maud ,,neal ,,london3 ,,edward ,,stanford1 ,,limited #ab1 #ac1 #ad ,,long ,,acre1 ,w4,c4 #b4 #aibb ,,preface ,no better district could be chosen to begin the study of ,geology than the ,isle of ,wight4 ,the splendid coast sections all round its shores1 the variety of strata within so small an area1 the great interest of those strata1 the white chalk cliffs and the coloured sands1 the abundant and interesting fossils to be found in the rocks1 awaken in numbers of those who live in the ,island1 or visit its shores1 a desire to know something of the story written in the rocks4 ,the ,isle of ,wight is classic ground of ,geology4 ,from the early days of the science it has been made famous by the work of great students of ,nature1 such as ,mantell1 ,buckland1 ,fitton1 ,sedgwick1 ,owen1 ,edward ,forbes1 and others1 who have carried on the study up to the present day4 ,many of the strata are known to geologists everywhere as typical2 several bear the names of the ,island localities1 where they occur2 some--and those not the least interesting--are not found beyond the limits of the ,island4 ,though studied for so many years1 there is no exhausting their interest3 new discoveries are constantly made1 and new questions arise for solution4 ,to those who have become interested in the rocks of the ,island1 and the fossils they have found in them1 and who wish to learn how to read the story they tell1 and to know something of that story1 this book is addressed4 ,it is intended to be an introduction to the science of ,geology1 based on the ,geology of the ,isle of ,wight1 yet leading on to some glimpse of the history presented to us1 when we take a wider outlook still1 and try to trace the whole wondrous path of change from the world's beginning to the present day4 ,i wish to express my warmest thanks to ,miss ,maud ,neal for the beautiful drawings of fossils which illustrate the book1 and to ,professor ,grenville ,a4 ,j4 ,cole1 ,f4,r4,s41 for his kindness in reading the manuscript1 and for valuable suggestions received from him4 ,i have also to acknowledge my indebtedness to ,mr4 ,h4 ,j4 ,osborne ,white's new edition of the ,memoir of the ,geological ,survey of the ,isle of ,wight1 #aiba2 and to thank ,mr4 ,j4 ,milman ,brown1 of ,shanklin1 for the three photographs of ,island scenery1 showing features of marked geological interest1 and ,mr4 ,c4 ,e4 ,gilchrist1 ,librarian of the ,sandown ,free ,library1 for kindly reading the proofs of the book4 ,j4 ,,cecil ,,hughes4 ,mar41 #aibb4 ,,contents ,chap4 ,page ,i4 ,the ,rocks and ,their ,story #a ,,ii4 ,the ,structure of the ,island #aj ,,iii4 ,the ,wealden ,strata3 ,the ,land of the ,iguanodon #ae ,,iv4 ,the ,lower ,greensand #bc ,v4 ,brook and ,atherfield #bi ,,vi4 ,the ,gault and ,upper ,greensand #cg ,,vii4 ,the ,chalk #db ,,viii4 ,the ,tertiary ,era3 ,the ,eocene #ed ,,ix4 ,the ,oligocene #fc ,x4 ,before and ,after3 ,the ,ice ,age #gj ,,xi4 ,the ,story of the ,island ,rivers2 and ,how the ,isle of ,wight ,became ,an ,island #hf ,,xii4 ,the ,coming of ,man #ig ,,xiii4 ,the ,scenery of the ,island3 ,conclusion #aje ,,illustrations ,,of ,,fossils ,,plate ,i4--,facing page #bj4 ,wealden ,cyrena ,limestone ,vertebra of ,iguanodon ,lower ,greensand ,perna ,mulleti ,meyeria ,vectensis 7,atherfield ,lobster7 ,panopaea ,plicata ,terebratula ,sella ,,plate ,,ii4--,facing page #bc4 ,lower ,greensand ,trigonia ,caudata ,trigonia ,daedalea ,gervillia ,sublanceolata ,upper ,greensand 7,ammonite7 ,mortoniceras ,rostratum ,nautilus ,radiatus ,,plate ,,iii4--,facing page #de4 ,lower ,greensand ,thetironia ,minor ,rhynchonella ,parvirostris ,upper ,greensand 7,pecten7 ,neithea ,quinquecostata ,chalk 7,ammonite7 ,mantelliceras ,mantelli 7,sea ,urchins7 ,micraster ,cor-,anguinum ,echinocorys ,scutatus 7,internal cast in flint7 ,,plate ,,iv4--,facing page #fa4 ,eocene ,cardita ,plarnicosta ,turritella ,imbricataria ,nummulites ,laevigatus 7,fusus7 ,leiostoma ,pyrus ,oligocene ,limnaea ,longiscata ,planorbis ,euomphalus ,cyrena ,semistriata ,,diagrams ,facing page #a4 ,coast1 ,sandown ,bay #aj #b4 ,coast1 ,atherfield #bi #c4 ,coast1 ,whitecliff ,bay #ef #d4 ,section ,through ,headon ,hill and ,high ,down4 7,strata ,seen at ,alum ,bay7 #eh #e4 ,st ,george's ,down #gi #f1 #g4 ,development of ,river ,systems #hf #h4 ,the ,old ,solent ,river #id #i4 ,shingle at ,foreland #gi ,,photographs ,facing page #a4 ,gore ,cliff4 ,frontispiece4 #b4 ,chalk at the ,culver ,cliffs4 #df #c4 ,chalk at ,scratchell's ,bay4 #ea ,,geological ,,map ,,of ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,wight #aab ,chapter ,i ,,the ,,rocks ,,and ,,their ,,story ,walking along the sea shore1 with all its varied interest1 many must from time to time have had their attention attracted by the shells to be seen1 not lying on the sands1 or in the pools1 but firmly embedded in the solid rock of the cliffs and of the rock ledges which run out on to the shore1 and have1 it may be1 wondered sometimes how they got there4 ,at almost any point of the coast of the ,isle of ,wight1 in bands of limestone and beds of clay1 in cliffs of sandstone or of chalk1 we shall have no difficulty in finding numerous shells4 ,but it is not only in the rocks of the sea coast that shells are to be found4 ,in quarries for building stone and in the chalk pits of the downs we see shells in the rock1 and may often notice them in the stones of walls and buildings4 ,how did they get there8 ,the sea1 we say1 must once have been here4 ,it must have flowed over the land at some time4 ,now let us think4 ,we are going to read a wonderful story1 written not in books1 but in the rocks4 ,and it will be much more valuable if we learn to read it ourselves1 than if we are just told what other people have made out4 ,we know a thing much better if we see the answers to questions for ourselves than if we are told the answers1 and take some one else's word for it4 ,and if we learn to ask questions of ,nature1 and get answers to them1 it will be useful in all sorts of ways all through life4 ,now1 look at the shells in the rock of cliff and quarry4 ,how are they there8 ,the sea cannot have just flowed over and left them4 ,the rock could not have been hard1 as it is now1 when they got in4 ,some of the rocks are sandstone1 much like the sand on the sea shore1 but they are harder1 and their particles are stuck together4 ,does sand on a sea shore ever become hard like rock1 so that shells buried in it are found afterwards in hard rock8 ,now we are getting the key to a secret4 ,we are learning the way to read the story of the rocks4 ,how8 ,in this way4 ,look around you4 ,see if anything like this is happening to-day4 ,then you will be able to read the story of what happened long1 long ago1 of how this world came to be as it is to-day4 ,we have asked a question about the sandstone4 ,what about the clays and the limestone8 ,as before1 what is happening to-day8 ,is limestone being made anywhere to-day1 and are shells being shut up in it8 ,are shells in the sea being covered up with clay1--with mud1--and more shellfish living on the top of that2 and then1 are they1 too1 being covered up8 ,so that in years to come they will be found in layers of clay and stone like those we have been looking at in quarry and sea cliff8 ,we have asked our questions4 ,now we must look around1 and see if we can find the answers4 ,after it has been raining heavily for two or three days go down to the marshes of the ,yar1 and stand on one of the bridges over the stream4 ,we have seen it flowing quite clear on some days4 ,now it is yellow or brown with mud4 ,where did the mud come from8 ,go into a ploughed field with a ditch by the side4 ,down the ditch the rain water is pouring from the field away to the stream4 ,it is thick with mud4 ,off the ploughed field little trickles of water are running into the ditch4 ,each brings earth from the field with it4 ,off all the country round the rain is trickling away1 carrying earth into the ditches and on into the stream1 and the stream is carrying it down into the sea4 ,now think4 ,after every shower of rain earth is carried off the land into the sea4 ,and this goes on all the year round1 and year after year4 ,if it goes on long enough--8 ,look a long way ahead1 a hundred years1--a thousand1--thousands of years4 ,we shall be talking soon of what takes many thousands of years to do4 ,why1 you say1 if it goes on long enough1 all the land will be carried into the sea4 ,so it will be4 ,so it must be4 ,you see how the world is changing4 ,you will soon see how it has changed already1 what wonderful changes there have been4 ,you will see that things have happened in the world which you never guessed till you began to study ,geology4 ,now1 let us go a bit further4 ,what becomes of all the mud the streams and rivers are carrying down into the sea8 ,look at a stream coming steeply down from the hills4 ,how it rushes along1 rolling pebbles against one another1 sweeping everything before it1 clearing out its channel1 polishing the rocks1 and carrying all it rubs off down towards the sea4 ,now look at a river near its mouth in flat lowland country4 ,it flows now much slower2 and so it has not power to bear along all the material it swept down from the hills4 ,and so it drops a great deal2 it is always silting up its own channel1 and in flood time depositing fresh layers of mud on the flat meadow land1--the alluvial flat1--through which it generally flows in the last part of its course4 ,but a good deal of sediment is carried by the river out to sea4 ,the water of the river1 moving slower as it enters the sea1 has less and less power to sweep along its burden of sand and mud1 and it drops it on the sea bottom1--first the bigger coarser particles like the sand1 then the mud2 farther out1 the finer particles of mud drop to the bottom4 ,during the exploring cruise of the ,challenger1 under the direction of ,sir ,wyville ,thomson1 in #ahgb-f1 the most extensive exploration of the depths of the sea that has been made up to the present time1 it was found that everything in the nature of gravel or sand was laid down within a very few miles1 only the finer muddy sediments being carried as far as #bj to #ej miles from the land1 the very finest of all1 under most favourable conditions1 rarely extending beyond #aej1 and never exceeding #cjj miles from land into the deep ocean4 ,so gradually layer after layer of sand and mud cover the sea bed round our coasts2 and shells of cockles and periwinkles1 of crabs and sea urchins1 and other sea creatures that have lived on the bottom of the sea are buried in the growing layers of sand and mud4 ,as layer forms on layer1 the lower layers are pressed together1 and become more and more solid4 ,and so we have got a good way towards seeing the making of clay and sandstone with shells in them1 such as we saw in the sea cliffs and the quarries4 ,but it is not only rain and rivers that are wearing the land away4 ,all round the coasts the sea is doing the same work4 ,we see the waves beating against the shores1 washing out the softer material1 hollowing caves into the cliffs1 eating away by degrees even the hardest rock1 leaving for a while at times isolated rocks like the ,needles to mark the former extension of the land4 ,most people see for themselves the work of the sea1 but do not notice so much what the rain and the frost1 the streams and the rivers are doing4 ,but these are wearing away the ground over the whole country1 while the sea is only eating away at the coast line4 ,so the whole of the land is being worn away1 and the sand and mud carried out into the sea1 and deposited there1 the material of new land beneath the waters4 ,how do these beds rise up again1 so that we find them with their sea shells in the quarry8 ,well1 we look at the sea heaving up and down with the tides1 and we think of the land as firm and fixed4 ,and yet the land also is continually heaving up and down--very slowly1--far too slowly for it to be noticed1 but none the less surely4 ,the exact causes of this are not yet well understood1 because we know but little about the inside of the earth4 ,the deepest mine goes a very little way4 ,we know that parts of the interior are intensely hot4 ,the temperature in a mine becomes hotter1 about #a deg4,f4 for every #fj ft4 we go down on the average4 ,we know that there are great quantities of molten rock in places1 which1 in a volcanic eruption is poured out in sheets of lava over the land4 ,there are great quantities of water turned into steam by the heat1 and in an eruption the steam pours out of the crater of the volcano like the clouds of steam out of the funnel of a locomotive4 ,the people who live about a volcano are living1 as it were1 on the top of the boiler of a steam engine2 and their country is sometimes shaken up and down like the lid of a kettle by the escaping steam4 ,in such a country the land is often changing its level4 ,a few miles from ,naples at ,pozzuoli1 the ancient ,puteoli1 may be seen columns of what appears to be an ancient market hall1 though it goes by the name of the ,temple of ,serapis4 ,about half way up the columns are holes bored by boring shellfish1 such as we may find on the shore here at low tide4 ,we see from this that since the building was constructed in ,roman times the land has sunk1 and carried the columns into the sea1 and shellfish have bored into them4 ,then the land has risen1 and lifted the columns out of the sea again4 ,but it is not only in the neighbourhood of volcanoes that the land is moving4 ,not suddenly and violently1 but slowly and gradually great tracts of land rise and sink4 ,sometimes the land may remain for a long time nearly stationary4 ,the ,southern coasts of ,england seem to stand at much the same level as in the time of the ,romans #a1ejj or #b1jjj years ago4 ,on the other hand there is evidence which seems to show that the coast of ,norway has for some time been gradually rising4 ,it was thought at one time that the interior of the earth was liquid like molten lava1 and that the land we see was a comparatively thin crust over this like the crust of a pie4 ,but it is now believed for various mathematical reasons1 that the main mass of the earth is rigid as steel4 ,still underneath the surface rocks there must be a quantity of semi-fluid matter1 like molten rock1 and on this the solid land sways about1 as we see the ice on a pond sway with the pressure of the skaters on it4 ,so the solid land1 pressed by internal forces1 rises and falls like the elastic ice1 sometimes sinking and letting the sea flow over1 then rising again1 and bringing up the land from beneath the sea4 ,again1 as the heated interior of the earth gradually cools by the radiation of the earth's heat into space1 it will tend to shrink away from the cooler rocks of the crust4 ,this then1 sinking in upon the shrinking interior1 will be thrown into folds1 like the skin on a shrivelled apple4 ,seeing1 as we often do1 layers of rock thrown into numerous folds1 so as to occupy a horizontal space far less than that in which they were originally laid down1 we can hardly resist the conclusion that shrinkage of the cooling interior of the earth has been a chief cause of the greatest movements of the surface1 and of the lateral pressure we so often find the strata to have undergone4 ,as we study geology we shall find plenty to show that the land does rise and fall1 that where now is land the sea has been1 that land once stretched where now is sea1 though there is still much which is not well understood about the causes of its movements4 ,we have seen how many of the rocks are made in the sea1--the sandstones and the clays1--but there are two other kinds of rocks1 about which we must say a little4 ,the first are the ,igneous rocks1 which means rocks made by fire4 ,these rocks have solidified1 most frequently in crystalline forms1 from a molten mass4 ,lava1 which flows hot and fluid1 from a volcano1 and cooling becomes a sheet of solid rock1 is an igneous rock4 ,some igneous rocks solidify under ground under great pressure1 and become crystalline rocks such as granite4 ,we shall not find these rocks in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,we should find them in ,cornwall1 ,wales1 and ,scotland2 and1 if we could go deep enough1 we should find some such rock as granite underneath the other rocks all the world over4 ,the other rocks1 such as the sandstones and clays1 are called ,sedimentary rocks1 because they are formed of sediment1 material carried by the sea and rivers1 and dropped to the bottom4 ,they are also called ,stratified rocks1 because they are formed of ,strata1 i4e41 beds or layers1 as we see in cliff and quarry4 ,but we have seen another kind of rock1--the limestones4 ,in ,sandown ,bay towards the ,culvers1 bands of limestone run through the dark clay cliffs1 and broken fragments lie on the shore1 looking like pieces of paving stone4 ,examining these we find that they are made up of shells1 one band of small oysters1 the others of shells of other kinds4 ,you see how they have been made4 ,there has been an oyster bed1 and the shells have been pressed together1 and somehow stuck together1 so that they have formed a layer of rock4 ,they are stuck together in this way4 ,the atmosphere contains a small quantity of carbonic dioxide1 and the soil a larger quantity1 the result of vegetable decomposition4 ,rain water absorbs some of it1 and carries it into the rocks1 as it soaks into the ground4 ,this gas has the property of combining with carbonate of lime1--the material of which shells and limestone are made4 ,the bicarbonate of lime so formed is soluble in water1 which is not the case with the simple carbonate4 ,water containing carbonic dioxide soaking into a limestone rock or a mass of shells dissolves some of the carbonate of lime1 and carries it on with it4 ,when it comes to an open space containing air1 some of the carbonic dioxide is given off1 leaving the insoluble carbonate of lime again4 ,so by degrees the hollows are filled up1 and a solid layer of rock is formed4 ,even while gathering in the sea the shell-fragments may be cemented by the deposit of carbonate of lime from sea-water containing more of the soluble bicarbonate than it can hold4 ,these limestones are examples of rocks which are said to be of organic origin1 that is to say1 they are formed by living things4 ,organic rocks may be formed by animal or vegetable growth4 ,rocks of vegetable origin are seen in the coals4 ,a peat bog is composed of a mass of vegetable matter1 chiefly bog moss1 which for centuries has been growing and accumulating on the spot4 ,at the bottom of the bog will frequently be found trunks of oak1 or other trees1 the remains of a forest of former days4 ,the wood has undergone chemical changes1 has lost much of its moisture1 and often become very hard1 as in bog oak4 ,beds of coal have been formed by a similar process1 on a much vaster scale1 and continued much longer4 ,the remains of ancient forests have been buried under sand stones and other rocks1 have undergone chemical change1 and been compressed into the hard solid mass we call coal4 ,fossil wood1 which has not reached the stage of hard coal1 but forms a soft brown substance1 is called lignite4 ,this is of frequent occurrence in various strata in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,of organic rocks of animal origin the most remarkable are the chalk1 of which we shall speak later1 and the coral-reefs1 which are found in the warm waters of tropical seas4 ,sailing over the ,south ,pacific you will see a line of trees--coconut trees chiefly--looking as if they rose up from the sea4 ,coming nearer you see that they grow on a low island1 which rises only a few feet above the water4 ,these islands are often in the form of a ring1 and look like garlands thrown upon the waters4 ,inside the ring is a lagoon of calm water4 ,outside the heavy swell of the ,southern ,ocean thunders on the coral shore4 ,if a sounding line be let down from the outer edge of the reef1 it will be found that the wall of coral goes down hundreds of feet like a precipice4 ,on an island in the ,southern ,sea1 ,funafuti1 a deep boring has been made #a1aad ft4 deep4 ,as far as the boring went all was coral4 ,all this mass of coral is formed by living things1--polyps they are called4 ,they are like tiny sea anemones1 only they grow attached to one another1 forming a compound animal1 like a tree with stem and branches1 and little sea anemones for flowers4 ,the whole organism has a sort of shell or skeleton1 which is the coral4 ,blocks are broken off by the waves1 and ground to a coral mud1 which fills up the interstices of the coral2 and as more coral grows above1 the lower part of the reef becomes1 by pressure and cementing1 a solid coral limestone4 ,once upon a time there were coral islands forming in a sea1 where now is ,england4 ,these old coral reefs form beds of limestone in ,devon1 ,derbyshire1 and other parts of ,england4 ,in the ,isle of ,wight we have no old coral reefs1 but we shall easily find fossil corals in the rocks4 ,they helped to make up the rocks1 but there were not enough here to make reefs or islands all of coral4 ,the great branching corals that form the reefs can only live in warm waters4 ,so we see that when corals were forming reefs where now is ,england the climate must have been warm like the tropics4 ,that is a story we shall often read as we come to hear more about the rocks4 ,we shall find that the climate has often been quite warm as the tropics are now3 and we shall also read another wonderful story of a time when the climate was cold like the ,arctic regions4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,island4 ,the best place to begin the study of the ,geology of the ,isle of ,wight is in ,sandown ,bay4 ,north of ,sandown1 beyond the flat of the marshes1 are low cliffs of reddish clay1 which has slipped in places1 and is much covered by grass4 ,at low tide we shall see the coloured clays on the shore1 unless the sand has covered them up4 ,variegated marls they are called--marl means a limy clay1 loam a sandy clay2 and very fine are the colours of these marls1 rich reds and purples and browns4 ,beyond the little sea wall below ,yaverland battery we come to a different kind of clay forming the cliff4 ,it is in thin layers4 ,clay in thin layers like this is called shale4 ,some of these shales are known as paper shales1 for the layers are thin almost like the leaves of a book4 ,the junction of the shales with the marls is quite sharp1 and we see that the shales rest on the coloured marls1 not horizontally1 but sloping down towards the ,north4 ,bands of limestone and sandstone running through the shales1 and a hard band of brown rock which runs out on the shore as a reef1 slope in the same direction4 ,as we pass on by the ,red ,cliff to the ,white ,cliffs we notice that the strata slope more steeply the further ,north we go4 ,we have seen that these strata were laid down layer by layer at the bottom of the sea4 ,if we find a lot of things lying one on top of another1 we may generally conclude that the ones at the bottom were put there first1 then the next1 and so on to the top4 ,and this will generally be true with regard to the rocks4 ,the lowest rocks must have been laid down first1 then the next1 and so on4 ,but these layers of shale with shells in them1 and layers of limestone made of shells1 must have been laid down at first fairly flat on the sea floor2 but as they were upheaved out of the sea they have been tilted1 so that we now see them in an inclined position4 ,and when we come to the chalk1 we should see1 if we looked at the end of the ,culver ,cliffs from a boat1 that the lines of black flints that run through the chalk are nearly vertical4 ,the strata there have been tilted up on end4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 ,,diagram ,,of ,,coast1 ,,sandown ,,bay1 ,,dunnose ,,to ,,culver ,,cliff4 ,w ,wealden4 ,p ,perna ,bed4 ,,lg ,lower ,greensand4 ,cb ,clay ,bands4 ,s ,sandrock and ,carstone4 g ,gault4 ,,ug ,upper ,greensand4 ,c ,chalk4 ,sc ,shanklin ,chine4 ,lc ,luccombe ,chine4 ,in describing how strata lie1 we call the inclination of the strata from the horizontal the dip4 ,the direction of a horizontal line at right angles to that of the dip is called the strike4 ,if we compare the sloping strata to the roof of a house1 a line down the slope of the roof will mark the direction of the dip1 the ridge of the roof that of the strike4 ,the strata we are considering dip towards the ,north2 the line of strike is ,east and ,west4 ,returning towards ,sandown we see the strata dipping less and less steeply1 till near the ,granite ,fort the rocks on the shore are horizontal4 ,continuing our walk past ,sandown to ,shanklin we pass the same succession of rocks we have been looking at1 but in reverse order1 and sloping the other way4 ,it is not very easy to see this at first1 for so much is covered by building2 but beyond ,sandown we see ,sandstone ,cliffs like the ,red ,cliff again1 the strata dipping gently now to the south1 and in the downs above ,shanklin we see the chalk again4 ,so we have the same strata north and south of ,sandown1 forming a sort of arch4 ,but the centre of the arch is missing4 ,it must have been cut away4 ,we saw that the land was all being eaten away by rain and rivers4 ,now we see what they have done here4 ,go up on to the ,downs1 and look over the central part of the ,island4 ,we see two ranges of downs running from east to west1--the ,central ,downs of the ,island1 a long line of chalk down #bd miles from the ,culver ,cliff on the east to the ,needles on the west2 and the ,southern ,downs along the ,south ,coast from ,shanklin to ,chale4 ,in the ,central ,downs the chalk rises nearly vertically1 and turns over in the beginning of an arch towards the ,south4 ,then comes a big gap1 and the chalk appears again in the ,southern ,downs nearly horizontal1 sloping gently to the south4 ,the chalk was once joined right across the central hollow1 where now we see the villages of ,newchurch1 ,godshill1 and ,arreton4 ,all that enormous mass of rock that once filled the space between the downs has been cut away by running water4 ,an arch of strata like this ,inverted-,u1 such as the one we are looking at1 is called an anticline4 ,when the arch is reversed1 like this ,u1 it is called a syncline4 ,looking north from the ,central ,downs over the ,solent we are looking at a syncline4 ,the chalk1 which dips down at the ,culvers and along the line of the ,central ,downs1 runs like a trough under the ,solent1 and rises again1 as we see it on the other side1 in the ,portsdown ,hills4 ,we might suppose the top of an anticlinal arch would be the highest part of the country2 that1 even if rain and running water have worn the country down1 that would still stand highest1 and be worn down least4 ,but there are reasons why this need not be so4 ,for one thing1 when the horizontal strata are curved over into an arch1 they naturally crack just at the top of the curve1 so and into the cracks the rain gets1 and so a stream is started there1 which cuts down and widens its channel1 and so eats the land away4 ,again1 the rising land only emerges gradually from the sea1 and the sea may cut off the top of the arch before it has risen out of its reach4 ,moreover on the higher land the fall of rain and snow is greater1 and the frosts are more severe2 so that it is just there that the forces wearing down the land are most effective4 ,illustration3 curve with two v-shaped marks at center ,we must notice another thing which happens when rocks are being upheaved and bent into curves4 ,the strain is very great1 and sometimes the strata crack and one side is pushed up more than the other4 ,these cracks are called faults4 ,at ,little ,stairs1 about half way between ,sandown and ,shanklin1 two or three faults may be seen in the cliff4 ,the effect of two of the faults may be easily seen by noticing the displacement of a band of rock stained orange by water containing iron4 ,the strata are thrown down towards the north about #h ft4 ,a third fault1 the effect of which is not so evident at first sight1 throws the strata down roughly #ej ft4 to the south4 ,these are only small faults1 but sometimes faults occur1 in which the strata have been moved on opposite sides of the fault thousands of feet away from one another4 ,we might think we should see a wall of rock rising up on the surface of the ground where a fault occurs2 but the faults have mostly taken place ages ago2 and1 when they do happen1 the rocks are generally moved only a little way at a time4 ,then after a while another push comes on the rocks1 and they shift again at the same place1 and go a bit further4 ,all this time frost and rain and rivers are working at the surface1 and planing it down2 so that the unevenness of the surface caused by faults is smoothed away2 and so even a great fault does not show at the surface4 ,as we follow the ,sandown anticline westward it gradually dies away1 the upheaved area being actually a long oval--what we may call a turtle-back4 ,as the ,sandown anticline dies out1 it is succeeded by another a little further south1 the ,brook anticline4 ,there are in fact a series of these east and west anticlines in the ,island and on the adjacent mainland1 caused by the same earth movement4 ,as a consequence of the arching of the strata we find the lowest beds we saw in ,sandown ,bay running out again on the west of the ,island in ,brook ,bay1 and a general correspondence of the strata on the east and west of the ,island2 while1 as we travel from ,sandown or ,brook northward to the ,solent1 we come to continually more recent beds overlying those which appear to the south of them4 ,when1 as in the south side of our central downs1 the strata are sharply cut away by denudation1 we call this an escarpment4 ,the figure shows the structure of the ,sandown anticline we have described4 ,we must now examine the rocks more closely1 beginning with the lowest strata in the ,island1 and try to read the story they have to tell4 ,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,wealden ,,strata3 ,,the ,,land ,,of ,,the ,,iguanodon ,the lowest strata in the ,isle of ,wight are the coloured marls and blue-grey shales we have already observed in ,sandown ,bay1 which run through the ,island to ,brook ,bay4 ,they are known as the ,wealden ,strata1 because the same strata cover the part of ,kent and ,sussex called the ,weald4 ,they consist of marls and shales with bands of sandstone and limestone4 ,the marls and shales in wet weather become very soft1 and flow out on to the shore1 causing large slips of land4#a ,now1 what we want to find out is what the world was like ages ago1 when these ,wealden ,strata were being formed4 ,we have learnt something of how clays and sandstones and limestones are formed3 to learn more we must see what sort of fossils we can find in these rocks4 ,fossil means something dug up2 and the word is generally used for remains of animals or plants which we find buried in the rocks4 ,we have seen shells in these strata4 ,these we must examine more closely4 ,and as we walk on the shore we shall find other fossils4 ,in the marls and shales exposed on the shore we are pretty sure to see pieces of wood1 black as coal1 sometimes quite large logs1 often partly covered with shining iron pyrites4 ,perhaps you say--,i hope you do--there must have been land not far away when these marls and shales were forming4 ,always try to see what the things we find have to tell us4 ,the sort of place where we should be most likely to find wood floating in the sea to-day would be near the mouth of a great river like the ,mississippi or the ,amazon1--rivers which bring down numerous logs of wood from the forest country through which they flow4 ,examine the shales and limestone bands4 ,on the surface of some of the paper-shales are numbers of small round or oval white spots4 ,they are the remains of shells of a very minute crustacean1 ,cypris and ,cypridea1 from which the shales are known as ,cyprid shales4 ,in other bands of shale are quantities of a bivalve shell called ,cyrena4 ,there is a band of limestone made up of ,cyrena shells1 containing also little roundish spiral shells called ,paludina4#b ,this limestone resembles that called ,sussex or ,petworth ,marble1 which is mainly composed of shells of ,paludina1 but some layers also contain bivalve shells4 ,it is hard enough to take a good polish1 and may be seen1 like the similar ,purbeck marble1 in some of our grand old churches4 ,another band of limestone running through the shales is made up of small oysters 7,ostrea distorta74 ,we shall see fossil shells best on the weathered surfaces of rocks1 i4e41 surfaces which have been exposed to the weather4 ,one beginning geological study will probably think we shall find fossils best by looking at fresh broken surfaces of rock4 ,this is not so4 ,if you want to find fossils1 look at the rock where it has been exposed to the weather4 ,the action of the weather--rain1 carbonic dioxide in the rain water1 etc4--is to sculpture the surface of the rock1 so that the fossils stand out in relief4 ,a weathered surface is often seen covered with fossils1 when a new broken one shows none at all4 ,many of the shells in the limestones are very like shells which are found at the present day4 ,we must know where they are found now4 ,well1 these ,paludinas are a kind of freshwater snail2 and1 in fact1 all the shells we find in the ,wealden strata are freshwater shells1 till we come near the top1 and find the oysters1 which live in salt or brackish water4 ,there were quantities in ,brading ,harbour in old days1 before it was reclaimed from the sea4 ,now1 this is a very important point1 that our ,wealden shells are freshwater shells4 ,for what does it tell us8 ,why1 we see that the first strata we have come to examine were not laid down in the sea at all4 ,then where were they formed8 ,they seem to be the ,delta of a great river1 long since passed away1 like the ,nile1 the ,amazon1 or the ,niger at the present day4 ,when these great rivers near the sea1 they spread out in many channels1 and deposit the mud they have brought down over a wide area shaped like a ,v1 or like the ,greek letter ,delta 7,delta74 ,hence we speak of the ,delta of the ,nile4 ,some river deltas are of immense size4 ,that of the ,niger1 for instance1 is #agj miles long1 and the line where it meets the sea is #cjj miles long4 ,our old ,wealden river must have been a great river like the ,niger1 for the ,wealden strata stretch1--often covered up for a long way by later rocks1 then appearing again1--as far as ,lulworth on the ,dorset coast to the west1 into ,buckinghamshire on the north1 while to the north east they not only cover the ,weald1 but pass under the ,straits of ,dover into ,belgium1 and very similar strata are found in ,westphalia and ,hanover4 ,the ancient river delta must have been #bjj miles or more across4 ,you must not think this great river flowed in the ,island of ,england as it is to-day4 ,england was being made then4 ,this must have been part of a great continent in those days1 for such a great river to flow through1 and form a delta of such size4 ,we cannot tell quite what was the course of this river4 ,but to the north of where we are now must have stretched a great continent1 with chains of lofty mountains far away1 from which the head waters of the river flowed4 ,near its mouth the river broke up into many streams1 separated by marsh land2 while inside the sand banks of the sea shore would be large lagoons as in the ,nile delta at the present day4 ,in these waters lived the shellfish whose shells we are finding4 ,and flowing through great forests the river carried down with it logs of wood and whole trees1 and left them stuck in the mud near its mouths for us to find to-day4 ,what kind of trees grew in the country the river came from8 ,well1 there were no oaks or beeches1 no flowering chestnuts or apples or mays4 ,but there were great forests of coniferous trees2 that is trees like our pines and firs1 cedars and yews1 and araucarias2 and there were cycads--a very different kind of tree1 but also bearing cones--which you may see in a greenhouse in botanical gardens4 ,they have usually a short trunk1 sometimes nearly hemispherical1 with leaves like the long leaves of a date palm4 ,they are sometimes called sago trees1 for the trunk has a large pith1 which1 like some palms1 gives us sago4 ,stems of cycads1 covered with diamond-shaped scars1 where the leaf stalks have dropped off1 are found in the ,wealden deposits4 ,most of the wood we find is black and brittle4 ,some1 however1 is hard as stone1 where the actual substance of the wood has been replaced by silica1 preserving beautifully the structure of the wood4 ,specially noteworthy are fragments of a tree called ,endogenites 7or ,tempskya7 erosa1 because it was at first supposed to belong to the endogens1--the class to which the palm bamboo belong2 it is now considered to be a tree-fern4 ,many specimens of this wood are remarkably beautiful1 when polished1 or in their natural condition4 ,here1 by the way1 it may be well to explain how we name animals and plants scientifically4 ,we have ,english names only for the commoner varieties4 ,so we have to invent names for the greater number of living and extinct animals and plants4 ,and the best way is found to be this4 ,we give a name1 generally formed from the ,latin--or the ,greek--to a group of animals or plants1 which closely resemble one another2 the group we call a genus4 ,then for the species1 the particular kind of animal or plant of the group1 we add a second name to the first4 ,thus1 if we are studying the apple and pear group of fruit trees1 we call the general name of the group ,pyrus4 ,then the crab apple is ,pyrus malus1 the wild pear ,p4 communis1 and so on4 ,so that when you arrange any of your species1 and put down the scientific names1 you are really doing a bit of classification as well4 ,you are arranging your specimens with their nearest relations4 ,to return to our ancient river4 ,with the logs and trunks of trees1 which the river brought down1 came floating down also the bodies of animals1 which had lived in the country the river flowed through4 ,what kind of animals8 ,very wonderful animals1 some of them1 not like any living creature that lives to-day4 ,by the time they reached the mouth of the river the bodies had come to pieces1 and their bones were scattered about the river mouth4 ,on the shore where we are walking we may find some of these bones4 ,but it is rather a chance whether we find any in any one walk we take4 ,the best time to find them is when rough seas in winter have washed some out of the clay1 and left them on the shore4 ,it is only rarely that large bones are found here2 but you should be able to find some small ones fairly often4 ,the bones are quite as heavy as stone1 for all the pores and cavities have been filled with stone1 generally carbonate of lime1 in the way we explained in describing the formation of beds of limestone4 ,this makes them quite different from any present-day bones that may happen to lie on the shore4 ,so that you cannot mistake them1 if once you have seen them4 ,they are bones of great reptiles1--the class of creatures to which lizards and crocodiles belong4 ,but these were much larger than crocodiles1 and quite peculiar in their appearance4 ,the principal one was the ,iguanodon4 ,he stood on his hind legs like a kangaroo1 with a great thick tail1 which may have helped to support him4 ,when full grown he stood about #ad ft4 high4 ,you may find on the shore vertebrae1 i4e41 joints of the backbone1 sometimes large1 sometimes quite small if they come from the end of the tail4 ,i have found several here about #e inches long by #d or #e across4 ,a few years ago ,i found the end of a leg bone almost a foot in diameter4 ,dr4 ,mantell1 a great geological explorer in the days when these reptiles were first discovered about #hj years ago1 estimated from the size of part of a bone found in ,sandown ,bay that one of these reptiles must have had a leg #i ft4 long4 ,it was a long time after the bones of these creatures were first found before it was known what they really looked like4 ,the animals lived a long way from here1 and by the time the river had washed them down to its mouth the skeletons were broken up1 and the bones scattered4 ,at last a discovery was made1 which told us what the animals were like4 ,in a coal mine at ,bernissart in ,belgium the miners found the coal seam they were following suddenly come to an end1 and they got into a mass of clay4 ,after a while it was seen what had happened4 ,they had struck the buried channel of an old river1 which in the ,wealden days had flowed through and cut its channel in the coal strata1 which are much older still than the ,wealden4 ,and in the mud of the ancient buried river what should they come upon but whole skeletons of ,iguanodons4 ,in the days of long ago the great beasts had come down to the river to drink1 and had got bogged in the soft clay4 ,the skeletons were carefully got out1 and set up in the ,museum at ,brussels4 ,without going so far as that1 you may see in the ,natural ,history ,museum in ,london1 or the ,geological ,museum at ,oxford1 a facsimile of one of these skeletons1 large as life1 and have some idea of the sort of beast the ,iguanodon was4 ,i should tell you why he was so named4 ,before it was known what he was like in general form1 it was found that his teeth1 which are of a remarkable character1 were similar to those of the ,iguana1 a little lizard of the ,west ,indies4 ,so he was called ,iguanodon1--an animal with teeth like the ,iguana 7fr4 ,iguana1 and ,gk4 odous g4 odontos a tooth74 ,he was quite a harmless beast1 though he was so large4 ,he was a vegetarian4 ,there were other great reptiles1 more or less like him1 which were also vegetable feeders4 ,but there were also carnivorous reptiles1 generally smaller than the herbivorous1 whose teeth tell us that they preyed on other animals4 ,illustration3 ,,pl4 ,i ,perna ,mulleti ,meyeria ,vectensis 7,atherfield ,lobster7 ,panopaea ,plicata ,terebratula ,sella ,cyrena ,limestone ,iguanodon ,vertebra ,,wealden ,,and ,,lower ,,greensand ,those were the days of reptiles4 ,now the earth is the domain of the mammalia4 ,but then great reptiles like the ,iguanodon wandered over the land2 great marine reptiles1 such as the ,plesiosaurus1 swam the waters2 and wonderful flying reptiles1 the ,pterodactyls1 flew the air4 ,some species of these were quite small1 the size of a rook3 one large species found in the ,isle of ,wight had a spread of wing of #af feet4 ,imagine this strange world1--its forests with pines and monkey puzzles and cycads1--ferns also1 of which many fragments are found1--its great reptiles and little reptiles1 on land1 in the water and the air4 ,were there no birds8 ,yes1 but they were rare4 ,from remains found in ,oolitic strata1--somewhat older than the ,wealden1--we know that birds were already in existence2 and they were as strange as anything else4 ,for they had jaws with teeth like the reptiles4 ,they had not yet adopted the beak4 ,and instead of all the tail feathers starting from one point1 as in birds of the present day1 these ancient birds had long curving tails like reptiles1 with a pair of feathers on each joint4 ,birds of similar but slightly more modern type have been found in ,cretaceous strata 7to which the ,wealden belongs7 in ,america1 but so far not in strata of this age in ,britain4 ,among other objects of interest along this ,wealden shore may be noticed a curious transformation which has affected the surface of some of the shell limestones after they were formed1 which is known as cone-in-cone structure4 ,it has quite altered the outer layer of the rock1 so that all trace of the shells of which it consists is obliterated4 ,numerous pieces of iron ore from various strata lie on the shore4 ,through most of ,english history the ,weald of ,kent and ,sussex was the great iron-working district of ,england4 ,the ore from the ,wealden strata was smelted by the help of charcoal made from the woods that grew there1 and gave the district its name2--for ,weald means forest4 ,this industry gradually ceased1 as the much larger supplies of iron ore found near the coal in the mines of the ,north of ,england came to be worked4 ,iron pyrites1 sulphide of iron in crystalline form1 was formerly collected on the ,sandown shore1 and sent to ,london for the manufacture of sulphuric acid4 ,this mineral is often found encrusting fossil wood4 ,it also occurs as rounded nodules 7mostly derived from the ,lower ,chalk7 with a brown outer coat1 and often showing a beautiful radiated metallic structure1 when broken4 7,this form is called marcasite47 ,as we walk by the edge of the water1 we shall see what pretty stones lie along the beach4 ,when wet with the ripples many look like polished jewels4 ,some are agates1 bright purple and orange in colour1 some clear translucent chaldedony4 ,we shall have more to say about these later on4 ,they do not come from the ,wealden1 but from beds of flint gravel1 and are washed along the shore4 ,but there are also jaspers from the ,wealden4 ,these are opaque1 generally red and yellow4 ,there are also pieces of variegated quartz1 and other beautiful pebbles of various mineral composition4 ,these are stones from older rocks1 which have been washed down the ,wealden rivers1 and buried in the ,wealden strata1 to be washed out again after hundreds of thousands of years1 and rolled about on the shore on which we walk to-day4 ,footnote #a3 ,blue clays of various geological age1 which in wet weather become semi-liquid1 and flow out on to the shore1 are known in the ,island by the local name of ,blue ,slipper4 ,footnote #b3 ,the name now adopted is ,viviparus4 ,there is also a band of ferruginous limestone mainly composed of ,viviparus4 ,illustration3 ,,pl4 ,,ii ,trigonia ,caudata ,trigonia ,daedalea ,gervillia ,sublanceolata 7,ammonite7 ,nautilus ,radiatus ,mortoniceras ,rostratum ,,lower ,,and ,,upper ,,greensand ,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,lower ,,greensand ,for ages the ,wealden river flowed1 and over its vast delta laid down its depth of river mud4 ,the land was gradually sinking2 for continually strata of river mud were laid down over the same area1 all shallow-water strata1 yet counting hundreds of feet in thickness in all4 ,at last a change came4 ,the land sank more rapidly1 and in over the delta the sea water flowed4 ,the sign of coming change is seen in the limestone band made up of small oysters near the top of the ,wealden strata4 ,marine life was beginning to appear4 ,above the ,wealden shales in ,sandown ,bay may be seen a band of brown rock4 ,it is in places much covered by slip1 but big blocks lie about the shore1 and it runs out to sea as a reef before we come to the ,red ,cliff4 ,the blocks are seen to consist of a hard grey stone1 but the weathered surfaces are soft and brown4 ,they are full of fossils1 all marine1 sea shells and corals4 ,the sea has washed in well over our ,wealden delta1 and with this bed the next formation1 the ,lower ,greensand1 begins4 ,the bed is called the ,perna bed1 from a large bivalve shell 7,perna mulleti7 frequently to be found in it1 though it is difficult to obtain perfect specimens showing the long hinge of the valve1 which is a marked feature of the shell4 ,among other shells are a large round bivalve ,corbis 7,sphaera7 corrugata1 a flatter bivalve ,astarte1--and a smaller oblong shell ,panopaea1--also a peculiar shell of triangular form1 ,trigonia1--one species ,t4 caudata has raised ribs running across it1 another ,t4 daedalea has bands of raised spots4 ,a pretty little coral1 looking like a collection of little stars1 ,holocystis elegans1 one of the ,astraeidae1 is often very sharply weathered out4 ,above the ,perna bed lies a mass of blue clay1 weathering brown1 called the ,atherfield clay1 because it appears on a great scale at ,atherfield on the south west of the ,island4 ,it is very like the clay of the ,wealden shales1 but is not divided into thin layers like shale4 ,next we come to the fine mass of red sandstone which forms the vertical wall of ,red ,cliff4 ,not many fossils are to be found in these strata4 ,let us note the beauty of colouring of the ,red ,cliff--pink and green1 rich orange and purple reds4 ,and then let us pass to the other side of the anticline1 and walk on the shore to ,shanklin4 ,here we see the red sandstone rocks again1 but now dipping to the south4 ,you probably wonder why these red cliffs are called ,greensand4 ,but look at the rocks where they run out as ledges on the shore towards ,shanklin4 ,here they are dark green4 ,and this is really their natural colour4 ,they are made of a mixture of sand and clay coloured dark green by a mineral called glauconite4 ,grains of glauconite can easily be seen in a handful of sand1--better with a magnifying glass4 ,this mineral is a compound of iron1 with silica and potash1 and at the surface of the rock it is altered chemically1 and oxide of iron is formed--the same thing as rust4 ,and that colours all the face of the cliff red4 ,the iron is also largely responsible for our finding so few fossils in these strata4 ,by chemical changes1 in which the iron takes part1 the material of the shells is destroyed4#c ,near ,little ,stairs hollows in the rock may be seen1 where large oyster shells have been4 ,in some you may find a broken piece of shell1 but the shells have been mostly destroyed4 ,nearer ,shanklin we shall find large oysters1 ,exogyra sinuata1 in the rock ledges exposed at low tide4 ,some are stuck together in masses4 ,evidently there was an oyster bank here4 ,and here the shells have not been destroyed like those in the cliff4 ,from black bands in the cliff water full of iron oozes out1 staining the cliff red and yellow and orange1 and trickling down1 stains the flint stones lying on the shore a bright orange4 ,at the foot of the cliff you may sometimes see what looks like a bed of conglomerate1 i4e41 a bed of rounded pebbles cemented together4 ,this does not belong to the cliff1 but is made up of the flint pebbles on the shore1 and the sand in which they lie1 cemented into a solid mass by the iron in the water which has flowed from the cliff4 ,it is a modern conglomerate1 and shows us how old conglomerates were formed1 which we often find in the various strata4 ,the cement1 however1 in these is not always iron oxide4 ,it may be siliceous or of other material4 ,the iron-charged water is called chalybeate2 springs at ,shanklin and ,niton at one time had some fame for their strengthening powers4 ,the strata we have been examining are known as the ,ferruginous sands1 i4e41 iron sands 7,lat4 ferrum1 iron74 ,beyond ,shanklin is a fine piece of cliff4 ,look up at it1 but beware of going too close under it4 ,the upper part consists of a fine yellow sand called the ,sandrock4 ,at the base of this are two bands of dark clay4 ,these bands become filled with water1 and flow out1 causing the sandrock which rests on them to break away in large masses1 and fall on to the beach4 ,it is clay bands such as these which are the cause of our ,undercliffs in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,turn the point1 and you see exactly how an undercliff is formed4 ,you see a wide platform at the level of the clay1 which has slipped out1 and let down the sandrock which rested on it4 ,beyond ,luccombe ,chine a large landslip took place in #aiaj1 a great mass of cliff breaking away1 and leaving a ravine behind partly filled with fallen pine trees4 ,the whole fallen mass has since sunk lower and nearer to the sea4 ,the broken ground overgrown with trees called the ,landslip1 as well as the whole extent of the ground from ,ventnor and ,niton1 has been formed in a similar way4 ,but the clay which by its slip has produced these is another clay called the ,gault1 higher up in the strata4 ,at the top of the high cliff near ,luccombe ,chine a hard gritty stratum of rock called the ,carstone is seen above the ,sandrock1 and above it lies the ,gault clay1 which flows over the edge of the cliff4 ,in the rock ledges and fallen blocks of stone between ,shanklin and ,luccombe many more fossils may be found than in the lower part of the ,ferruginous sands4 ,besides bands of oysters1 blocks of stone are to be found crowded with a pretty little shell called ,rhynchonella4 ,there are others with many ,terebratulae1 and others with fragments of sea urchins4 ,the ,terebratulae and ,rhynchonellae belong to a curious group of shells1 the ,brachiopods1 which are placed in a class distinct from the ,mollusca proper4 ,they were very common in the very ancient seas of the ,cambrian period1--the period of the most ancient fossils yet found1--and some1 the ,lingulae1 have lived on almost unchanged to the present day4 ,one of the two valves is larger than the other1 and near the smaller end you will see a little round hole4 ,out of this hole1 when the creature was alive1 came a sort of neck1 which attached it to the rock1 like the barnacles4 ,there is a very hard ferruginous band1 of which nodules may be found along the shore1 full of beautifully perfect impressions of fossils1 though the fossils themselves are gone4 ,casts of a little round bivalve shell1 ,thetironia minor1 may easily be got out4 ,the nodules also contain casts of ,trigonia1 ,panopoea1 etc4 ,a stratum is sometimes exposed on the shore containing fossils converted into pyrites4 ,a long shell1 ,gervillia sublanceolata1 is the most frequent4 ,all the shells we have found are of sea creatures1 and show us that the ,greensand was a marine formation4 ,but the strata were formed in shallow water not far from the shore4 ,we have learnt that coarse sediment like sand is not carried by the sea far from the coast4 ,and a good deal of the ,greensand is coarser than sand4 ,there are numerous bands of small pebbles4 ,the pebbles are of various kinds2 some are clear transparent quartz1 bits of rock-crystal more or less rounded by rolling on the shore of the ,greensand period4 ,these go by the name of ,isle of ,wight diamonds1 and are very pretty when polished4 ,another mark of the nearness of the shore when these beds were laid down is the current bedding1 of which a good example may be seen in the cliff at the north of ,shanklin parade4 ,it is sometimes called false bedding1 for the sloping bands do not mark strata laid down horizontally at the bottom of the sea1 but a current has laid down layers in a sloping way1--it may be just over the edge of a sandbank4 ,again notice how much wood is to be seen in the strata4 ,land was evidently not far off4 ,all along the shore you may find hard pieces of mineralised wood1 the rings of growth often showing clearly4 ,frequently marine worms have bored into them before they were locked up in the strata2 the holes being generally filled afterwards with stone or pyrites4 ,the wood is mostly portions of trunks or branches of coniferous trees4 ,we also find stems of cycads4 ,there has been found at ,luccombe a very remarkable fruit of a kind of cycad4 ,we said that in the ,wealden period none of our flowering plants grew4 ,but these specimens found at ,luccombe show that cycads at that time were developing into flowering plants4 ,wonderful specimens of what may almost be called cycad flowers have been found in strata of about this age in ,wyoming in ,america2 and this ,luccombe cycad1--called ,benettites ,gibsonianus1--shows what these were like in fruit4 ,remains of various cycadeous plants have been found in the corresponding strata at ,atherfield2 and possibly by further research fresh knowledge may be gained of an intensely interesting story1--the history of the development of flowering plants4 ,on the whole the vegetation of the period was much the same as in the ,wealden4 ,but these flowering cycads must have formed a marked addition to the landscape1--if indeed they did not already exist in the ,wealden times4 ,the cones of present day cycads are very splendidly coloured1--orange and crimson1--and it can hardly be doubted that the cycad flowers were of brilliant hues4 ,the land animals were still like the ,wealden reptiles4 ,bones of large reptiles may at times be found on the shore at ,shanklin4 ,several have been picked up recently4 ,from the prevalence of cycads we may conclude that the climate of the ,wealden and ,lower ,greensand was sub-tropical4 ,the existing ,cycadaceae are plants of ,south ,eastern ,asia1 and ,australia1 the ,cape1 and ,central ,america4 ,the forest of trees allied to pines and firs and cedars probably occupied the higher land4 ,turtles and the corals point to warm waters4 ,the existing species of ,trigonia are ,australian shells4 ,this beautiful shell is found plentifully in ,sydney harbour4 ,it possesses a peculiar interest1 as the genus was supposed to be extinct1 and was originally described from the fossil forms1 and was afterwards found to be still living in ,australia4 ,footnote #c3 ,carbonate of lime has been replaced by carbonate of iron1 and the latter converted into peroxide of iron4 ,at ,sandown oxidation has gone through the whole cliff4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b ,,coast ,,atherfield ,,to ,,rocken ,,end ,wl ,wealden ,beds4 ,p ,perna ,bed4 ,a ,atherfield ,clay4 ,ck ,cracker ,group4 ,lg ,lower ,gryphaea ,beds4 ,sc ,scaphite4 ,lc ,lower ,crioceras ,w ,walpen ,clay4 ,uc ,upper ,crioceras ,beds4 ,,ws ,walpen and ,ladder ,sands4 ,ug ,upper ,gryphaea ,beds4 ,ce ,cliff ,end ,sands4 ,f ,foliated ,clay4 ,,su ,sands of ,walpen ,undercliff4 ,fer ,ferruginous ,bands of ,blackgang ,chine4 ,b ,black ,clay4 ,s ,sandrock and ,clays4 ,wh ,whale ,chine4 ,l ,ladder ,chine4 ,wp ,walpen ,chine4 ,bg ,blackgang ,chine4 ,chapter ,v ,,brook ,,and ,,atherfield ,to most ,sandown ,bay is by far the most accessible place in the ,island to study the earlier strata2 and for our first geological studies it has the advantage of showing a succession of strata so tilted that we can pass over one formation after another in the course of a short walk4 ,but when we have learnt the nature of geological research1 and how to read the record of the rocks1 and examined the ,wealden and ,greensand strata in ,sandown ,bay1 we shall do well1 if possible1 to make expeditions to ,brook and ,atherfield1 to see the splendid succession of ,wealden and ,greensand strata shown in the cliffs of the south-west of the ,island4 ,it is a lonely stretch of coast1 wild and storm-swept in winter4 ,but this part of the ,island is full of interest and charm to the lover of ,nature and of the old-world villages and the old churches and manor houses which fit so well into their natural surroundings4 ,the villages in general lie back under the shelter of the downs some distance from the shore2 a coastguard station1 a lonely farm house1 or some fishermen's houses as at ,brook1 forming the only habitations of man we come to along many miles of shore4 ,brook ,point is a spot of great interest to the geologist4 ,here we come upon ,wealden strata somewhat older than any in ,sandown ,bay4 ,the shore at the ,point at low tide is seen to be strewn with the trunks of fossil trees4 ,they are of good size1 some #bj ft4 in length1 and from one to three feet in diameter4 ,they are known as the ,pine ,raft1 and evidently form a mass of timber floated down an ancient river1 and stranded near the mouth1 just as happens with great accumulations of timber which float down the ,mississippi at the present day4 ,the greater part of the wood has been replaced by stone1 the bark remaining as a carbonaceous substance like coal1 which1 however1 is quickly destroyed when exposed to the action of the waves4 ,the fossil trees are mostly covered with seaweed4 ,on the trunks may sometimes be found black shining scales of a fossil fish1 ,lepidotus ,mantelli4 7,a stratum full of the scales of ,lepidotus has been recently exposed in the ,wealden of ,sandown ,bay47 ,the strata with the ,pine ,raft form the lowest visible part of the anticline4 ,from ,brook ,point the ,wealden strata dip in each direction1 east and west4 ,as the coast does not cut nearly so straight across the strata as in ,sandown ,bay1 we see a much longer section of the beds4 ,on either side of the ,point are coloured marls1 followed by blue shales1 as at ,sandown4 ,to the westward1 however1 after the shales we suddenly come to variegated marls again1 followed by a second set of shales4 ,there was long a question whether this repetition is due to a fault1 or whether local conditions have caused a variation in the type of the beds4 ,the conclusion of the ,geological ,survey ,memoir1 #ahhi1 rather favoured the latter view1 on the ground of the great change which has taken place in the character of the beds in so short a distance1 assuming them to be the same strata repeated4 ,the conjecture of the existence of a fault has1 however1 been confirmed2 for during the last years a most interesting section has been visible at the junction of the shales and marls1 where a fault was suspected4 ,the shales in the cliff and on the shore are contorted into the form of a ,z4 ,the section appears to have become visible about #aijd 7it was in the spring of that year that ,i first saw it71 and was described by ,mr4 ,r4 ,w4 ,hooley1 ,f4,g4,s4 7,proc4 ,geol4 ,ass41 vol4 xix41 #aijf1 pp4 #bfd1 #bfe74 ,it has remained visible since4 ,the ,wealden of ,brook and the neighbouring coast is celebrated for the number of bones of great reptiles found here1 from the early days of geological research1 the '#bj's and '#cj's of last century1 when admirable early geologists1 such as ,dr4 ,buckland and ,dr4 ,mantell1 were discovering the wonders of that ancient world1 to the present time4 ,various reptiles have been found besides the ,iguanodon--the ,megalosaurus1 a great reptile somewhat similar1 but of lighter build1 with sabre-shaped teeth1 with serrated edges3 the ,hylaeosaurus1 a smaller creature with an armour of plates on the back1 and a row of angular spines along the middle of the back2 the huge ,hoplosaurus hulkei1 probably #gj or #hj feet in length2 the marine ,plesiosaurus and ,ichthyosaurus1 and several more2 also bones of a freshwater turtle and four types of crocodiles4 ,in various beds a large freshwater shell1 ,unio valdensis1 occurs1 and in the cliffs of ,brook have been found many cones of ,cycadean plants4 ,in bands of white sandy clay are fragments of ferns1 ,lonchopteris ,mantelli4 ,in the shales are bands of limestone with ,cyrena1 ,paludina1 and small oysters1 and paper shales with cyprids1 as at ,sandown4 ,the shore near ,atherfield ,point is covered with fallen blocks of the limestones4 ,the ,lower ,greensand is seen in ,compton ,bay on the northern side of the ,brook anticline4 ,here is a great slip of ,atherfield clay4 ,the beds above the clay are much thinner than at ,atherfield1 and fossils are comparatively scarce4 ,on the south of the anticline the ,perna bed slopes down to the sea about #aej yards east of ,atherfield ,point1 and runs out to sea as a reef4 ,large blocks lie on the shore1 where numerous fossils may be found on the weathered surfaces4 ,the ledges which here run out to sea form a dangerous reef1 on which many vessels have struck4 ,there is now a bell buoy on the reef4 ,on the headland is a coastguard station1 and till lately there has been a sloping wooden way from the top of the cliff to bring the lifeboat down4 ,this was washed away in the storms of the winter #aiab-ac4 ,above the ,perna bed lies a great thickness of ,atherfield clay4 ,above this lies what is called the ,lower ,lobster bed1 a brown clay and sand1 in which are numerous nodules containing the small lobster ,meyeria vectensis1--known as ,atherfield lobsters4 ,many beautiful specimens have been obtained4 ,we next come to a great thickness of the ,ferruginous ,sands1 some #ejj feet4 ,the ,lower ,greensand of ,atherfield was exhaustively studied in the earlier days of geology by ,dr4 ,fitton1 in the years #ahbd-dg1 and the different strata are still referred to according to his divisions4 ,the lowest bed is the ,crackers group about #fj ft4 thick4 ,in the lower part are two layers of hard calcareous boulder-shaped concretions1 some a few feet long4 ,the lower abound in fossils1 and though hard when falling from the cliffs are broken up by winter frosts1 showing the fossils they contain beautifully preserved in the softer sandy cores of the concretions4 ,gervillia sublanceolata is very frequent1 also ,thetironia minor1 the ,ammonite ,hoplites deshayesi1 and many more4 ,beneath and between the nodular masses caverns are formed1 the resounding of the waves in which has given the name of the ,crackers4 ,in the upper part of this group is a second lobster bed4 ,the most remarkable fossils in the ,lower ,greensand are the various genera and species of the ammonites and their kindred4 ,the ,ammonite1 through many formations1 was one of the largest1 and often most beautiful shells4 ,there were also quite small species4 ,the number of species was very great4 ,now the whole group is extinct4 ,they most resembled the ,pearly ,nautilus1 which still lives4 ,in both the shell is spiral1 and consists of several chambers1 the animal living in the outer chamber1 the rest being air-chambers enabling it to float4 ,the class ,cephalopoda1 which includes the ,ammonites1 the ,nautilus1 and also the ,cuttle-fish1 is the highest division of the ,mollusca4 ,the animals all possess heads with eyes1 and tentacles around the mouth4 ,they nearly all possess a shell1 either external1 as in the ,nautilus1 or internal1 as in the cuttle-fishes1 the internal shell of which is often washed ashore after a rough sea4 ,the ,cephalopods are divided into two orders4 ,the first includes the ,cuttle-fish and the ,argonaut or ,paper ,nautilus4 ,their tentacles are armed with suckers1 and they have highly-developed eyes4 ,they secrete an inky fluid1 which forms sepia4 ,the internal shell of extinct species of cuttle-fish1 of a cylindrical shape1 with a pointed end1 is a common fossil in various strata1 and is known as a ,belemnite 7,gr4 belemnon a dart47 ,the second order includes the ,pearly ,nautilus of the present day1 and the numerous extinct ,nautiloids and ,ammonoids4 ,the tentacles of the ,pearly ,nautilus have no suckers2 and the eyes are of a curiously primitive structure1--what may be called a pin-hole camera1 with no lens4 ,the shells of the ,nautilus and its allies are of simpler form1 while the ,ammonites are characterised by the complicated margins of the partition walls or septa1 by which the shells are sub-divided4 ,the chambers of the fossil ,ammonites have often been filled with crystals of rich colours2 and a polished section showing the chambers is then a most beautiful object4#d ,continuing along the shore1 we come to the ,lower ,exogyra group1 where ,terebratula sella is found in great abundance4 ,a reef with ,exogyra sinuata runs out about #cej yards west of ,whale ,chine4 ,the group is #cc ft4 thick1 and is followed by the ,scaphites group1 #ej ft4 ,the beds contain ,exogyra sinuata1 and a reef with clusters of ,serpulae runs out from the cliff4 ,in the middle of the group are bands of nodules containing ,macroscaphites gigas4 ,the ,lower ,crioceras bed 7#af ft47 follows1 and crosses the bottom of ,whale ,chine4 ,the ,scaphites and ,crioceras are ,cephalopoda1 related to the ,ammonites2 but in this ,lower ,cretaceous period a remarkable development took place2 many of the shells began to take curious forms1 to unwind as it were4 ,crioceras1 a very beautiful shell1 has the form of an ,ammonite1 but the whorls are not in contact2 thus making an open spiral like a ram's horn1 whence its name 7,gk4 keras1 ram1 krios1 horn74 ,ancyloceras begins like ,crioceras1 but from the last whorl continues for some length in a straight course1 then bends back again2 ,macroscaphites is similar1 but the whorls of the spiral part are in contact4 ,in ,scaphites1 a much smaller shell1 the uncoiled part is much shorter1 and its outline more rounded4 ,it is named from its resemblance to a boat 7,gk4 skaphe74#e ,the ,walpen and ,ladder ,clays and ,sands 7about #fj ft47 contain nodules with ,exogyra and the ,ammonite ,douvilleiceras martini4 ,the dark-green clays of the lower part form an undercliff1 on to which ,ladder ,chine opens4 ,the ,upper ,crioceras ,group 7#df ft471 like the ,lower1 contains bands of ,crioceras8 also ,douvilleiceras martini1 ,gervillia1 ,trigonia1 etc4 ,it must be stated that there is some uncertainty with regard to the ammonoids found in this neighbourhood1 ,macroscaphites having been described as ,ancyloceras1 and also sometimes as ,crioceras4 ,the discovery of the true ,ancyloceras 7,ancyloceras ,matheronianum7 at ,atherfield is described 7and a figure given7 by ,dr4 ,mantell2 but what is the characteristic ammonoid of the ,crioceras beds requires further investigation4 ,the neighbourhood of ,whale and ,walpen ,chines is of great interest4 ,ammonites may be found in the bottom of ,whale ,chine fallen out of the rock4 ,red ferruginous nodules with ,ammonites lie on the shore1 in the ,chines1 and on the ,undercliff1 some of the ammonites more or less converted into crystalline spar4 ,hard ledges of the ,crioceras beds run into the sea4 ,the shore is usually covered deep with sand and small shingle2 but there are times when the sea has washed the ledges clear2 and it is then that the shore should be examined4 ,the ,walpen and ,ladder ,sands 7#db ft472 the ,upper ,exogyra ,group 7#af ft472 the ,cliff ,end ,sand 7#bh ft472 and the ,foliated ,clay and ,sand 7#be ft471 consisting of thin alternations of greenish sand and dark-blue clay1 follow4 ,then the ,sands of ,walpen ,undercliff 7about #ajj ft472 over which lie the ,ferruginous ,bands of ,blackgang ,chine 7#bj ft474 ,over these hard beds the cascade of the ,chine falls4 ,cycads and other vegetable remains are found in this neighbourhood4 ,throughout the ,atherfield ,greensand fragments of the fern ,lonchopteris 7,weichselia7 ,mantelli are found4 #bbj ft4 of dark clays and soft white or yellow sandrock complete the ,lower ,greensand4 ,in the upper beds of the ,greensand few organic remains occur4 ,a beautiful section of ,sandrock with the junction of the ,carstone is to be seen inland at ,rock above ,bright-stone4 ,the ,sandrock here is brightly coloured like the sands of ,alum ,bay1--though it belongs to a much older formation1--and shows current bedding very beautifully4 ,the junction of the ,sandrock and ,carstone is also well seen in the sandpit at ,marvel4 ,we have now come to the end of the ,lower ,cretaceous1 in which are included the ,wealden and the ,lower ,greensand4 ,judged by the character of the flora and fauna1 the two form one period1 the main difference being the effect of the recession of the shore line1 due to the subsidence which let in the sea over the ,wealden delta1 so that we have marine strata in place of freshwater deposits4 ,but that the plants and animals of the ,wealden age still lived in the not distant continent is shown by the remains borne down from the land4 ,these strata are an example of a phenomenon often met with in geology1--that of a great thickness of deposits all laid down in shallow water4 ,the ,wealden of the ,isle of ,wight are some #gjj feet thick1 in ,kent a good deal thicker1 the ,hastings ,sands1 the lower part of the formation1 being below the horizon occurring in the ,island3 the ,lower ,greensand is some #hjj feet thick4 ,in the ancient rocks of ,wales1 the ,cambrian and ,silurian strata1 are thousands of feet of deposits1 mostly laid down in fairly shallow water4 ,in such cases there has been a long-continued deposition of sediment1 while a subsidence of the area in which it was laid down has almost exactly kept pace with the deposit4 ,it is difficult not to conclude that the subsidence has been caused by the weight of the accumulating deposit1--continuing until some world-movement of the contracting globe has produced a compensating elevation of the area4 ,footnote #d3 ,some fine ammonites may be seen at the ,clarendon ,hotel1 ,chale1--one about #e ft4 in circumference4 ,footnote #e3 ,see ,guide to ,fossil ,invertebrata1 ,brit4 ,mus4 ,nat4 ,hist4 ,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,gault ,,and ,,upper ,,greensand ,we have seen how the continent through which the great ,wealden river flowed began to sink below the sea level1 and how the waters of the sea flowed over what had been the delta of the river1 laying down the beds of sandstone with some mixture of clay which we call the ,lower ,greensand4 ,the next stratum we come to is a bed of dark blue clay more or less sandy1 called the ,gault4 ,in the upper beds it becomes more sandy and grey in colour4 ,these are known as the passage beds1 passing into the ,upper ,greensand4 ,the thickness of the ,gault clay proper varies from some #ie to #ajc feet4 ,compared to the mainland the ,gault is of small thickness in the ,island1 though the dark clay bands in the ,sandrock mark the oncoming of similar conditions4 ,the fine sediment forming the clay points to a further sinking of the sea bed4 ,in general1 we find very few fossils in the ,gault in the ,island1 though it is very fossiliferous on the mainland at ,folkestone4 ,north of ,sandown ,red ,cliff the ,gault forms a gully1 down which a footpath leads to the shore4 ,it is seen at the west of the ,island in ,compton ,bay1 where in the lower part some fossil shells may be found4 ,the ,upper ,greensand is not very well named1 as the beds only partially consist of sandstone1 in great part of quite other materials4 ,some prefer to call the ,lower ,greensand ,vectian1 from ,vectis1 the old name of the ,isle of ,wight1 and the ,upper ,greensand ,selbornian1 a name generally adopted1 because it forms a marked feature of the country about ,selborne in ,hampshire4#f ,but1 though the ,upper ,greensand covers a less area in the ,isle of ,wight than the ,lower1 it forms some of the most characteristic scenery of the ,island4 ,one of the most striking features of the ,island is the ,undercliff1 the undulating wooded country from ,bonchurch to ,niton1 above the sea cliff1 but under a second cliff1 a vertical wall which shelters it to the ,north4 ,this wall of cliff consists of ,upper ,greensand4 ,in a similar way to the small undercliffs we saw at ,luccombe1 the ,undercliff has been formed by a series of great slips1 caused here by the flowing out of the ,gault clay1 which runs in a nearly horizontal band through the base of all the ,southern ,downs of the ,island1 the ,upper ,greensand lying above it breaking off in masses1 and leaving vertical walls of cliff4 ,these walls are seen not only in the ,undercliff1 but also on the northern side of the downs1 where they form the inland cliff overhanging a pretty belt of woodland from ,shanklin to ,cook's ,castle1 and again forming ,gat ,cliff above ,appuldurcombe4 ,we have records of great landslips at the two ends of the ,undercliff1 near ,bonchurch and at ,rocken ,end1 about a century ago4 ,but the greater part of the ,undercliff was formed by landslips in very ancient times1 before recorded history in this ,island began4 ,the outcrop of the ,gault is marked by a line of springs on all sides of the ,southern ,downs4 ,the strata above1 ,chalk and ,upper ,greensand1 are porous and absorb the rainfall1 which permeates through till it reaches the ,gault ,clay1 which throws it out of the hill side in springs1 some of which furnish a water supply for the surrounding towns and villages4 ,where the ,upper ,greensand is best developed1 above the ,undercliff1 the passage beds are followed by #cj feet of yellow micaceous sands1 with layers of nodules of a bluish-grey siliceous limestone known as ,rag4 ,the nodules frequently contain large ,ammonites and other fossils4 ,next follow the ,sandstone and ,rag beds1 about #ej feet of sandstone with alternating layers of rag4 ,the sandstones are grey in colour1 weathering buff or reddish-brown1 tinged more or less green by grains of glauconite4 ,near the top of these strata is the ,freestone bed1 a thick bed of a close-grained sandstone1 weathering a yellowish grey1 which forms a good building stone4 ,most of the churches and old manor and farm houses in the southern half of the ,island are built of this stone4 ,then forming the top of the series are #bd feet of chert beds1--bands of a hard flinty rock called chert alternating with siliceous sandstone1 the sandstone containing large concretions of rag in the same line of bedding4 ,the chert beds are very hard1 and where the strata are horizontal1 as above the ,undercliff1 project like a cornice at the top of the cliff4 ,perhaps the finest piece of the ,upper ,greensand is ,gore ,cliff above ,niton lighthouse1 a great vertical wall with the cornice of dark chert strata overhanging at the top4 ,the thickness in the ,undercliff1 including the ,passage ,beds1 is from #acj to #afj ft4 ,the ,upper ,greensand may be studied at ,compton ,bay1 and at the ,culvers2 and along the shore west of ,ventnor the lower cliff by the sea consists largely of masses of fallen ,upper ,greensand1 many of which show the chert strata well4 ,in numerous walls in the south of the ,island may be seen stone from the various strata--sandstone1 blue limestone or rag1 and also the chert4 ,let us think what was happening when these beds were being formed4 ,the sandstone is much finer than that of the ,lower ,greensand2 and we have limestones now1--marine1 not freshwater as in the ,wealden4 ,marine limestones are formed by remains of sea creatures living at some depth in clear water4 ,and now we come to a new material1 chert4 ,it is not unlike flint1 and flint is one of the mineral forms of silica4 ,chert may be called an impure or sandy flint4 ,the bands of chert appear to have been formed by an infiltration of silica into a sandstone1 forming a dense flinty rock1 which1 however1 has a dull appearance from the admixture of sand1 instead of being a black semi-transparent substance like flint4 ,but where did the silica come from8 ,in the depths of the sea many sea creatures have skeletons and shells formed of silica or flint1 instead of carbonate of lime1 which is the material of ordinary shells and of corals4 ,many sponges1 instead of the horny skeleton we use in the washing sponge1 have a skeleton formed of a network of needles of silica1 often of beautiful forms4 ,some marine animalcules1 the ,radiolaria1 have skeletons of silica4 ,and minute plants1 the ,diatoms1 have coverings of silica1 which remain like a little transparent box1 when the tiny plant is dead4 ,now1 much of the chert is full of needles1 or spicules1 as they are called1 of sponges1 and this points to the source from which some at least of the silica was derived4 ,to form the chert much of the silica has been in some manner dissolved1 and deposited again in the interstices of sandstone strata4 ,we shall have more to say of this process when we come to speak of the origin of the flints in the chalk4 ,sponges usually live in clear water of some depth2 so all shows that the sea was becoming deeper when these strata were being formed4 ,along the shore of the ,undercliff1 ,upper ,greensand fossils may be found nicely weathered out4 ,very common is a small curved bivalve shell1--a kind of small oyster1--,exogyra conica1 as are also serpulae1 the tubes formed by certain marine worms4 ,very pretty pectens 7scallop shells7 are found in the sandstone4 ,many other shells1 ,terebratulae1 ,trigonia1 ,panopaea1 etc41 occur1 and several species of ammonite and nautilus4#g ,a frequent fossil is a kind of sponge1 ,siphonia4 ,it has the form of an oblong bulb1 supported by a long stem1 with a root-like base4 ,it is often silicified1 and when broken shows bundles of tubular channels4 ,in the chert may often be seen pieces of white or bluish chalcedony1 generally in thin plates filling cracks in the chert4 ,this is a very pure and hard form of silica1 beautifully clear and translucent4 ,pebbles which the waves have worn in the direction of the plate are very pretty when polished1 and go by the name of sand agates4 ,they may sometimes be picked up on the shore near the ,culvers4 ,footnote #f3 ,names proposed by the late ,a4 ,j4 ,jukes-,browne4 ,footnote #g3 ,of ,ammonites1 ,mortoniceras rostratum and ,hoplites splendens may be mentioned3 and of ,pectens1 ,neithea quinquecostata and quadricostata1 ,syncyclonema orbicularis1 and ,a,equipecten asper4 ,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,chalk ,as we have traced the world's history written in the rocks we have seen an old continent gradually submerged1 a deepening sea flowing over this part of the earth's surface4 ,now we shall find evidence of the deepening of the sea to something like an ocean depth4 ,we are coming to the great period of the ,chalk1 the time when the material was made which forms the undulating downs of the south-east of ,england1 and of which the line of white cliffs consists1 which with sundry breaks half encircles our shores1 from ,flamborough ,head in ,yorkshire1 by ,dover and the ,isle of ,wight1 to ,bere in ,devon4 ,across the ,channel white cliffs of chalk face those of ,england1 and the chalk stretches inland into the ,continent4 ,its extent was formerly greater still4 ,fragments of chalk and flint are preserved in ,mull under basalt1 an old lava flow1 and flints from the chalk are found in more recent deposits 7,boulder ,clay7 on the ,east of ,scotland1 pointing to a former great extension northward1 which has been nearly all removed by denudation4 ,in the ,isle of ,wight the chalk cliffs of ,freshwater and the ,culvers are the grandest features of the ,island2 while all the ,island is dominated by the long lines of chalk downs running through it from east to west4 ,now what is the chalk8 ,and how was it made8 ,the microscope must tell us4 ,it is found that this great mass of chalk is made up principally of tiny microscopic shells called ,foraminifera1 whole and in crushed fragments4 ,there are plenty of foraminifera in the seas to-day2 and we need not go far to find similar shells4 ,on the shore near ,shanklin you will often see streaks of what look like tiny bits of broken shell washed into depressions in the sand4 ,these1 however1 often consist almost entirely of complete microscopic shells1 some of them of great beauty4 ,the creature that lives in one of these shells is only like a drop of formless jelly1 and yet around itself it forms a complex shell of surprising beauty4 ,the shells are pierced with a number of holes1 hence their name 7fr4 ,lat4 foramen1 a hole1 and ferre1 to bear74 ,through these holes the animal puts out a number of feelers like threads of jelly1 and in these entangles particles of food1 and draws them into itself4 ,now1 do we anywhere to-day find these tiny shells in such masses as to build up rocks8 ,we do4 ,the sounding apparatus1 with which we measure the depths of the sea1 is so constructed as to bring up a specimen of the sea bottom4 ,this has been used in the ,atlantic1 and it is found that the really deep sea bottom1 too far out for rivers and currents to bring sand and mud from the land1 is covered with a white mud or ooze4 ,and the microscope shows this to be made up of an unnumerable multitude of the tiny shells of foraminifera4 ,as the little creatures die in the sea1 their shells accumulate on the bottom1 and in time will be pressed into a hard mass like chalk1 the whole being cemented together by carbonate of lime1 in the way we explained in describing the making of limestones4 ,so we find chalk still forming at the present day4 ,but what ages it must take to form strata of solid rock of such tiny shells6 ,and what a vast period of time it must have required to build up our chalk cliffs and downs1 composed in large part of tiny microscopic shells6 ,with the foraminifera the microscope shows in the chalk a multitude of crushed fragments1 largely the prisms which compose bivalve shells1 flakes of shells of ,terebratula and ,rhynchonella1 and minute fragments of corals and ,bryozoa4 ,scattered in the chalk we shall also find larger shells and other remains of the life of the ancient sea4 ,the base of the cliffs and fallen blocks on the shore are the best places to find fossils4 ,much of the base of the cliffs is inaccessible except by boat4 ,the lower strata may be examined in ,sandown and ,compton ,bays1 and the upper in ,whitecliff ,bay4 ,a watch should always be kept on the tide4 ,the quarries along the downs are not as a rule good for collecting1 as the chalk does not become so much sculptured by weathering4 ,the deep sea of the ,white ,chalk did not come suddenly4 ,in the oncoming of the period we find much marl--limy clay4 ,as the sea deepened1 little reached the bottom but the shells of foraminifera and other marine organisms4 ,how deep the sea became is uncertain3 there is reason to believe that it did not reach a depth such as that of the ,atlantic4 ,it is difficult to draw the line between the ,upper ,greensand and the ,chalk strata4 ,above the ,chert beds is a band a few feet thick known as the ,chloritic ,marl1 which shows a passage from sand to calcareous matter4 ,it is named from the abundance of grains of green colouring matter1 now recognised as glauconite2 so that it would be better called ,glauconitic ,marl4 ,it is also remarkable for the phosphatic nodules1 and for the numerous casts of ,ammonites1 ,turrilites1 and other fossils mostly phosphatized1 which it contains4 ,this band is one of the richest strata in the ,island for fossils4 ,it differs1 however1 in different localities both in thickness and composition4 ,it is best seen above the ,undercliff1 and in fallen masses along the shore from ,ventnor to ,niton4 ,it is finely exposed on the top of ,gore ,cliff1 where the flat ledges are covered with fossil ,ammonites1 ,turrilites1 ,pleurotomaria1 and other shells4 ,the ,ammonite 7,schloenbachia varians7 is especially common4 ,the sponge 7,stauronema carteri7 is characteristic of the ,glauconitic ,marl4 ,as the edge of the cliff is a vertical wall1 none should try this locality but those who can be trusted to take proper care on the top of a precipice4 ,when a high wind is blowing the position may be especially dangerous4 ,illustration3 ,,pl4 ,,iii 7,pecten7 ,neithea ,quinquecostata ,thetironia 7,ammonite7 ,rhynchonella ,minor ,mantelliceras ,mantelli ,parvirostris 7,sea ,urchins7 ,micraster ,cor-,anguinum ,echinocorys ,scutatus 7,internal cast in flint7 ,,lower ,,and ,,upper ,,greensand ,,and ,,chalk ,the ,chloritic ,marl is followed by the ,chalk ,marl1 of much greater thickness4 ,this consists of alternations of chalk with bands of ,marl1 and contains glauconite and also phosphatic nodules in the lower part4 ,upwards it merges into the ,grey ,chalk1 a more massive rock1 coloured grey from admixture of clayey matter4 ,these form the ,lower ,chalk1 the first of the three divisions into which the ,chalk is usually divided4 ,above this come the ,middle and ,upper1 which together form the ,white ,chalk4 ,they are much purer white than the lower division1 which is creamy or grey in colour4 ,the ,chalk ,marl and ,grey ,chalk are well seen at the ,culver ,cliff1 and run out in ledges on the shore4 ,the lower part of this division is the most fossiliferous1 and contains various species of ,ammonities1 ,turrilites1 ,nautilus1 and other ,cephalopoda4 7,of ,ammonites ,schloenbachia varians is characteristic4 ,also may be named ,s4 ,coupei1 ,mantelliceras mantelli1 ,metacanthoplites rotomagensis1 ,calycoceras naviculare1 the small ,ammonoid ,scaphites aequalis2 and of ,pectens1 ,a,equipecten beaveri and ,syncyclonema orbicularis may be mentioned74 ,white meandering lines of the sponge ,plocoscyphia labrosa are conspicuous in the lower beds4 ,the ,chalk ,marl is well shown at ,gore ,cliff1 sloping upwards from the flat ledges of the ,chloritic ,marl4 ,it may be studied well1 and fossils found1 in the cliff on the ,ventnor side of ,bonchurch ,cove1--which has all slipped down from a higher level4 ,the uppermost strata of the ,lower ,chalk are known as the ,belemnite ,marls4 ,they are dark marly bands1 in which a ,belemnite1 ,actinocamax plenus1 is found4 ,the hard bands known as ,melbourn ,rock and ,chalk ,rock1 which on the mainland mark the top of the ,lower and ,middle ,chalk respectively1 are neither of them well marked in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,in the ,middle ,chalk ,inoceramus labiatus1 a large bivalve shell1 occurs in great profusion2 and in the ,upper flinty ,chalk are sheets of another species1 ,i4 ,cuvieri4 ,it is hardly ever found perfect1 the shells being of a fibrous structure1 with the fibres at right angles to the surface1 and so very fragile4 ,there is a striking difference between the ,middle and ,upper ,chalk1 which all will observe4 ,it consists in the numerous bands of dark flints which run through the ,upper ,chalk parallel to the strata4 ,the ,lower ,chalk is entirely1 and the ,middle ,chalk nearly1 devoid of flint4 ,though the line at which the commencement of the ,upper ,chalk is taken is rather below the first flint band of the ,upper ,chalk1 and a few flints occur in the highest beds of the ,middle ,chalk2 yet1 speaking generally1 the great distinction between the ,middle and ,upper ,chalk1 the two divisions of the ,white ,chalk1 may be considered to be that of flintless chalk and chalk with flints4 ,early in our studies we noticed the great curves into which the upheaved strata have been thrown1 and that on the northern side of the anticline the strata are in places vertical4 ,this can be well observed in the ,culver ,cliffs and ,brading ,down1 where the strata of the ,upper ,chalk are marked by the lines of black flints4 ,in the large quarry on ,brading ,down the vertical lines of flint can be clearly seen2 and by walking at low tide at ,whitecliff ,bay round the corner of the cliff1 or by observing the cliff from a boat1 we may see a beautiful section of the flinty chalk1 the lines of black flints sloping at a high angle4 ,the flints in general form round or oval masses1 but of irregular shape with many projections1 and the masses lie in regular bands parallel to the stratification4 ,the tremendous earth movement which has bent the strata into a great curve has compressed the vertical portion into about half its original thickness1 and has made the chalk of our downs extremely hard4 ,it has also shattered the flints in the chalk into fragments4 ,the rounded masses retain their form1 but when pulled out of the chalk fall into sharp angular fragments1 and we find they are shattered through and through4 ,illustration3 ,photo by ,j4 ,milman ,brown1 ,shanklin4 ,,culver ,,cliffs--,,highly ,,inclined ,,chalk ,,strata ,now1 what are flints1 and how were they formed8 ,flints are a form of silica1 a purer form than chert1 as the chalk in which they are embedded was formed in the deep sea1 and so we have no admixture of sand4 ,flints1 as we find them in the chalk1 are generally black translucent nodules1 with a white coating1 the result of a chemical action which has affected the outside after they were formed4 ,flint is very hard1--harder than steel4 ,you cannot scratch it with a knife1 though you may leave a streak of steel on the surface of the flint4 ,this hardness is a property of other forms of silica1 as quartz and chalcedony4 ,the question how the flints were formed is a difficult one4 ,as to this much still remains obscure4 ,the sea contains mineral substances in solution4 ,calcium sulphate and chloride1 and a small amount of calcium carbonate 7carbonate of lime7 are in solution in the sea4 ,from these salts is derived the calcium deposited as calcium carbonate to form the shells of the ,foraminifera and the larger shells in the ,chalk4 ,there is also silica in small quantity in sea water4 ,from this the skeletons of radiolaria and diatoms and the spicules of sponges are formed4 ,now1 many flints contain fossil sponges1 and when broken show a section of the sponge clearly marked4 ,especially well can this be seen in flints which have lain some time in a gravel bed formed of flints worn out of the chalk by denudation4 ,hard as a flint seems1 it is penetrated by numerous fine pores4 ,the gravel beds are usually stained yellow by water containing iron1 and this has penetrated by the pores through the substance of the flints1 staining them brown and orange4 ,many of the stained flints show beautifully the sponge markings1--a wide central canal with fine thread-like canals leading into it from all sides4 ,the ,chalk ,sea evidently abounded in siliceous organisms1 and it cannot be doubted that it is from such organisms that the silica was derived1 which has formed the masses of flint4 ,silica occurs in two forms--in a crystalline form as quartz or rock crystal1 and as amorphous1 i4e41 formless or uncrystalline 7also called opaline7 silica4 ,the siliceous skeletons of marine organisms are formed of amorphous silica4 ,flint consists of innumerable fine crystalline grains1 closely packed together4 ,amorphous silica is less stable than crystalline1 and is capable of being dissolved in alkaline water1 i4e41 water containing carbonate of sodium or potassium in solution4 ,if the silica so dissolved be deposited again1 it is generally in the crystalline form4 ,it seems probable1 therefore1 that the amorphous silica of the skeletal parts of marine organisms has been dissolved by alkaline water percolating through the strata1 and re-deposited as flint4 ,as the silica was deposited1 chalk was removed4 ,the large irregular masses of flint lying in the ,chalk strata have clearly taken the place of chalk which has been removed4 ,water charged with silica soaking through the strata has deposited silica1 and at the same time dissolved out so much carbonate of lime4 ,bivalve shells1 originally carbonate of lime1 are often replaced1 and filled up by flint1 and casts of sea urchins in solid flint are common1 and often beautiful fossils4 ,this process of change took place after the foraminiferal ooze had been compacted into chalk strata2 and to some extent at any rate1 there has been deposition of silica after the chalk had become hard and solid2 for we find flat sheets1 called tabular flint1 lying along the strata1 or filling cracks cutting through the strata at right angles4 ,but in all probability the re-arrangement of the constituents of the strata took place in the main during the first consolidation1 as the strata rose above the sea-level1 and the sea-water drained out4 ,a suggestion has been made by ,r4 ,e4 ,liesegang1 of ,dresden1 to explain the occurrence of the flints in the bands with clear interspaces between1 which are such a marked feature of the ,upper ,chalk4 ,he has shown how a solution diffusing outward and encountering something with which it reacts and forms a precipitate1 moves on into this medium until a concentration sufficient to cause precipitation of the particular salt occurs4 ,a zone of precipitation is thus formed1 through which the first solution penetrates until the conditions are repeated1 and a second zone of precipitate is thrown down4 ,zone after zone may thus arise as diffusion goes on4 ,he suggests that the zones of flint may be similar phenomena1 water diffusing through the masses of chalk taking up silica till such concentration is reached that precipitation takes place1 the water then percolating further and repeating the process4#h ,the precipitation of silica and replacement of the chalk occurs irregularly along the zone of precipitation1 forming great irregular masses of flint1 which enclose the sponges and other marine organisms that lay in the chalk strata4 ,where a deposit of silica has begun1 it will probably have determined the precipitation of more silica1 in the manner constantly seen in chemical precipitation2 and it would seem that siliceous organisms as sponges have to some extent served as centres around which silica has been precipitated1 for flints are very commonly found1 having the evident external form of sponges4 ,it will be well to say something here of the history of the flints as the chalk which contains them is gradually denuded away4 ,rain water containing carbonic dioxide has a great effect in eating away all limestone rocks1 chalk included4 ,a vast extent of chalk1 which formerly covered much of ,england has thus disappeared4 ,the arch of chalk connecting our two ranges of downs has been cut through1 and from the top of the downs themselves a great thickness of chalk has been removed4 ,the chalk in the downs above ,ventnor and ,bonchurch is nearly horizontal4 ,it consists of ,lower and ,middle ,chalk2 and probably a small bit of the ,upper occurs4 ,but the top of ,st4 ,boniface ,down is covered with a great mass of angular flint gravel1 which must have come from the ,upper ,chalk4 ,the gravel is of considerable thickness1 perhaps #bj ft41 and on the spurs of the down falls over to a lower level like a table-cloth4 ,it is worked in many pits for road metal4 ,this flint gravel represents the insoluble residue which has been left when the ,chalk was dissolved away4 ,on the top of the cliffs between ,ventnor and ,bonchurch1 at a point called ,highport1 is a stratum of flint gravel carried down from the top of the down4 ,the shore here is strewn with large flints fallen from the gravel4 ,the substance of many of the flints has undergone a remarkable change4 ,instead of black or dull grey flint it has become translucent agate1 of splendid orange and purple colours1 or has been changed into clear translucent chalcedony4 ,in the agate the forms of fossil sponges can often be beautifully seen4 ,the colours are due to iron-charged water percolating into the flint in the gravel bed1 but further structural changes have altered the form of the silica2 chalcedony having a structure of close crystalline fibres1 revealed by polarized light3 when variously stained and coloured1 it is usually called agate4 ,many of these flints1 when cut through and polished1 are of great beauty4 ,the main force of the tides along these shores is from west to east2 and so there is a continual passage of pebbles on the shore in that direction4 ,the flints in ,sandown ,bay have in the main travelled round from here2 and towards the ,culvers small handy specimens of agates and chalcedonies rounded by the waves may be collected4 ,illustration3 ,photo by ,j4 ,milman ,brown1 ,shanklin4 ,,scratchell',s ,,bay--,,highly ,,inclined ,,chalk ,,strata ,the extensive downs in the centre of the ,island are largely overspread with angular flint gravel similarly formed to that of ,st4 ,boniface4 ,of other beds of gravel1 which have been washed down to a lower level by rivers or other agency we shall have more to say later4 ,the ,chalk strata in the ,isle of ,wight are of great thickness4 ,in the ,culver ,cliff there are some #djj feet of flintless ,chalk 7,lower and ,middle ,chalk71 and then some #a1jjj feet of chalk with flints4 ,there is some variation in the thickness of the strata in different parts of the ,island1 and the amount of the ,upper strata1 which has been removed by denudation1 varies considerably4 ,the average thickness of the white chalk in the ,island is about #a1cej feet4#i ,including the ,lower ,chalk1 the maximum thickness of the ,chalk strata is #a1fcj ft4 ,the divisions of the chalk we have so far considered depend on the character of the rock3 we must say a word about another way of dividing the strata4 ,it is found that in the chalk1 as in other strata1 fossils change with every few feet of deposit4 ,we may make a zoological division of the chalk by seeing how the fossils are distributed4 ,the ,chalk was first studied from this point of view by the great ,french geologist1 ,m4 ,barrois1 who divided it into zones1 according to the nature of the animal life1 the zones being called by the name of some fossil specially characteristic of a particular zone4 ,more recently ,dr4 ,a4 ,w4 ,rowe has made a very careful study of the zones of the ,white ,chalk1 and is now our chief authority on the subject4 ,the strata have been grouped into zones as follows3-- ,zones4 ,sub-,zones4 ,belemnitella mucronata4 ,actinocamax quadratus4 ,offaster pilula4 ,upper ,offaster pilula4 ,echinocorys depressus4 ,chalk4 ,marsupites ,marsupites4 testudinarius4 ,uintacrinus4 ,micraster cor-anguinum4 ,micraster cor-testudinarium4 ,holaster planus4 ,middle ,terebratulina lata4 ,chalk4 ,inoceramus labiatus4 ,holaster subglobosus4 ,actinocamax ,lower plenus 7at top74 ,chalk4 ,schloenbachia varians4 ,stauronema carteri 7at base74 ,the method of study according to zoological zones is of great interest4 ,the period of the ,white ,chalk was of long duration1 and the physical conditions remained very uniform4 ,so that by studying the succession of life during this period we may learn much about the gradual change of life on the earth1 and the evolution of living things4 ,we have seen that the whole mass of the chalk is made up mainly of the remains of living things1--mostly of the microscopic foraminifera4 ,we have seen that sponges were very plentiful in that ancient sea4 ,of other fossils we find brachiopods--different species of ,terebratula and ,rhynchonella--a large bivalve ,inoceramus sometimes very common2 the very beautiful bivalve1 ,spondylus spinosus1 belemnites1 serpulae2 and different species of sea-urchin are very common4 ,a pretty heart-shaped one1 ,micraster cor-anguinum1 marks a zone of the higher chalk1 which runs along the top of our northern downs4 ,other common sea urchins are various species of ,cidaris1 of a form like a turban 7,gk4 cidaris1 a ,persian head-dress72 ,cyphosoma1 another circular form2 the oval ,echinocorys scutatus1 which1 with varieties of the same and allied species1 abounds in the ,upper ,chalk1 and the more conical ,conulus conicus4 ,the topmost zone1 that of ,b4 ,macronata1 would yield a record of exuberant life1 were the chalk soft and horizontal4 ,there was a rich development of echinoderms 7sea urchins and star fishes71 but nothing is perfect1 owing to the hardness of the rock 7,dr4 ,rowe74 ,the general difference in the life of the ,chalk period is the great development of ,ammonites and other ,cephalopods in the ,lower ,chalk1 and of sea urchins and other echinoderms in the ,upper1 while the ,middle ,chalk is wanting in the one and the other4 ,shark's teeth tell of the larger inhabitants of the ocean that flowed above the chalky bottom4 ,many quarries have been opened on the flanks of the ,chalk ,downs1 of which a large number are now disused4 ,they occur just where they are needed for chalk to lay on the land1 the pure chalk on the north of the ,downs to break up the heavy ,tertiary clays1 which largely cover the north of the ,island2 the more clayey beds of the ,grey ,chalk on the south of the downs to stiffen the light loams of the ,greensand4#aj ,footnote #h3 ,see ,common ,stones1 by ,grenville ,a4 ,j4 ,cole1 ,f4,r4,s4 #aiba4 ,footnote #i3 #a1dgb ft4 at the western end of the ,island1 #a1bac ft4 at the eastern4--,dr4 ,rowe's measurements4 ,footnote #aj3 ,dr4 ,a4 ,w4 ,rowe4 ,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,tertiary ,,era3 ,,the ,,eocene ,ages must have passed while the ocean flowed over this part of the world1 and the chalk mud1 with its varied remains of living things1 gradually accumulated at the bottom4 ,at last a change came4 ,slowly the sea bed rose1 till the chalk1 now hardened by pressure1 was raised into land above the sea level4 ,as soon as this happened1 sea waves and rain and rivers began to cut it down4 ,there is evidence here of a wide gap in the succession of the strata4 ,higher chalk strata1 which probably once existed1 have been washed away1 while the underlying strata have been planed off to an even surface more or less oblique to the bedding-planes4 ,the highest zone of the chalk in the ,island 7that of ,belemnitella macronata7 varies greatly in thickness1 from #aej ft4 at the eastern end of the ,island to #dge at the western4 ,the latest investigations give reason to conclude that this is due to gentle synclines and anticlines1 which have been planed smooth by the erosion which preceded the deposition of the next strata1--the ,eocene4#aa ,at ,alum ,bay the eroded surface of the chalk may be seen with rolled flints lying upon it1 and rounded hollows or pot-holes1 the appearance being that of a foreshore worn in a horizontal ledge of rock1 much like the ,horse ,ledge at ,shanklin4 ,the land sank again1 but not to anything like the depth of the great ,chalk ,sea4 ,we now come to an era called the ,tertiary4 ,the whole geological history is divided into four great eras4 ,the first is the ,eozoic1 or the age of the ,archaean1--often called ,pre-,cambrian--rocks2 rocks largely volcanic1 or greatly altered since their formation1 showing only obscure traces of the life which no doubt existed4 ,then follow the ,primary era1 or1 as it is generally called1 the ,palaeozoic2 the ,secondary or ,mesozoic2 and the ,tertiary or ,kainozoic4 ,palaeozoic is used rather than ,primary1 as this word is ambiguous1 being also used for the crystalline rocks first formed by the solidification of the molten surface of the earth4 ,but ,secondary and ,tertiary are still in constant use4 ,these long ages1 or eras1 were of very unequal duration2 yet they mark such changes in the life of animal and plant upon the earth that they form natural divisions4 ,the ,palaeozoic was an immense period during which life abounded in the seas1--numberless species of mollusca1 crustaceans1 corals1 fish are found1--and there were great forests1 which have formed the coal measures1 on land1--forests of strange primeval vegetation1 but in which beautiful ferns1 large and small1 flourished in great numbers4 ,the ,secondary ,era may be called the age of reptiles4 ,to this era all the rocks we have so far studied belong4 ,now we come to the last era1 the ,tertiary1 the age of the mammals4 ,instead of reptiles on land1 in sea and air1 we find a complete change4 ,the earth is occupied by the mammalia2 the air belongs to the birds such as we see to-day4 ,the strange birds of the ,oolitic and ,cretaceous have passed away4 ,birds have taken their modern form4 ,in some parts of the world strata are found transitional between the ,secondary and ,tertiary4 ,the ,tertiary is divided into four divisions1--the ,eocene1 the ,oligocene 7once called ,upper ,eocene71 the ,miocene1 and the ,pliocene2 which words signify1--,pliocene the more recent period1 ,miocene the less recent1 ,eocene the dawn of the recent4 ,in the ,eocene we shall find marine deposits of a comparatively shallow sea1 and beds deposited at the mouth of great rivers1 where remains of sea creatures are mingled with those washed down from the land by the rivers4 ,these strata run through the ,isle of ,wight from east to west1 and we may study them at either end of the ,island1 in ,whitecliff and ,alum ,bays4 ,the strata are highly inclined1 so that we can walk across them in a short walk4 ,some beds contain many fossils1 but many of the shells are very brittle and crumbly2 and we can only secure good specimens by cutting out a piece of the clay or sand containing them1 and transferring them carefully to boxes1 to be carried home with equal care4 ,often much of the face of the cliff is covered with slip or rainwash1 and overgrown with vegetation4 ,sometimes a large slip exposes a good hunting ground4 ,now let us walk along the shore1 and try to read the story these ,tertiary beds tell us4 ,we will begin in ,whitecliff ,bay4 ,though easily accessible1 it remains still in its natural beauty4 ,the sea washes in on a fine stretch of smooth sand sheltered by the white chalk wall which forms the south arm of the bay4 ,north of the ,culver downs the cliffs are much lower1 and consist of sands and clays of varying colour1 following each other in vertical bands4 ,looking along the line of shore we notice a band of limestone1 at first nearly vertical like the preceding strata1 then curving at a sharp angle as it slopes to the shore1 and running out to sea in a reef known as ,bembridge ,ledge4 ,this is the ,bembridge limestone2 and the beginning of the reef marks the northern boundary of ,whitecliff ,bay1 the shore1 however1 continuing in nearly the same line to ,bembridge ,foreland1 and showing a continuous succession of ,eocene and ,oligocene strata4 ,the strata north of the limestone are nearly horizontal1 dipping slightly to the north4 ,in the ,bembridge limestone we see the end of the ,sandown anticline1 and the beginning of the succeeding syncline4 ,the strata now dip under the ,solent1 and rise into another anticline in the ,portsdown ,hills4 ,north and south of the great anticline of the ,weald of ,kent and ,sussex are two synclinal troughs known as the ,london and ,hampshire basins4 ,nearly the whole of our ,english ,eocene strata lies in these two basins1 having been denuded away from the anticlinal arches4 ,the ,oligocene only occur in the ,hampshire basin1 the higher strata only in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,,coast ,,section1 ,,whitecliff ,,bay4 ,,bm ,bembridge ,marls4 ,,bl ,bembridge ,limestone4 ,o ,osborne ,beds4 ,h ,headon ,beds4 ,,bs ,barton ,sand4 ,b ,barton ,clay4 ,br ,bracklesham ,beds4 ,bg ,bagshot ,beds4 ,l ,london ,clay4 ,r ,reading ,beds4 ,ch ,chalk4 ,p ,pebble ,beds4 ,s ,sandstone ,band4 ,above the ,chalk we come first to a thick red clay called ,plastic clay4 ,it is much slipped1 and the slip is overgrown4 ,the only fossils found in the ,island are fragments of plants2 larger plant remains on the mainland show a temperate climate4 ,this clay was formerly worked at ,newport for pottery4 ,the clay is probably a freshwater deposit formed in fairly deep water4 ,on the mainland we find on the border shallow water deposits called the ,woolwich and ,reading beds4 7,the clay is #aej to #afj ft4 thick at ,whitecliff ,bay1 less than #ij ft4 at the ,alum ,bay47 ,we come next to a considerable thickness of dark clay with sand1 at the surface turned brown by weathering4 ,this is the ,london clay1 so called because it underlies the area on which ,london is built4 ,at the base is a band of rounded flint pebbles1 which extends at the base of the clay from here to ,suffolk4 ,in it1 as well as in a hard sandstone #ah inches higher up1 are tubular shells of a marine worm1 ,ditrupa plana4 ,the sandstone runs out on the shore4 ,about #ce ft4 above the basement bed is a zone of ,panopaea intermedia and ,pholadomya margaritacea1 at #ej ft4 another band of ,ditrupa1 and at about #hj ft4 a band with a small ,cardita4 ,in the higher part of the clay are large septaria1--rounded blocks of a calcareous clay-ironstone1 with cracks running through them filled with spar4 ,pinna affinis is found in the septaria4 ,the thickness of the clay in ,whitecliff ,bay is #cbb feet4 ,it can be seen on the shore1 when the tide happens to have swept the sand away4 ,otherwise the lower beds are hardly visible1 there being no cliff here1 but a slope overgrown with vegetation4 ,in ,alum ,bay the ,london clay1 about #djj ft4 in thickness1 consists of clays1 chiefly dark blue1 with sands1 and lines of septaria4 ,in the lower part is a dark clay with ,pholadomya margaritacea1 still preserving the pearly nacre4 ,there are also ,panopaea intermedia1 and in septaria ,pinna affinis4 ,all these with their pearly lustre1 are beautiful fossils4 ,a little higher is a zone with ,ditrupa1 and further on a band of ,cardita4 ,other shells also are found in the clay1 especially in the lower part4 ,they are all marine1 and indicate a sub-tropical climate4 ,lines of pebbles show that we are near a beach4 ,in other parts of the south of ,england remains from the land are found1 borne down an ancient river in the way we found before in the ,wealden deposits4 ,but times have changed since the ,wealden days1 and the life of the ,tertiary times has a much more modern appearance4 ,from leaves and fruits borne down from the forest we can learn clearly the nature of the early ,eocene land and climate4 ,leaves are found at ,newhaven1 and numerous fossil fruits at ,sheppey4 ,the character of the vegetation most resembled that now to be seen in ,india1 ,south ,eastern ,asia1 and ,australia4 ,palms grew luxuriantly1 the most abundant fruit being that of one called ,nipadites1 from its resemblance to the ,nipa palm1 which grows on the banks of rivers in ,india and the ,philippines4 ,the forests also included plants allied to cypresses1 banksia1 maples1 poplars1 mimosa1 custard apples1 gourds1 and melons4 ,the rivers abounded in turtle--large numbers of remains of which are found in the ,london clay at the mouth of the ,thames--crocodiles and alligators4 ,with the exception of the south east of ,england1 all the ,british ,isles formed part of a continental mass of land covered with a tropical vegetation4 ,the mountain chains of ,england1 ,scotland1 and ,wales rose as now1 but higher4 ,long denudation has worn them down since4 ,in the south-east of ,england the coast line fluctuated2 and sea shells1 and the remains of the plant and animal life of the neighbourhood of a great tropical river alternate in the deposits4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d ,,section ,,through ,,headon ,,hill ,,and ,,high ,,down4 ,,showing ,,strata ,,seen ,,at ,,alum ,,bay4 ,g ,gravel ,cap4 ,bm ,bembridge ,limestone4 ,o ,osborne ,beds4 ,,uh ,upper ,headon4 ,,mh ,middle 4 ,,lh ,lower ,headon4 ,,bs ,barton ,sand4 ,b ,barton ,clay4 ,br ,bracklesham ,beds4 ,bg ,bagshot ,sands4 ,l ,london ,clay4 ,r ,reading ,beds4 ,ch ,chalk4 ,the ,london clay is succeeded by a great thickness of sands and clays which form the ,bagshot series4 ,these are divided in the ,london basin into ,lower1 ,middle1 and ,upper ,bagshot4 ,in the ,hampshire basin the strata are now classified as ,bagshot ,sands1 ,bracklesham ,beds1 ,barton ,beds1 the last comprising the ,barton ,clay and the ,barton ,sand1 formerly termed ,headon ,hill ,sands4 ,there is some uncertainty as to the manner in which these correspond to the beds of the ,bagshot district1 as the ,tertiary strata have been divided by denudation into two groups1 and differ in character in the two areas4 ,it is possible that the ,barton ,sand represents a later deposit than any in the ,london area4 ,almost the only fossil remains in the ,bagshot ,sands are those of plants1 but these are of great interest4 ,in ,whitecliff ,bay the beds consist for the most part of yellow sands1 above which is a band of flint pebbles1 which has been taken as the base of the ,bracklesham series1 for in the clay immediately above marine shells occur4 ,the ,bagshot ,sands1 in ,whitecliff ,bay1 are about #ach feet thick1 in ,alum ,bay1 #gf feet1 according to the latest classification4 ,in ,alum ,bay the strata consist of sands1 yellow1 grey1 white1 and crimson1 with clays1 and bands of pipe clay4 ,this is remarkably white and pure1 as though derived from white felspar1 like the ,china clay in ,cornwall4 ,the pipe clay contains leaves of trees1 sometimes beautifully preserved4 ,specimens are not very easy to obtain1 as only the edges of the leaves appear at the surface of the cliff4 ,they have been found chiefly in a pocket1 or thickening of the seam of pipe clay1 which for forty years yielded specimens abundantly1 afterwards thinning out1 when the leaves became rare4 ,the leaves lie flat1 as they drifted and settled down in a pool4 ,with them are the twigs of a conifer1 occasionally a fruit or flower1 or the wing case of a beetle4 ,the leaves show a tropical climate4 ,the flora is a local one1 differing considerably from those of ,eocene deposits elsewhere4 ,the plants are nearly all dicotyledons4 ,of palms there are only a few fragments1 while the ,london clay of ,sheppey is rich in palm fruits1 and many large palms are found in the ,bournemouth leaf beds1 corresponding in date to the ,bracklesham4 ,the differences may be largely due to conditions of locality and deposition4 ,the ,alum ,bay flora is characterised by a wealth of leguminous plants1 and large leaves of species of fig 7,ficus72 simple laurel and willow-like leaves are common1 of which it is difficult to determine the species1 and there is abundance of a species of ,aralia4 ,the character of the flora resembles most those of ,central ,america and the ,malay ,archipelago4 ,illustration3 ,,pl4 ,,iv ,nummulites ,laevigatus ,turritella ,limnaea ,imbricataria ,longiscata ,cardita ,planicosta 7,fusus7 ,planorbis ,leiostama ,pyrus ,euomphalus ,cyrena ,semistriata ,,eocene ,,and ,,oligocene ,the ,bracklesham ,beds in ,alum ,bay 7#egj ft4 thick7 consist of clays1 with lignite forming bands #f in4 to #b ft4 thick2 white1 yellow1 and crimson sands2 and in the upper part dark sandy clays1 with bands showing impressions of marine fossils4 ,alum ,bay takes its name from the alum formerly manufactured from the ,tertiary clays4 ,the coloured sands have made the bay famous4 ,the colours of the sands when freshly exposed1 and of the cliffs when wet with rain1 are very rich and beautiful1--deep purple1 crimson1 yellow1 white1 and grey4 ,some of the beds are finely striped in different shades by current bedding4 ,the contrast of these coloured cliffs with the ,white ,chalk1 weathered to a soft grey1 of the other half of the bay is very striking and beautiful4 ,about #de ft4 from the top is a conglomerate of flint pebbles1 some of large size1 cemented by iron oxide4 ,in ,whitecliff ,bay the ,bracklesham ,beds 7#ehe ft47 consist of clays1 sands1 and sandy clays1 mostly dark1 greenish and blue in colour1 containing marine fossils and lignite4 ,sir ,richard ,worsley1 in his ,history of the ,isle of ,wight1 tells that in ,february1 #aggc1 a bed of coal was laid bare in ,whitecliff ,bay1 causing great excitement in the neighbourhood4 ,people flocked to the shore for coal1 but it proved worthless as fuel4 ,it has1 however1 been worked to some extent in later years4 ,in some of the beds are many fossils4 ,numbers have lately been visible where a large founder has taken place4 ,there are large shells of ,cardita planicosta and ,turritella imbricataria4 ,they are1 however1 very fragile4 ,in a stratum just above these are numbers of a large ,nummulite 7,nummulites laevigatus74 ,these are round flat shells like coins1--hence the name 7,lat4 nummus1 a coin74 ,they are a large species of foraminifera4 ,we may split them with a penknife2 and then we see a pretty spiral of tiny chambers4 ,a smaller variety1 ,n4 variolarius1 occurs a little further on1 and a tiny kind1 ,n4 elegans1 in the ,barton clay4 ,one of the most striking features of the later ,eocene is the immense development of ,nummulite limestones--vast beds built up of the delicate chambered shells of ,nummulites1--which extend from the ,alps and ,carpathians into ,thibet1 and from ,morocco1 ,algeria1 and ,egypt1 through ,afghanistan and the ,himalaya to ,china4 ,the pyramids of ,egypt are built of this limestone4 ,the ,bracklesham beds are followed by the ,barton clay1 famous for the number of beautiful fossil shells found at ,barton on the ,hampshire coast4 ,at ,whitecliff ,bay the fossils are1 unfortunately1 very friable4 ,at ,alum ,bay the pathway to the shore is in a gully in the upper part of the ,barton clay4 ,the strata consist of clays1 sands1 and sandy clays4 ,the base of the beds is marked by the zone of ,nummulites elegans4 ,numerous very pretty shells of the smaller ,barton types may be found1 with fragments of larger ones2 or a whole one may be found4 ,owing to the cliff section cutting straight across the strata1 which are nearly vertical1 there is far less of the beds open to observation than at ,barton1 which probably accounts for the list of fossils being much smaller4 ,the shells are chiefly several species of ,pleurotoma1 ,rostellaria1 ,fusus1 ,voluta1 ,turritella1 ,natica1 a small bivalve ,corbula pisum1 a tubular shell of a sand-boring mollusc ,dentalium1 ,ostroea1 ,pecten1 ,cardium1 ,crassatella4 ,the fauna is like a blending of ,malayan and ,new ,zealand forms of marine life4 ,throughout the ,eocene from the ,london clay onward the shells are such as abound in the warm sea south east of ,asia4 ,similarly the plant remains take us into a tropic land1 where fan palms and feather palms overshadowed the country1 trees of the tropics mingling with trees we still find in more ,northern latitudes4 ,the general character of the flora as of the shells was ,oriental and ,malayan2 both being succeeded in later strata by a flora and fauna with greater analogy to that now existing in ,western ,north ,america4 ,in ,alum ,bay the ,barton clay is suddenly succeeded by the very fine yellow and white sands which run along the western base of ,headon ,hill1 the curve of the syncline bringing them round from a nearly vertical to an almost horizontal position4 ,these are now known as the ,barton ,sand4 ,they are #ij ft4 thick1 the whole of the ,barton beds being #cch ft4 in ,alum ,bay1 #cfh ft4 in ,whitecliff4 ,the sands were formerly extensively used for glass making4 ,they are almost unfossiliferous4 ,the passage from ,barton clay to the sands in ,whitecliff ,bay is more gradual4 ,the sands here show some fine colouring which reminds us of the more celebrated sands of ,alum ,bay4 ,footnote #aa3 ,see ,memoir of ,geological ,survey of ,i4 ,w4 by ,h4 ,j4 ,osborne ,white1 ,f4,g4,s4 #aiba1 p4 #ij4 ,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,oligocene ,we pass on to strata which used to be called ,upper ,eocene1 but are now generally classified as a period by themselves1 and called the ,oligocene4 ,they are also known as the ,fluvio-marine series4 ,large part was deposited in freshwater by rivers running into lagoons1 or in the brackish water of estuaries1 while at times the sea encroached1 and beds of marine origin were laid down4 ,the west of the ,island is much the best locality for the lower strata1 those which take their name from ,headon ,hill between ,alum and ,totland ,bays4 ,there are three divisions of the ,headon strata1 marine beds in the middle coming between upper and lower beds formed in fresh and brackish water4 ,light green clays are very characteristic of these beds1 and at the west of the ,island thick freshwater limestones1 which have died out before the strata re-appear in ,whitecliff ,bay4 ,the strongest masses of limestone in ,headon ,hill belong to the ,upper division4 ,the limestones are full of freshwater shells1 nearly all the long spiral ,limnaea and the flat spiral disc of ,planorbis1 perhaps the most abundant species being ,l4 longiscata and ,p4 euomphalus4 ,the limestones themselves are almost entirely the produce of a freshwater plant ,chara1 which precipitates lime on its tissues1 in the same manner as the sea weeds we call corallines4 ,on the shore round the base of ,headon ,hill lie numerous blocks of limestone1 the debris of strata fallen in confusion1 in which are beautiful specimens of ,limnaea and ,planorbis4 ,the shells1 however1 are very fragile4 ,the marine beds of the ,middle ,headon are best seen in ,colwell ,bay1 where a few yards north of ,how ,ledge they descend to the beach1 and a cliff is seen formed of a thick bed of oysters1 ,ostrea velata4 ,the oysters occupy a hollow eroded in a sandy clay full of ,cytherea incrassata1 from which the bed is known as the ,venus bed1 the shell formerly being called ,venus1 later ,cytherea1 at present ,meretrix4 ,the marine beds contain many drifted freshwater shells as ,limnaea and ,cyrena4 ,the ,how ,ledge limestone forms the top of the ,lower ,headon4 ,it is full of well-preserved ,limnaea and ,planorbis4 ,the ,upper and ,lower ,headon are mainly fresh or brackish water deposits4 ,the purely freshwater beds contain ,limnaea1 ,planorbis1 ,paludina1 ,unio1 and land-shells4 ,in the brackish are found ,potamomya1 ,cyrena1 ,cerithium 7,potamides71 ,melania and ,melanopsis4 ,paludina lenta is very abundant throughout the ,oligocene4 ,a large number of the marine shells of the ,headon beds are species also found in the ,barton clay4 ,cytherea1 ,voluta1 ,ancillaria1 ,pleurotoma1 ,natica are purely marine genera4 ,in ,white ,cliff ,bay the beds are mostly estuarine4 ,most of the fossils are found in two bands1 one about #cj ft4 above the base of the series1 the other a stiff blue clay1 about #ij feet higher1 which seems to correspond with the ,venus ,bed of ,colwell ,bay4 ,many of the fossils are of ,barton types4 ,the ,headon beds are about #aej feet thick at ,headon ,hill1 #bab ft4 in ,whitecliff ,bay2 and are followed by beds varying from about #hj to #aaj ft4 in thickness1 known as the ,osborne and ,st4 ,helens series4 ,they consist mainly of marls variously coloured1 with sandstone and limestone4 ,in ,headon ,hill is a thick concretionary limestone1 which almost disappears northward4 ,the ,oligocene strata often vary considerably within short distances4 ,the ,osborne beds are exposed along the low shore between ,cowes and ,ryde1 and from ,sea ,view to ,st4 ,helens4 ,in ,whitecliff ,bay they are not well seen1 occurring in overgrown slopes4 ,they consist mostly of red and green clays4 ,a band of cream-yellow limestone a foot thick is the most conspicuous feature4 ,the fossils resemble those from the ,headon beds1 but are much less plentiful4 ,the marls seem to have been mostly deposited in lagoons of brackish water1 which at the present day are favourite places for turtles and alligators1 and of these many remains are found in the ,osborne beds4 ,the beds are specially noted for the shoals of small fish1 ,diplomystus vectensis 7,clupea71 first observed by ,mr4 ,g4 ,w4 ,colenutt1 ,f4,g4,s41 and prawns found in them1 and also remains of plants4 ,the beds that appear in the neighbourhood of ,sea ,view and ,st4 ,helens are divided into ,nettlestone ,grits and ,st4 ,helen's ,sands1 the former containing a freestone #h feet thick4 ,above these beds lies the ,bembridge limestone1 which is so conspicuous in ,whitecliff ,bay1 and forms ,bembridge ,ledge4 ,on the north shore of the ,island the strata rise slightly on the northern side of the syncline4 ,there are also minor undulations in an east and west direction4 ,the result is to bring up the ,bembridge limestone at various points along the north shore1 where it forms conspicuous ledges--,hamstead ,ledge at the mouth of the ,newtown river1 ledges in ,thorness ,bay1 and ,gurnard ,ledge4 ,in ,whitecliff ,bay the limestone1 about #be feet thick1 forms the conspicuous reef called ,bembridge ,ledge4 ,the ,bembridge limestone consists of two or more bands of limestone with intercalated clays4 ,it is usually whiter than the ,headon limestones1 and the fossils occur as casts1 the shells being sometimes replaced by calc-spar4 ,the limestone has been much used as a building stone for centuries1 not only in the ,island1 but for buildings on the mainland4 ,the most famous quarries were those near ,binstead1 from which ,quarr1 the site of the great ,abbey1 now almost entirely disappeared1 derives its name4 ,from these quarries was obtained much of the stone for ,winchester ,cathedral and many other ancient buildings4 ,in the old walls and buildings of ,southampton the stone may be recognised at once by the casts of the ,limnaeae it contains4 ,the quarries at ,quarr were noted in more ways than one4 ,in later times the remains of early mammalia1--,palaeotherium1 ,anoplotherium1 and others--have been found4 ,the quarries are now abandoned and overgrown4 ,the limestone may be seen inland at ,brading1 where it forms the ridge on which the ,church stands4 ,the limestone is a freshwater formation1 and the fossils are mostly freshwater shells1 of the same type as the ,headon1 ,limnaea and ,planorbis the most common4 ,there are also land shells1 especially several species of ,helix1 the genus which includes the common snail1--,h4 globosa1 very large1--and great species of ,bulimus 7,amphidromus7 and ,achatina 7,b4 ,ellipticus1 ,a4 costellata74 ,these interesting shells were chiefly obtained in the limestone at ,sconce near ,yarmouth1 a locality now inaccessible1 being occupied by fortifications4 ,the land shells have an affinity to species now found in ,southern ,north ,america4 ,the limestone also abounds in the so-called seeds of ,chara4 ,the reproductive organs1--the seeds1--of this curious water-plant1 allied to the lower ,algae1 are1 like the rest of the plant1 encased in carbonate of lime1 and are very durable4 ,large numbers are found in the ,oligocene strata4 ,under the microscope they are seen to be beautifully sculptured in various designs1 with a delicate spiral running round them4 ,above the limestone lie the ,bembridge marls1 varying in thickness in different localities from #gj to #abj feet4 ,north of ,whitecliff ,bay they stretch on to the ,foreland4 ,they are in the main a freshwater formation1 but a few feet above the limestone is a marine band with oysters1 ,ostrea ,vectensis4 ,it runs out along the shore1 where the oysters may be seen covering the surface4 ,the ,lower ,marls consist chiefly of variously-coloured clays with many shells1 chiefly ,cyrena pulchra1 semistriata1 and obovata1 ,cerithium mutabile1 and ,melania muricata 7acuta72 and red and green marls1 in which are few shells1 but fragments of turtle occur4 ,a little above the oyster bed is a band of hard-bluish septarian limestone4 ,sixty years ago ,edward ,forbes remarked on the resemblance of this band to the harder insect-bearing limestones of the ,purbeck beds4 ,in a limestone exactly resembling this1 and similarly situated in the lower part of the marls in ,gurnard and ,thorness ,bays1 numerous insects were afterwards found1--beetles1 flies1 locusts1 and dragonflies1 and spiders4 ,leaves of plants1 including palms1 fig1 and cinnamon1 have also been found in this bed1 showing that the climate was still sub-tropical4 ,the upper ,marls consist chiefly of grey clays with abundance of ,melania turritissima 7,potamaclis74 ,the chief shells in the marls are ,cyrena1 ,melania1 ,melanopsis and ,paludina 7,viviparus74 ,they are often beautifully preserved2 the species of ,cyrena often retain their colour-markings4 ,bembridge ,foreland is formed by a thick bed of flint gravel resting on the marls1 which are seen again in ,priory ,bay1 where in winter they flow over the sea-wall in a semi-liquid condition4 ,they lie above the limestone at ,gurnard1 ,thorness1 and ,hamstead4 ,west of ,hamstead ,ledge the whole of the beds crop out on the shore1 where beautifully preserved fossils may be collected4 ,large pieces of drift wood occur1 also seeds and fruit4 ,many fragments of turtle plates may be found4 ,large crystals of selenite 7sulphate of lime7 occur in the ,marls4 ,last of the ,oligocene in the ,isle of ,wight are the ,hamstead beds4 ,these strata are peculiar to the ,isle of ,wight4 ,the ,bembridge beds also are not found on the mainland1 except a small outlier at ,creechbarrow ,hill in ,dorset4 ,the ,hamstead beds consist of some #bej feet of marls1 in which many interesting fossils have been found4 ,they cover a large area of the northern part of the ,island1 largely overlaid by gravels1 and are only seen on the coast at ,hamstead1 where they form the greater part of the cliff1 which reaches a height of #baj ft41 the top being capped by gravel4 ,in winter the clays become semi-liquid1 in summer the surface may be largely slip and rainwash1 baked hard by the sun4 ,the lower part of the strata may be best seen on the shore4 ,the strata consist of #bbe ft4 of freshwater1 estuarine1 and lagoon beds1 with ,unio1 ,cyrena1 ,cyclas1 ,paludina1 ,hydrobia1 ,melania1 ,planorbis1 ,cerithium 7rare71 and remains of turtles1 crocodiles1 and mammals1 leaves and seeds of plants2 and above these beds #ca feet of marine beds with ,corbula1 ,cytherea1 ,ostrea callifera1 ,cuma1 ,voluta1 ,natica1 ,cerithium1 and ,melania4 ,except for the convenience of dividing so large a mass of strata1 it would not be necessary to divide these from the ,bembridge beds1 as no break in the character of the life of the period occurs at the junction4 ,the basement bed of the ,hamstead strata is known as the ,black ,band1 #b feet of clay1 coloured black with vegetable matter1 with ,paludina lenta very numerous1 ,melanopsis carinata1 ,limnaea1 ,planorbis1 a small ,cyclas 7,c4 ,bristovii71 seed vessels1 and lumps of lignite4 ,it rests on dark green marls with ,paludina lenta and ,melanopsis1 and full of roots4 ,this evidently marks an old land surface4 ,about #fe feet higher is the ,white ,band1--a white and green clay full of shells1 mostly broken4 ,there are bands of tabular ironstone containing ,paludina lenta4 ,clay ironstone was formerly collected on the shore between ,yarmouth and ,hamstead and sent to ,swansea to be smelted4 ,the strata consist largely of mottled green and red clays1 probably deposited in brackish lagoons4 ,these yield few fossils except remains of turtle and crocodile and drifted plants4 ,the blue clays are much more fossiliferous4 ,among other plants are leaves of palm and water-lily4 ,the strata gradually become more marine upwards4 ,the marine beds were called by ,forbes the ,corbula beds1 from two small shells1 ,c4 pisum and ,c4 vectensis1 of which some of the clays are full4 ,remains of early mammalia are found in the ,hamstead beds1 the most frequent being a hog-like animal1 of supposed aquatic habits1 ,hyopotamus1 of which there are more than one species4 ,the fauna and flora of the ,oligocene strata show that the climate was still sub-tropical1 though somewhat cooling down from the ,eocene4 ,palms grew in what is now the ,isle of ,wight4 ,alligators and crocodiles swam in the rivers4 ,turtle were abundant in river and lagoon4 ,specially interesting in the ,eocene and ,oligocene are the mammalian remains4 ,they show us mammals in an early stage before they branched off into the various families as we know them to-day4 ,the ,palaeotherium was an animal like the tapir1 now an inhabitant of the warmer regions of ,asia and ,america4 ,recent discoveries in ,eocene strata in ,egypt show stages of development between a tapir-like animal and the elephant with long trunk and tusks4 ,there were in those days hog-like animals intermediate between the hogs and the hippopotami4 ,there were ancestors of the horse with three toes on each foot4 ,there were hornless ancestors of the deer and antelopes4 ,many of the early mammals showed characters now found in the marsupials1 the order to which the ,kangaroo and ,opossum belong1 members of which are found in rocks of the ,secondary ,era1 and are the only representatives of the mammalia in that age4 ,some of the early ,eocene mammalia are either marsupials1 or closely related to them4 ,in the ,oligocene we find the mammalian life becoming more varied1 and branching out into the various groups we know to-day2 while the succeeding ,miocene ,period witnesses the culmination of the mammalia--mammals of every family abounding all over the earth's surface1 in a profusion and variety not seen before--or since1 outside the tropics4 ,chapter ,x ,,before ,,and ,,after4--,,the ,,ice ,,age4 ,we have read the story written in the rocks of the ,isle of ,wight4 ,what wonderful changes we have seen in the course of the long history6 ,first we were taken back to the ancient ,wealden river1 and saw in imagination the great continent through which it flowed1 and the strange creatures that lived in the old land4 ,we saw the delta sink beneath the sea1 and a great thickness of shallow water deposits laid down1 enclosing remains of ammonites and other beautiful forms of life4 ,then long ages passed away1 while in the waters of a deeper sea the great thickness of the chalk was built up1 mainly by the accumulation of microscopic shells4 ,in time the sea bed rose1 and new land appeared1 and another river bore down fruits to be buried with sea shells and remains of turtles and crocodiles in the mud deposited near its mouth to form the ,london clay4 ,we followed the alternations of sea and land1 and the changing life of ,eocene and ,oligocene times4 ,we have heard of the early mammalia found in the quarries of ,quarr1 and have learnt from the leaf beds of ,alum ,bay that at that time the climate of this part of the world was tropical4 ,indeed1 ,i think everything goes to prove that through the whole of the times we have been studying1--except perhaps the earliest ,eocene1 that of the ,reading beds1--the climate was considerably warmer than it is at the present day4 ,after all these changes do you not want to know what happened next8 ,well1 at this point we come to a gap in the records of the rocks1 not only in the ,isle of ,wight1 but also in the ,british ,isles4 ,the ,british ,isles1 or even ,england and ,wales alone1 are almost1 if not quite unique in the world in that1 in their small extent1 they contain specimens of nearly every formation from the most ancient times to the present day4 ,in other parts of the world we may find regions many times this area1 where we can only study the rocks of some one period4 ,but just at this point in the story comes a period1--a very important one1 too1--the ,miocene--of which we have no remains in our ,islands4 ,we must hear a little of what happened before we come back to the ,isle of ,wight again in comparatively recent times4 ,but1 first1 perhaps1 ,i had better tell1--just in outline1--something of the earlier history of the world1 before any of our ,isle of ,wight rocks were made4 ,for1 if ,i do not1 quite a wrong idea may be formed of the world's history4 ,the time of the ,wealden river has seemed to us very ancient4 ,we cannot say how many hundreds of thousands1 or rather millions of years have passed since that ancient ,wealden age4 ,and you may have thought that we had got back then very near the world's birthday1 and were looking at some of the oldest rocks on the globe4 ,but no4 ,we are not near the beginning yet4 ,compared with the vast ages that went before1 our ,wealden period is almost modern4 ,we cannot tell with any certainty the comparative time2 but we may compare the thickness of strata formed to give us some sort of idea4 ,now to the first strata in which fossil remains of living things are found we have in all a thickness of strata some #ab times that of all the rocks we have been studying from ,wealden to ,oligocene1 together with the later rocks1 ,miocene and ,pliocene1 not found in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,and before that there is1 perhaps1 an equal thickness of sedimentary deposits2 though the fossils they1 no doubt1 once contained have been destroyed by changes the rocks have undergone4 ,now let me try to give you some idea of the world's history up to the point where we began in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,if we could see back through the ages to the furthest past of geological history1 we should see our world1--before any of the stratified rocks were laid down in the seas1--before the seas themselves were made1--a hot globe1 molten at least at the surface4 ,how do we know this8 ,because under the rocks of all the world's surface we find there is granite or some similar rock1--a rock which shows by its composition that it has crystallised from a molten condition4 ,moreover we have seen that the interior of the earth is intensely hot4 ,and yet all along the earth must be radiating off heat into the cold depths of space1 and cooling like any other hot body surrounded by space cooler than itself4 ,and this has gone on for untold ages4 ,far enough back we must come to a time when the earth was red hot1--white hot4 ,in imagination we see it cooling1--the molten mass solidifies into ,igneous rock1--the clouds of steam in which the globe is wrapped condense in oceans upon the surface4 ,the bands of crystalline rock that rise above the primeval seas are gradually worn down by rain and rivers and waves1 and the first sedimentary deposits laid down in the waters4 ,and in the waters and on the land life appeared for the first time1--we know not how4 ,a vast thickness of stratified rocks was formed1 which are called ,archaean 7ancient74 ,they represent a time1 perhaps1 as great as all that has followed4 ,these rocks have undergone great changes since their formation4 ,they have been pressed under masses of overlying strata1 and have come into the neighbourhood of the heated interior of the earth2 they have been burnt and baked and compressed and folded1 and acted on by heated water and steam1 and their whole structure altered by heat and chemical action4 ,limestones1 e4g41 have become marble1 with a crystalline structure which has obliterated any fossils they may have once contained4 ,yet it is probable that1 like nearly all later limestones1 they are of organic origin4 ,these ,archaean rocks cover a large extent of country in ,canada4 ,we have some of them in our ,islands1 in the ,hebrides1 and north-west of ,scotland and in ,anglesey1 and rising from beneath later rocks in the ,malvern ,hills and ,charnwood ,forest4#ab ,the ,archaean rocks are succeeded by the most ancient fossiliferous rocks1 the great series called the ,cambrian1 because found1 and first studied1 in ,wales4 ,they consist of very hard rocks1 and contain large quantities of slate4 ,they are followed by another series called the ,ordovician2 and that by another the ,silurian4 ,these three great systems of rocks measure in all some #cj1jjj ft4 of strata4 ,they form the hills of ,wales and the ,english ,lake ,district4 ,they contain large masses of volcanic rocks4 ,we can see where were the necks of old volcanoes1 and the sheets of lava which flowed from them4 ,the volcanoes are worn down to their bases now2 and the hills of ,wales and the ,lakes represent the remains of ancient mountain chains1 which rose high like the ,alps in days of old1 long before ,alps or ,himalayas began to be made4 ,these ancient rocks contain abundant remains of living things1 chiefly mollusca1 crustaceans1 corals1 and other marine organisms1 showing that the waters of those ages abounded with life4 ,we must pass on4 ,next comes a period called the ,devonian1 or ,old ,red ,sandstone1 when the ,old ,red rocks of ,devon and ,scotland were laid down4 ,these contain remains of many varieties of very remarkable fish4 ,a long period of coral seas succeeded1 when coral reefs flourished over what was to be ,england2 and their remains formed the ,carboniferous ,limestone of ,derbyshire and the ,mendip ,hills4 ,a period followed of immense duration1 when over pretty well the whole earth there seem to have been comparatively low lands covered with a luxuriant and very strange vegetation4 ,the remains of these ancient forests have formed the coal measures1 which tell of the most widespread and longest enduring growth of vegetation the world has seen4 ,strange as some of the plants were--gigantic horsetails and club-mosses growing into trees--many were exquisitely beautiful4 ,there were no flowering plants1 but the ferns1 many of them tree ferns1 were of as delicate beauty as those of the present day4 ,many of the ferns bore seeds1 and were not reproduced by spores1 such as we see on the fronds of our present ferns4 ,that is a wonderful story of plant history1 which has only been read in recent years4 ,after the long ,carboniferous period came to an end followed periods in which great formations of red sandstone were made1--the ,permian1 and the ,new ,red ,sandstone or ,trias4 ,during much of this time the condition of the country seems to have resembled that of the ,steppes of ,central ,asia1 or even the great desert of ,sahara--great dry sandy deserts--hills of bare rock with screes of broken fragments heaped up at their base1--salt inland lakes1 depositing1 as the effect of intense evaporation1 the beds of rock salt we find in ,cheshire or elsewhere1 in the same manner as is taking place to-day in the ,caspian ,sea1 in the salt lakes of the northern edge of the ,sahara1 and in the ,great ,salt ,lake of ,utah4 ,at the close of the period the land here sank beneath the sea--again a sea of coral islands like the ,south ,pacific of to-day4 ,there were many oscillations of level1 or changes of currents2 and bands of clay1 when mud from the land was laid down1 alternate with beds of limestone formed in the clearer coral seas4 ,these strata form a period known as the ,jurassic1 from the large development of the rocks in the ,jura mountains4 ,in ,england the period includes the ,liassic and ,oolitic epochs4 ,the ,liassic strata stretch across ,england from ,lyme ,regis in ,dorset to ,whitby in ,yorkshire4 ,most of the strata we are describing run across ,england from south-west to north-east4 ,after they were laid down a movement of elevation1 connected with the movement which raised the ,alps in ,europe1 took place along the lines of the ,welsh and ,scotch mountains and the chain of ,scandinavia1 which raised the various strata1 and left them dipping to the south-east4 ,worn down by denudation the edges are now exposed in lines running south-west to north-east1 while the strata dip south-east under the edges of the more recent strata4 ,the ,lias is noted for its ammonites1 and especially for its great marine reptiles1 ,ichthyosaurus and ,plesiosaurus4 ,the ,oolitic ,epoch follows--a long period during which the fine limestone1 the ,bath freestone1 was made2 the limestones of the ,cotswolds1 beds of clay known as the ,oxford and ,kimmeridge clays2 and again coral reefs left the rock known as coral rag4 ,in the later part of the period were formed the ,portland and ,purbeck beds1 marine and freshwater limestones1 which contain also an old land surface1 which has left silicified trunks of trees and stems of cycads4 ,and now following on these came our ,wealden strata1 the beginning of the ,cretaceous period4 ,you see what ages and ages had gone before1 and that when ,wealden times came1 far back as they are1 the world's history was comparatively approaching modern times4 ,we must remember that all these formations1 of which we have given a rapid sketch1 are of great thickness1--thousands of feet of rock1--and represent vast ages of time4 ,see what we have got to from looking at the shells in the sea cliff6 ,we have come to learn something of the world's old history4 ,we have been carried back through ages that pass our imagination to the world's beginning1 to the time of the molten globe1 before ever it was cool enough to allow life--we know not how--to begin upon its surface4 ,and ,astronomy will take us back into an even more distant past1 and show us a nebulous mist of vast extent stretching out into space like the nebulae observed in the heavens to-day1 before sun and planets and moons were yet formed4 ,so we are carried into the infinite of time and space1 and questions arise beyond the power of human mind to solve4 ,now we have1 ,i hope1 a better idea of the position the strata we have been specially studying occupy in the geological history1 and shall understand the relation the strata we may find elsewhere bear to those in the ,isle of ,wight and the neighbouring south of ,england4 ,after this sketch of what went before our ,island story1 we must see what followed at the end of the ,oligocene period4 ,we said that there are no strata in the ,british ,isles representing the next period1 the ,miocene4 ,but it was a period of great importance in the world's history4 ,great stratified deposits were laid down in ,france and ,switzerland and elsewhere1 and it was a great age of mountain building4 ,the ,alps and the ,himalaya1 largely composed of ,cretaceous and ,eocene rocks1 were upheaved into great mountain ranges4 ,it is probable that during much of the period the ,british ,isles were dry land1 and that great denudation of the land took place4 ,but in the first part of the period at all events this part of the world must have been under water1 and strata have been laid down1 which have since been denuded away4 ,for our soft ,oligocene strata1 if exposed to rain and river action during the long ,miocene period and the time which followed1 would surely have been entirely swept away4 ,the ,miocene was succeeded by the ,pliocene1 when the strata called the ,crag1 which cover the surface of ,norfolk and ,suffolk1 were formed4 ,they are marine deposits with sea shells1 of which a considerable proportion of species still survive4 ,we have seen that through the ages we have been studying the climate was mostly warmer than at the present day4 ,the climate of the ,eocene was tropical4 ,the ,miocene was sub-tropical and becoming cooler4 ,palms become rarer in the ,upper strata4 ,evergreens1 which form three-fourths of the flora in the ,lower ,miocene1 divide the flora with deciduous trees in the ,upper4 ,and through the ,pliocene the climate1 though still warmer than now1 was steadily becoming cooler2 till in the beginning of the next period1 the ,pleistocene1 it had become considerably colder than that of the present day4 ,and then followed a time which is known as the great ,ice ,age1 or the ,glacial ,period1--a time which has left its traces all over this country1 and1 indeed all over ,northern ,europe and ,america1 and even into southern lands4 ,the cold increased1 heavy snowfalls piled up snow on the mountains of ,wales1 the ,lake ,district1 and ,scotland2 and the snow remained1 and did not melt1 and more fell and pressed the lower snow into ice1 which flowed down the valleys in glaciers1 as in ,switzerland to-day4 ,gradually all the vegetation of temperate lands disappeared1 till only the dwarf ,arctic birch and ,arctic willows were to be seen4 ,the sea shells of temperate climates were replaced by northern species4 ,animals of warm and temperate climates wandered south1 and the ,arctic fox1 and the ,norwegian lemming1 and the musk ox which now lives in the far north of ,america took their place2 and the mammoth1 an extinct elephant fitted by a thick coat of hair and wool for living in cold countries1 and a woolly-haired rhinoceros1 and other animals of arctic regions occupied the land4 ,when the cold was greatest1 the glaciers met and formed an ice-sheet2 and ,scotland1 northern ,england and the ,midlands1 ,wales1 and ,ireland were buried in one vast sheet of ice as ,greenland is to-day4 ,how do we know this8 ,to tell how the story has been read would be to tell one of the most interesting stories of geology4 ,here we can only give the briefest sketch of this wonderful chapter of the world's history4 ,but we must know a little of how the story has been made out4 ,we have already seen that the changes in plant and animal life point to a change from a hot climate1 through a temperate1 at last to arctic cold4 ,again1 over the greater part of ,northern ,england the rocks of the various geological periods are buried under sheets of tough clay1 called boulder clay1 for it is studded with boulders large and small1 like raisins in a plum pudding4 ,no flowing water forms such a deposit1 but it is found to be just like the mass of clay with stones under the great glaciers and ice sheets of arctic regions2 and just such a boulder clay may be seen extending from the lower end of glaciers in ,spitzbergen1 when the glacier has temporarily retreated in a succession of warm summers4 ,the stones in our boulder clay are polished and scratched in a way glaciers are known to polish and scratch the stones they carry along1 and rub against the rocks and other stones4 ,the rock over which the glacier moves is similarly scratched and polished1 and just such scratching and polishing is found on the rocks in ,wales and the ,lake ,district4 ,again1 we find rocks carried over hill and dale and right across valleys1 it may be half across ,england4 ,we can trace for great distances the lines of fragments of some peculiar rock1 as the granite of ,shap in ,westmorland2 and even rocks from ,norway have been carried across the ,north ,sea1 and left in ,east ,anglia4 ,this will just give an idea how we know of this strange chapter in the history of our land4 ,for1 by this time it was our land--,england--much as we know it to-day2 though at times the whole stood higher above sea level1 so that the beds of the ,channel and the ,north ,sea were dry land4 ,but1 apart from variation of level1 the geography was in the main as now4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i ,,shingle ,,at ,,foreland ,bm ,bembridge ,marls4 ,s ,shingle4 b ,brick ,earth4 ,cf ,old ,cliff in ,marls4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e ,,diagram ,,of ,,strata ,,between ,,southern ,,downs ,,and ,,st4 ,,george',s ,,down4 ,dotted ,lines ,former extension of ,strata4 ,broken ,line ,former ,bed of ,valley sloping to ,st4 ,george's ,down4 ,the ice sheet did not come further south than the ,thames valley4 ,what was the country like south of this8 ,well1 you must think of the land just outside the ice sheet in ,greenland1 or other arctic country4 ,no doubt the winters must have been very severe1--hard frosts and heavy snows1--the ground frozen deep4 ,some arctic animals would manage to live as they do now just outside the ice sheet in ,greenland4 ,now1 have we any deposits formed at that time in the ,isle of ,wight8 ,i think we have4 ,a large part of the surface of the ,island is covered by sheets of flint gravel4 ,the gravels differ in age and mode of formation4 ,we have already considered the angular gravels of the ,chalk downs1 composed of flints which have accumulated as the chalk which once contained them was dissolved away4 ,but there are other gravel beds1 which consist of flints which1 after they were set free by the dissolution of the chalk1 have been carried down to a lower level by rivers or other agency1 and more or less rounded in the process4 ,many of these beds occur at a high level2 and1 as they usually cap flat-topped hills1 they are known as ,plateau ,gravels4 ,perhaps the most remarkable is the immense sheet of gravel which covers the flat top of ,st4 ,george's ,down between ,arreton and ,newport4 ,gravel pits show upwards of #cj feet of gravel1 consisting of flints with some chert and ironstone1 and the greatest thickness is probably considerably more than this4 ,the southern edge of the sheet is cut off straight like a wall4 ,to the north it runs out on ridges between combes which have cut into it4 ,in places in the mass of flints occur beds of sand1 which have all the appearance of having been laid down by currents of water4 ,the base of the gravel where it is seen on the steep southern slope of the down has been cemented by water containing iron into a solid conglomerate rock4 ,the flints forming this gravel have not simply sunk down from chalk strata dissolved away2 for they lie on the upturned edges of strata from ,lower ,greensand to ,upper ,chalk1 which have been planed off1 and worn into a surface sloping gently to the north2 and over this surface the gravel has somehow flowed4 ,the sharp wall in which it ends at the upper part of the slope shows that it once extended to the south over ground since worn away4 ,clearly1 the gravel was formed before denudation had cut out the great gap between the central and southern downs of the ,island4 ,the down where the gravel lies is #cfc ft4 above sea level1 #cac ft4 above the bottom of the valley below4 ,so that1 though the gravel sheet is much newer than the strata we have been studying1 it must nevertheless be of great antiquity4 ,it seems that at the top of ,st4 ,george's ,down we are standing on what was once the floor of an old valley4 ,in the course of denudation the bottom of a river valley often becomes the highest part of a district4 ,for the bed of the valley is covered by flint gravel1 and flint is excessively hard1 and the bed of flints protects the underlying rock2 so that1 while the rocks on each side are worn away1 what was the river bed is eventually left high above them4 ,thus the highest points of a district are often capped by flint gravel marking the beds of old streams4 ,tracing up this old valley to the southward1 at a few miles distance it will have reached the chalk region on the south of the anticline3 and the flints carried down the valley may have come from beds of angular flints already dissolved out of the chalk such as we find on ,st4 ,boniface ,down4 ,but how have these great masses of flints been swept along8 ,can the land have been down under the sea2 and have sea waves washed the stones along8 ,but these flints1 though water-worn1 are not rounded as we find beach shingle4 ,what immense rush of water can have spread these flints #cj feet deep along a river valley8 ,we must go to mountain regions for torrents of this character4 ,and then1 mountain torrents round the stones in their bed while these are mostly angular4 ,the history of these gravels is a difficult one4 ,i can only give what seems to me the most probable explanation4 ,it appears to me probable that in the ,ice ,age1 south of the ice sheet1 the ground must have been both broken up by frosts1 and also held together by being frozen hard to some depth4 ,then when thaws came in the short but warm summers1 or when an intermission of the severe cold took place1 great floods would flow down the valleys in the country south of the ice sheet1 and masses of ice with frozen earth and stones would be borne along in a sort of semi-liquid flow4 ,in this way ,mr4 ,clement ,reid explains the mass of broken-up chalk with large stones found on the heads of cliffs on the ,south coast1 and known by the name of combe-rock or head4 ,the ,ice ,age was not one simple period1 and it is still difficult to fit together the history we read in different places1 and in particular to correlate the gravels of the south of ,england with the boulder clays of the glaciated area4 ,there were certainly breaks in the period1 during which the climate became much milder1 or even warm2 and these were long enough for southern species of animals and plants to migrate northward1 and occupy the lands where an arctic climate had prevailed4 ,there were moreover considerable variations in the relative level of land and sea4 ,so that we have a very complex history1 which is gradually coming into clearer light4 ,that the gravels of the south of ,england belong largely to the age of ice1 is shown by remains of the mammoth contained in many4 ,these1 however1 are found in later gravels than those we have considered so far1 gravels laid down after the land had been cut down to much lower levels4 ,these lower gravels are known as ,valley gravels1 because they lie along the course of existing valleys1 the ,plateau gravels having been laid down before the present valleys came into existence4 ,teeth of the mammoth are found in the ,thames valley1 and on the shores of ,southampton ,water1 in gravels about #ej to #gj feet above sea level1 and have been found also in the ,isle of ,wight at ,freshwater ,gate1 at the top of the cliffs near ,brook1 and in other places4 ,the gravels near ,brook with the clays on which they rest have been contorted1 and the gravel forced into pockets in the clay1 in a manner that suggests the action of grounding ice ploughing into the soil4 ,the high level gravels must belong to an early stage of the ,glacial ,epoch4 ,we get some idea of the great length of time this age must have lasted1 as we look from ,st4 ,george's ,down over the lower country of the centre of the ,island4 ,after the formation of the ,st4 ,george's ,down gravel the vast mass of strata between this and the opposite downs of ,st4 ,boniface and ,st4 ,catherine's was removed by denudation2 and gravels were then laid down on the lower land1 along ,blake ,down1 at ,arreton1 over ,hale common1 and along the course of the ,yar4 ,patches of gravel occur on the ,sandown and ,shanklin cliffs4 ,at ,little ,stairs a gravel1 largely of angular chert1 reaches a thickness of #ab feet1 and in parts are several feet of loam above gravel4 ,at the west of the ,island a great sheet of gravel covers the top of ,headon ,hill1 reaching a height of #cij feet4 ,it appears sometimes to measure #cj feet in thickness4 ,like that on ,st4 ,george's ,down it slopes towards the ,solent1 resting on an eroded surface1 in this case of ,tertiary strata2 and here too the upper part of the sheet has been removed by the wearing out of the deep valley between the ,hill and the ,freshwater ,downs4 ,the sheet lies on an old valley bottom1 which sloped from the chalk downs on the south1 then much higher and more extensive than now4 ,here too we may see something of the length of the ,glacial ,period4 ,for at ,freshwater ,gate is a much later gravel1 in which teeth of the mammoth have been found4 ,it was probably derived from older gravels that once lay to the south1 as the flints are rounded by transport4 ,but the formation of all these gravels appears to belong to the ,glacial ,period2 and as we stand in ,freshwater ,gate1 and look at this great gap in the downs worn out by the ,western ,yar1 and think of the time when a river valley passed over the tops of the ,high ,downs and ,headon ,hill1 we receive a strong impression of the length of the great ,ice ,age4 ,now surely the question will be asked1 what caused these changes of climate in the world's past history--so that at times a tropical vegetation spread over this land1 and vegetation flourished sufficient to leave beds of coal within the ,arctic circle1 and in the ,antarctic continent1 and at another the climate of ,greenland came down to ,england1 and an ice sheet covered nearly the whole country8 ,this still remains one of the difficult problems of ,geology4 ,an explanation has been attempted by ,astronomical ,theory1 according to which the varying eccentricity of the earth's orbit--that is to say a slight change in the elliptic orbit of the ,earth1 by which at times it becomes less nearly circular--a change which is known to take place--may have had the effect of producing these variations of climatic conditions4 ,the theory is very alluring1 for if this be the cause1 we can calculate mathematically the date and duration of the ,glacial ,period4 ,but1 unfortunately1 supposing the astronomical phenomena to have the effect required1 the course of events given by the astronomical theory would be entirely different to that revealed by geological research4 ,geographical explanations have usually failed through being of too local a character to explain a phenomenon which affected the whole northern hemisphere1 and the effects of which reached at least as far south as the ,equator1#ac and are seen again in the southern hemisphere in ,australia1 ,new ,zealand1 and ,south ,america4 ,it is now believed that great world-movements take place1 due to the contraction by cooling of the ,earth's interior1 and the adjustment of the crust to the shrinkage4#ad ,possibly some explanation might be found in these world-wide movements2 but their effect seems to last through too long periods of time to suit our ,ice ,ages4 ,again1 while the geographical distribution of animals and plants in the present and past seems to imply very great changes in the land masses and oceanic areas1#ae these changes appear to bear no relation to glacial epochs4 ,the cause of the ,ice ,ages remains at present an unsolved problem4 ,more than one ,ice ,age has occurred during the long geological history4 ,the marks of such a period are found in ,archaean rocks1 in the ,cambrian1 when glaciers flowed down to the sea level in ,china and ,south ,australia within a few degrees of the tropics1 and above all in early ,permian times4 ,the ,dwyka conglomerate of the ,karroo formation of ,south ,africa 7deposits of ,permo-,carboniferous age7 show evidence of extensive glaciation2 deposits of the same age in ,northern and ,central ,india1 even within the tropics1 a glacial series of great thickness in ,australia1 and deposits in ,brazil1 appear to show a glaciation greater than that of the recent glacial period4 ,yet these epochs formed only episodes in the great geological eras4 ,on the whole the climate throughout geological time would seem to have been warmer than at the present day4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be doubted whether the earth has yet recovered what we may call its normal temperature since the ,glacial ,epoch4 ,note on ,astronomical ,theory4--,if the ,ice ,age be due to the increased eccentricity of the ,earth's orbit1 the theory shows that a long duration of normal temperature will be followed by a group of ,glacial ,periods alternating between the northern and southern hemispheres1 the time elapsing between the culmination of such a period in one hemisphere and in the other being about #aj1ejj years4 ,while one hemisphere is in a glacial period1 the other will be enjoying a specially mild1--a genial period4 ,now1 according to the record of the rocks1 the genial periods were far from being those breaks in the ,glacial which we know as ,inter-glacial periods4 ,we have the immensely long warm period of the ,eocene and ,oligocene1 the ,miocene with a still warm but reduced temperature1 and then the gradual cooling during the ,pliocene1 till the drop in temperature culminates in the ,ice ,age4 ,moreover1 the duration of each glaciation during this ,ice ,age is usually considered to have been much longer than the #aj1jjj years or so given by the ,astronomical ,theory4 ,add to this that the periods of high eccentricity of the ,earth's orbit1 though occurring at irregular intervals1 are1 on the scale of geological time1 pretty frequent2 so that several of such periods would have occurred during the ,eocene alone4 ,yet the geological evidence shows unbroken sub-tropical conditions in this part of the world throughout the ,eocene4 ,footnote #ab3 ,the older division of the ,archaean rocks--the ,lewisian gneisse--consists entirely of metamorphic and igneous rocks2 a later division--the ,torridonian sandstones--is comparatively little altered1 but still unfossiliferous4 ,footnote #ac3 ,the great equatorial mountains ,kilimanjaro and ,ruwenzori show signs of a former extension of glaciers4 ,footnote #ad3 ,for an account of such movements1 see ,prof4 ,gregory's ,making of the ,earth in the ,home ,university ,library4 ,footnote #ae3 ,see ,the ,wanderings of ,animals4 ,by ,h4 ,gadow1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,cambridge ,manuals4 ,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,island ,,rivers2 ,,and ,,how ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,wight ,,became ,,an ,,island ,we must now consider the history of the river system of the ,isle of ,wight1 to which our study of the gravels has brought us4 ,for rivers have a history1 sometimes a most interesting one1 which carries us back far into the past4 ,even the little rivers of the ,isle of ,wight may be truly called ancient rivers4 ,for though recent in comparison with the ages of geological time1 they are of a vast antiquity compared with the historical periods of human history4 ,to understand our river systems we must go back to the time when strata formed by deposit of sediment in the sea were upheaved above the sea level4 ,to take the simplest case1 that of a single anticlinal axis fading off gradually at each end1 we shall have a sort of turtle back of land emerged from the sea1 as in figure #f1 aa being the anticlinal axis4 ,from this ridge streams will run down on either side in the direction of the dip1 their course being determined by some minor folds of the strata1 or difference of hardness in the surface1 or cracks formed during elevation4 ,on each side of the dip-streams smaller ones will flow1 more or less in the direction of the strike1 and run into the main streams4 ,various irregularities1 such as started the flow of the streams1 will favour one or another4 ,consider three streams1 a1 b1 c1 and let us suppose the middle one the strongest1 with greatest flow of water1 and cutting down its bed most rapidly4 ,its side streams will become steeper and have more erosive force1 and so will eat back their courses most rapidly until they strike the line of the streams on either side4 ,their steeper channels will then offer the best way for the upper waters of the streams they have cut to reach the sea2 and these streams will consequently be tapped1 and their head waters cut off to flow to the channel of the centre stream4 ,we shall thus have for a second stage in the history a system such as is shown in fig4 #g4 ,the same process will continue till one river has tapped several others2 and there will result the usual figure of a river and its tributaries1 to which we are accustomed on our maps4 ,we shall observe that tributaries do not as a rule gradually approach the central stream1 but suddenly turn off at nearly a right angle from the direction in which they are flowing1 and1 after a longer or shorter course1 join at another sharp angle a river flowing more or less parallel to their original direction4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g ,,development ,,of ,,river ,,systems ,the ,chalk and overlying ,tertiary strata were uplifted from the sea in great folds forming a series of such turtle-backs as we have been considering4 ,the line of upheaval was not south-west and north-east1 as that which raised the older formations in bands across ,england1 but took place in an east and west direction4 ,the main upheaval was that of the great ,wealden anticline4 ,other folds produced the ,sandown and ,brook anticlines1 and that of the ,portsdown ,hills4 ,the upheaval seemed to have been caused by pressure acting from the south1 for the steeper slope of each fold is on the northern side4 ,our latest ,oligocene strata are tilted with the chalk1 showing that the upheaval took place after ,oligocene times4 ,but the great movement was in the main earlier than the ,pliocene4 ,for on the ,north ,downs near ,lenham is a patch of ,lower ,pliocene deposit resting directly on the ,chalk1 the older ,tertiary strata having been removed by denudation1 clearly due to the uplift of the ,wealden anticline4 ,the raising of the ,pliocene deposit to its present position proves that the same movement was continued at a later time1 probably during the ,pleistocene4 ,but the greater part of the movement may be assigned to the ,miocene1 the period of great world-movements which raised the ,alps and the ,himalaya4 ,many remarkable1 and1 at first sight1 very puzzling features connected with the courses of rivers find an explanation when we study the river history4 ,thus1 looking at the ,weald of ,kent and ,sussex1 we see that it consists of comparatively low ground rising to a line of heights east and west along the centre1 and surrounded on all sides but the south-east by a wall of ,chalk downs4 ,if we considered the subject1 we should suppose that the drainage of the country would be towards the south-east1 which is open to the sea4 ,not so4 ,all the rivers flow from the central heights north and south1--go straight for the walls of chalk downs1 and cut through the escarpment in deep clefts to flow into the ,thames and the ,channel4 ,this is explained when we remember that the rivers began to flow when the great curve of strata rose above the sea4 ,though eroded by the sea during its elevation1 yet when it rose above the waters the arch of chalk must have been continuous from what are now ,north ,downs to ,south4 ,and from the centre line of the great turtle back the streams began to flow north and south1 cutting in the course of ages deep channels for themselves4 ,the greater erosion in their higher courses has cut away the mass of chalk from the centre of the ,weald1 but the rivers still flow in the direction determined when the arch was still entire4 ,we have a similar state of things in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,any one not knowing the geological story1 and looking at the geography of the ,island1 might naturally suppose that there would be a stream flowing from west to east1 through the low ground between the two ranges of downs1 and finding its way into the sea in ,sandown ,bay4 ,instead of this the three rivers of the ,island1 the two ,yars and the ,medina1 all flow north1 and cut through the chalk escarpment of the ,central downs1 as if an earthquake had made rifts for them to pass1 and so find their way into the ,solent4 ,the explanation is the same as in the case of the ,weald4 ,the rivers began to flow when the ,chalk strata were continuous over the centre of the ,island2 and their course was determined when the east and west anticlinal axis rose above the sea4 ,we shall notice1 however1 that the ,island rivers start from south of the anticlinal axis4 ,the centre of the ,sandown anticline runs just north of ,sandown1 but the various branches of the ,yar and ,medina flow from well south of this4 ,the explanation would appear to be that the anticline is almost a monoclinal curve1--that is to say1 one slope is steep1 the other not far from horizontal4 ,streams starting from the ridge would flow with much greater force down the northern than the southern side1 and would cut back their course much more quickly4 ,thus they would continually cut into the heads of the southern streams1 and turn the water supplying them into their own channels4 ,in its early history a river cuts out its bed1 and carries along pebbles1 sand and mud to the sea4 ,the head waters are constantly cutting back1 and the slope becoming less steep1 till a time comes when the stream in its gently inclined lower course has no more power to excavate1 and the finer sediment1 which is all that now reaches the lower river1 begins to fill up the old channel4 ,and so the alluvium is formed which fills the lower portions of our river valleys4 ,beyond this1 the great rush of waters from melting snows and ice of the ,glacial ,period has come to an end4 ,the gentler and diminished streams of a drier age have no power to roll flint stones along and form beds of gravel4 ,gravel terraces border our river valleys at a higher level than the present streams4 ,periods alternated during which gravels were laid down by the river1 and when the river acquiring more erosive force1 by an elevation of the land giving its bed a steeper gradient1 or a wetter climate producing a greater rush of water1 cut a new channel deeper in the old valley4 ,so our valleys in ,southern ,england are frequently bordered by a succession of gravel terraces1 the higher ones being the older1 dating from times when the river flowed at a higher level than at present4 ,such terraces may be seen above the ,eastern ,yar and its tributary streams4 ,in the centre of the old gravels is the alluvial flat of a later age4 ,the ,island rivers cut out their channels when the land stood at a higher level than at present4 ,the old channels of the lower parts of the rivers are now filled with alluvium1 partly brought down by the rivers and partly marine4 ,the channels are cut down considerably below sea level2 and by the sinking of the land the sea has flowed in1 and the last parts of the river courses are now tidal estuaries4 ,the sea does not cut out estuaries4 ,they are the submerged ends of river valleys4 ,some idea may be formed of the antiquity of our ,island rivers by observing the depth of the clefts they have cut through the downs at ,brading1 ,newport1 and ,freshwater4 ,but to this we must add the depth at which the old channels lie below the alluvium4 ,it would be interesting to know the thickness of the alluvium4 ,but it is not often that borings come to be made in river alluvia4 ,however1 in the old ,spithead forts artesian wells are sunk2 and these pass through #gj to #ij feet of recent deposits before entering ,eocene strata4 ,under ,st4 ,helen's ,fort1 at the mouth of ,brading ,harbour1 are #hj feet of recent deposits4 ,the old channel of the ,yar1 at its mouth1 must lie at least at this depth4 ,before it passes through the gap in the ,chalk downs the ,yar has meandered about1 and formed the alluvial flat called ,morton marshes4 ,these marshes stretch out into the flat known as ,sandown ,level1 which occupies the shore of the bay between ,sandown and the ,granite ,fort4 ,what is the meaning of this extension of the alluvium away from the course of the river out to the sea at ,sandown8 ,a glance at it as pictured on a geological map will suggest the answer4 ,we see clearly the alluvia of two streams converging from right and left1 and uniting to pass to the sea through ,brading ,harbour4 ,but the stream to the right has been cut off by the sea encroaching on ,sandown ,bay3 only the last mile of alluvium is left to tell of a river passed away4 ,we must reconstruct the past4 ,we see the ,bay covered by land sloping up to east and south east1 the lines of downs extending eastward from ,dunnose and the ,culvers1 and an old river flowing northward1 and cutting through the chalk at ,brading after being joined by a branch from the west4 ,this old river must have been the main stream4 ,for it was a transverse stream1 flowing nearly at right angles to the ridge of the anticline2 while the ,yar comes in as a tributary in the direction of the strike4 ,of other tributary streams1 all from the right are gone by the destruction of the old land4 ,on the left streams would flow in from the combes at ,shanklin and ,luccombe--streams which have now cut out ,shanklin and ,luccombe chines4 ,passing the gap in the downs the river meandered about1 and1 with marine deposit1 washed in by the tides1 formed the expanse of alluvium which occupies what was ,brading ,harbour1--a harbour which in old times presented at high tide a beautiful spectacle of land-locked water extending up to ,brading4 ,inclosures and drainings have been made from time to time1 the upper part near ,yarbridge being taken in in the time of ,edward ,i4 ,further innings were made in the reign of ,queen ,elizabeth2 and ,sir ,hugh ,middleton1 who brought the ,new ,river to ,london1 made an attempt to enclose the whole1 but the sea broke through his embankment4 ,the harbour was finally reclaimed at great cost in #ahhj1 the present embankment enclosing an area of #fjj acres4 ,the history of the ,western ,yar is similar to that of the ,eastern4 ,the main stream must have flowed from land now destroyed by the sea stretching far south of ,freshwater ,gate4 ,all that is left is its tidal estuary1 and the gravel terraces and alluvial flat formed in the last part of its course4 ,of a tributary stream an interesting relic remains4 ,for more than #b miles from ,chilton ,chine through ,brook to ,compton ,grange a bed of river gravel lies at the top of the cliff1 marking the course of an old stream1 of which coast erosion has made a longitudinal section4 ,this was a tributary of the ,yar1 when the mammoth left his remains in the gravel at ,grange ,chine and ,freshwater ,gate4 ,down the centre of the gravels lies a strip of alluvium laid down by a stream following the same course in later days4 ,the sea had probably by this time cut into the stream2 and it most likely flowed into the sea somewhere west of ,brook4 ,in the alluvium hazel nuts and twigs of trees are found at ,shippard's ,chine near ,brook4 ,the lower course of the ,medina is a submerged river valley1 the tide flowing up to ,newport4 ,the river rises near ,chale1 and flows through a strip of alluvium1 overgrown with marsh vegetation1 known as ,the ,wilderness4 ,this upper course of the ,medina1 from the absence of gravels or brick earth1 has the appearance of a comparatively modern river4 ,but the ,medina has a further history4 ,if you look at the map you will see branches of the ,yar running south to north as transverse streams1 but the main course is that of a lateral river4 ,look at the two chief sources of the ,yar--the stream from near ,whitwell and ,niton1 and that from the ,wroxall valley4 ,when they get down to the marshes near ,rookley and ,merston1 they are not flowing at all in the direction of ,sandown or ,brading4 ,they rather look as if they would flow along the marshy flat by ,blackwater into the ,medina4 ,but the ,yar cuts right across their course1 and carries them off eastward to ,sandown4 ,when we look1 we find a line of river valley with a strip of alluvium running up from the ,medina at ,blackwater in the direction of these two streams--a valley which the railway up the ,yar valley from ,sandown makes use of to get to ,newport4 ,there can be little doubt that these streams from ,niton and ,wroxall originally ran along this line into the ,medina2 but the ,yar1 cutting its course backward1 has captured them1 and diverted their course4 ,they probably represent the main branches of the ,medina in earlier times1 the direction of flow from south-east to north-west instead of south to north being possibly due to the overlapping in the neighbourhood of ,newport of the ends of the ,brook and ,sandown anticlines4 ,the sheet of gravel on ,blake ,down belongs to this period of the river's history4 ,the river must have diverted between the deposition of the ,plateau ,gravels and that of the ,valley ,gravels of the ,yar4 ,for the former follow the original valley1 the latter the new course of the river4 ,we must now take a wider outlook1 and see what became of our rivers after they had flowed across what is now the ,isle of ,wight from south to north4 ,we have been speaking of times when the ,island was of much greater extent than at present4 ,standing on the down above the ,needles1 and looking westward1 we see on a clear day the ,isle of ,purbeck lying opposite1 and we can see that the headland there is formed by white chalk cliffs like those beneath us4 ,in front of them stand the ,old ,harry ,rocks1 answering to the ,needles1 both relics of a former extension of the land4 ,in fact ,purbeck is just like a continuation of the ,isle of ,wight4 ,south of the ,chalk lie ,greensand and ,wealden strata in ,swanage ,bay1 and north towards ,poole are ,tertiaries4 ,clearly these strata were once continuous with those of the ,isle of ,wight4 ,we must imagine the chalk downs of the ,island continued as a long range across what is now sea1 and on through ,purbeck4 ,a great ,valley must have stretched from west to east1 north of this line1 along the course of the ,frome1 which runs through ,dorset1 and now enters the sea at ,poole ,harbour1 on by ,bournemouth1 and along the present ,solent ,channel--a valley still much above sea level1 not yet cut down by rivers and the sea--and down the centre of this valley a river must have flowed1 which may be called the ,river ,solent4 ,it received as tributaries from the south the rivers of the ,isle of ,wight1 and others from land since destroyed by the sea4 ,there flowed into it from the north the waters of the ,stour and ,avon1 and an old river which flowed down the line of what is now ,southampton ,water4 ,southampton ,water looks like the valley of a large river1 much larger than the present ,test and ,itchen4 ,its direction points to a river from the north west2 and it has been shown by ,mr4 ,clement ,reid that the ,salisbury rivers--,avon1 ,nadder1 and ,wily--at a former time1 when they flowed far above their present level--continued their course into the valley of ,southampton ,water4 ,for fragments of ,purbeck rocks from the ,vale of ,wardour1 west of ,salisbury1 have been found by him in gravels on high land near ,bramshaw1 carried right over the deep vale of the ,avon in the direction of the ,water4 ,the lower ,avon would originally be a tributary of the ,solent ,river2 and it enters the sea about mid-way between the ,needles and the chalk cliffs of ,purbeck1 just opposite the point where we might suppose the sea would have first broken through the line of chalk downs4 ,no doubt it broke through a gap made by the course of an old river from the south1 as it is now breaking through the gap made by the old ,yar at ,freshwater4 ,when the river ,solent had been tapped at this point1 the ,avon just opposite would have acquired a much steeper flow1 causing it to cut back at a faster rate1 till it cut the course of the old river which ran by ,salisbury to ,southampton1 and1 having a steeper fall1 diverted the upper waters of this river into its own channel4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h ,,the ,,old ,,solent ,,river ,frost and rain and rivers cut down the valleys of the river system for hundreds of feet2 the sea which had broken through the chalk range gradually cut away the south side of the main river valley from ,purbeck to the ,needles2 and eventually the valley itself was submerged by a subsidence of the land1 and the sea flowed between the ,isle of ,wight and the mainland4 ,a gravel of somewhat different character to the rest is the sheet of flint shingle at ,bembridge ,foreland4 ,it forms a cliff of gravel about #be feet high resting on ,bembridge marls1 and consists of large flints1 with lines of smaller flints and sand showing current bedding1 and also contains ,greensand chert and sandstone1 which must have been brought from some district beyond the ,chalk4 ,the shingle slopes to north-east4 ,to the south-west it ends abruptly1 the dividing line between shingle and marls running up steeply into the cliff4 ,this evidently marks an old sea cliff in the marls1 against which the gravel has been laid down4#af ,one or two comparatively recent deposits may be mentioned here4 ,at the top of the cliff in ,totland ,bay1 about #fj ft4 above the sea1 for a distance of #cej yards1 is a lacustrine deposit1 consisting in the main of a calcareous tufa deposited by springs flowing from the limestone of ,headon ,hill4 ,the tufa contains black lines from vegetable matter1 and numerous land and freshwater shells of present-day species--many species of ,helix1 especially ,h4 nemoralis and ,h4 rotundata1 ,cyclostoma elegans1 ,limnaea palustris1 ,pupa1 ,clausilia1 ,cyclas1 and others4 ,on the top of ,gore ,cliff is a deposit of hard calcareous mud1 reaching a thickness of about #i feet1 and forming a small vertical cliff above the slopes of chalk marl4 ,it extends north a few yards beyond the chalk marl on to ,lower ,greensand4 ,it has been formed by rainwash from a hill of chalk1 which must once have existed to the south4 ,the deposit contains numerous existing land-shells1 especially ,helix nemoralis and other species of ,helix4 ,between ,atherfield and ,chale at the top of the cliff is a large area of ,blown ,sand4 ,the sand is blown up from the face of the cliff below4 ,it reaches a thickness of #bj feet1 and possibly more in places1 and forms a line of sand dunes along the edge of the cliff4 ,the upper part of ,ladder ,chine shows an interesting example of wind-erosion4 ,the sand driven round it by the wind has worn it into a semi-circular hollow like a ,roman theatre4 ,small spits1 consisting partly of blown sand1 extend opposite the mouths of the ,western ,yar1 the ,newtown river1 and the most extensive--at the mouth of the old ,brading ,harbour1 separating the present reduced ,bembridge ,harbour from the sea4 ,this is called ,st4 ,helen's ,spit1 or ,dover1--the local name for these sand spits4 ,footnote #af3 ,fig4 #i1 p4 #gi4 ,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,coming ,,of ,,man4 ,we have watched the long succession of varied life on the earth recorded in the rocks1 and now we come to the most momentous event of all in the history--the coming of ,man4 ,the first certain evidence of the presence of man on the earth is found with the coming of the ,glacial ,period1--unless indeed the supposed flint implements found by ,mr4 ,reid ,moir1 under the ,crag in ,suffolk1 should prove him earlier still4 ,it is a rare chance that the skeleton of a land animal is preserved2 especially rare in the case of a skeleton so frail as that of man4 ,the best chance for the preservation of bones is in deposits in caves1 which were frequently the dens of wild beasts and the shelters of man4 ,but the implements used by early man were happily of a very imperishable nature4 ,his favourite material1 if he could get it1 was flint4 ,flint could by dexterous blows have flake after flake taken off1 till it formed a tool or weapon with sharp point and cutting edge4 ,the implements1 though only chipped1 or flaked1 were often admirably made4 ,they have very characteristic shapes4 ,moreover1 the kind of blow--struck obliquely--by which these early men made their tools left marks which stamp them as of human workmanship4 ,the flake struck off shows what is called a bulb of percussion--a swelling which marks the spot where the blow was struck--and from this extends a series of ripples1 producing a surface like that of a shell1 from which this mode of breaking is called conchoidal fracture4 ,often1 by further chipping the flake itself is worked into an implement4 ,implements have also been made of chert1 but it is far more difficult to work1 as it naturally breaks in an irregular way into sharp angular fragments4 ,flint1 on the other hand1 lent itself admirably to the use of early man1 who in time acquired a perfect mastery of the material4 ,the working of flints is so characteristic that1 once accustomed to them1 you cannot mistake a good specimen4 ,sea waves dashing pebbles about will sometimes produce a conchoidal fracture1 but never a series of fractures in the methodical way in which a flint was worked by man4 ,and1 of course1 specimens may be found so worn that it is difficult to be sure about their nature4 ,again early man may1 especially in very early times1 have been content to use a sharp stone almost as he found it1 with only the slightest amount of knocking it into shape4 ,so that in such a case it will be very difficult to decide whether the stones have formed the implements of man or not4 ,in later times men learnt to polish their implements1 and made polished stone axes like those the ,new ,zealanders and ,south ,sea ,islanders used to make in modern times4 ,the old age of chipped or flaked implements is called the ,palaeolithic2 the later age when they were ground or polished the ,neolithic4 7,simple implements1 as knives and scrapers1 were still unpolished47 ,the history of early man is a long story in itself1 and of intense interest4 ,but we must not leave our geological story unfinished by leaving out the culmination of it all in man4 ,in the higher gravels--the ,plateau ,gravels--no remains of man are found2 but in the lower--the ,valley ,gravels1--of the ,south of ,england is found abundant evidence of the presence of man4 ,large numbers of flint implements have been collected from the ,thames valley and over the whole area of the rivers which have gravel terraces along their course4 ,over a large sheet of gravel at ,southampton1 whenever a large gravel pit is dug1 implements are found at the base of the gravel4#ag ,the occurrence of the mammoth and other arctic creatures in the gravels shows that in the ,glacial ,period man was contemporary with these animals4 ,remains in caves tell the same story4 ,in limestone caverns in ,devon1 ,derbyshire1 and ,yorkshire1 implements made by man are found in company with remains of the cave bear1 cave hyaena1 lion1 hippopotamus1 rhinoceros1 and other animals either extinct or no longer inhabitants of this country--remains which have been preserved under floors of stalagmite deposited in the caves4 ,in caves of central ,france men have left carvings on bone and ivory1 representing the wild animals of that day--carvings which show a remarkable artistic sense1 and a keen observation of animal life4 ,among them is a drawing of the mammoth on a piece of mammoth ivory1 showing admirably the appearance of the animal1 with his long hair1 as he has been found preserved in ice to the present day near the mouths of ,siberian rivers4 ,drawings of the reindeer1 true to life1 are frequent4 ,till recently very few ,palaeolithic implements had been recorded as found in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,in the ,memoir of the ,geological ,survey 7#ahhi7 only one such is recorded1 found in a patch of brick earth near ,howgate ,farm1 ,bembridge4#ah ,a few more implements1 which almost certainly came from this brick-earth1 have been found on the shore since4 ,in recent years a large number of ,palaeolithic implements have been found at ,priory ,bay near ,st4 ,helen's4 ,they were first observed on the beach by ,prof4 ,e4 ,b4 ,poulton1 ,f4,r4,s41 in #ahhf1 and were traced to their source in the gravel in the cliff by ,miss ,moseley in #aijb4 ,from that time1 and especially from #aijd onwards1 many have been found by ,prof4 ,poulton1 by ,r4 ,w4 ,poulton 7and others74 ,up to #aiji about #aej implements had been found1 and there have been more finds since4#ai ,the most important finds1 besides those at ,priory ,bay1 have been those of ,mr4 ,s4 ,hazzledine ,warren at ,freshwater1 especially in trial borings in loam and clay below the surface soil in a depression of the ,high ,downs1 south of ,headon ,hill1 at a level of about #cfj ft4 ,o4,d41 in which a number of ,palaeolithic tools1 flakes1 and cores were found#bj4 ,isolated implements have been found in recent years in various localities in the ,island4 ,there are references to finds of implements at different times in the past1 but the descriptions are generally too vague to conclude certainly to what date they belong4 ,much of the gravel used in the ,island comes from the angular gravel on ,st4 ,boniface ,down1 or the high ,plateau ,gravel of ,st4 ,george's ,down2 but in the lower gravels and associated brick earth1 it is highly probable that more remains of ,palaeolithic man will yet be found in the ,island1 and quite possible that such have been found in the past1 but for want of accurate descriptions of the circumstances of the finds are lost to us4 ,we must pass on to the men of the ,neolithic or later stone age4 ,the ,palaeolithic age was of very great duration1 much longer than all succeeding human history4 ,between ,palaeolithic and ,neolithic times there is in ,england a large gap4 ,in ,france various stages have been traced showing a continual advance in culture4 ,in ,england little1 if anything1 has been found belonging to the intermediate stages4 ,such remains may yet be found in caves1 or in lower river gravels1 now buried below the alluvium4 ,the gap between ,palaeolithic and ,neolithic is marked by the great amount of river erosion which took place in the interval4 ,palaeolithic implements are found in gravels formed when the rivers flowed some #ajj feet above their present courses4 ,take1 e4g41 the ,itchen at ,southampton4 ,after the #ajj foot gravels were deposited the river cut down1 not merely to its present level1 but to an old bed now covered up by various deposits beneath the river4 ,after cutting down to that bed the river laid down gravels upon it2 and then--the land standing at a higher level than to-day--the river valley and the surrounding country were covered by a forest1 which1 as the climate altered and became damper1 was succeeded by the formation of peat4 ,the land has since sunk1 and the peat1 in parts #ag ft4 thick1 is now found under ,southampton ,water1 covered by estuarine silt4 ,the ,empress ,dock at ,southampton was dug where a mud bank was exposed at low water4 ,the mud bank was formed of river silt #ab to #ag feet thick4 ,below this was the peat1 resting on gravel4 ,on the gravel horns of reindeer were found4 ,in the peat were large horn cores of the great extinct ox1 ,bos primigenius1 also horns of red deer1 and also in the peat were found neolithic flint chips1 a circular stone hammer head1 with a hole bored through for a wooden handle1 and a large needle made of horn4 ,here1 at a great interval of time after ,palaeolithic man1 as we see by the history of the river we have just traced1 we come to the new race of men1 the ,neolithic4 ,when ,neolithic man appeared the land stood higher than at present1 though not so high as during great part of the ,pleistocene4 ,britain was divided from the ,continent1 but the shores were a good way out into what is now sea round the coasts1 and forests clothed these further shores4 ,remains of these1 known as submerged forest1 are found below the tide mark round many parts of our coast4 ,peat as at ,southampton ,docks1 is found under the estuarine mud off ,netley4 ,the wells at the ,spithead ,forts show an old land surface with peat more than #ej feet below the tide level4 ,the old bed of the ,solent river lies much lower still--#abd feet below high tide at ,noman's ,land ,fort2 this channel was probably an estuary after the subsidence of the land till it silted up with marine deposits to the level on which the submerged forest grew4 ,when the ,solent and ,southampton ,water were wooded valleys with rivers flowing down the middle1 the ,isle of ,wight rivers were tributaries to the ,solent river1 and the forest1 as might be expected1 extended up their valleys1 and covered the low ground of the ,island4 ,under the alluvial flats are remains of buried forests4 ,in digging a well at ,sandford in #aijf large trunks of hard oak were found blocking the sinking of the well4 ,when the land sank the sea flowed up the river valleys1 converting them into strait and estuary1 and largely filling up the channels with the silt1 which now covers the peat4 ,in the silt of ,newtown river are found bones of ,bos primigenius1 which was found with the ,neolithic remains in the peat of ,southampton docks4 ,the remains of ,neolithic man are not only found in submerged forests1 but over the present surface of the land1 or buried in recent deposits4 ,he has left us the tombs of his chiefs1 known as long barrows--great mounds of earth covering a row of chambers made of flat stones1 such as the mounds of ,new ,grange in ,ireland1 and the cromlechs or dolmens still standing in ,wales and ,cornwall4 ,these consist of a large flat or curved stone--it may be #ad feet in length1--supported on three or four others4 ,originally a great mound of earth or stones was piled on top4 ,these have generally been removed since by the hand of later man4 ,the stones have been taken for road metal1 the earth to lay on the land4 ,the great cromlech at ,lanyon in ,cornwall was uncovered by a farmer1 who had removed #ajj cart loads of earth to lay on his stony land before he had any idea that it was not a natural mound4 ,then he came on the great cromlech underneath4 ,another form of monument was the great standing stone or menhir1 one of which1 the ,longstone on the ,down above ,mottistone still stands to mark the tomb of some chieftain of1 it may be1 #d1jjj years ago4 ,the implements of ,neolithic man are found all over ,england1 the smooth polished axe head1 commonly called a celt 7,lat4 celtis1 a chisel71 the chipped arrow head1 the flaked flint worked by secondary chipping on the edge into a knife1 or a scraper for skins2 and much more common than the implement1 even of the simplest description1 are the waste flakes struck off in the making4 ,very few stone celts have been found in the ,isle of ,wight4 ,the flakes are extremely numerous1 and a scraper or knife may often be found4 ,they are turned up by the plough on the surface of the fields1 in the earth of which they have been preserved from rubbing and weathering4 ,they have however1 acquired a remarkable polish1 or patina--how is not clearly explained--which distinguishes their surface from the waxy appearance of newly-broken flint4 ,in places the ground is so covered with flakes that we can have no doubt that these are the sites of settlements4 ,the implements were made from the black flints fresh out of the chalk1 and we can locate the ,neolithic flint workings4 ,in our northern range of downs where the strata are vertical the layers of flint in the ,upper ,chalk run out on the top of the downs1 only covered with a thin surface soil4 ,in places where this soil has been removed--as in digging a quarry--the chalk is seen to be covered with flakes similar to those found on the lower ground1 save that they are weathered white from lying exposed on the hard chalk1 instead of on soft soil into which they would gradually sink by the burrowing of worms4 ,it is probable that these flakes would be found more or less along the range of downs under the surface soil4 ,in places on the ,undercliff have been found what are known as ,kitchen ,middens--heaps of shells which have accumulated near the huts of tribes of coast dwellers1 who lived on shellfish4 ,one such was formerly exposed in the stream below the old church at ,bonchurch1 and is believed to extend below the foundations of the ,church4 ,after a long duration of neolithic times a great step in civilisation took place with the introduction of bronze4 ,bronze implements were introduced into this country probably some time about ,b4,c4 #ahjj-aejj2 and bronze continued to be the best material of manufacture till the introduction of iron some two or three centuries before the visit of ,julius ,caesar to these ,islands4 ,to the early bronze age belong the graves of ancient chieftains known as round barrows1 of which many are to be seen on the ,island downs4 ,funeral urns and other remains have been found in these1 some of which are now in the museum at ,carisbrooke ,castle4 ,belonging to later times are the remains of the ,roman villa at ,brading and smaller remains of villas in other places2 and cemeteries of ,anglo-,saxon date1 rich in weapons and ornaments1 which have been excavated on ,chessil and ,bowcombe ,downs4 ,but the study of the remains of ancient man forms a science in itself--,archaeology4 ,in studying the periods of ,palaeolithic and ,neolithic man we have stood on the borderland where ,geology and ,archaeology meet4 ,we have seen that vast geological changes have taken place since man appeared on earth4 ,we must remember that the geological record is still in process of being written4 ,it is not the record of a time sundered from the present day1 but continuous with our own times2 and it is by the study of processes still in operation that we are able to read the story of the past4 ,footnote #ag3 ,mr4 ,w4 ,dale1 ,f4,s4,a4 ,footnote #ah3 ,see figure #i1 p4 #gi4 ,footnote #ai3 ,see account by ,r4 ,w4 ,poulton in ,f4 ,morey's ,guide to the ,natural ,history of the ,isle of ,wight4 ,footnote #bj3 ,surv4 ,mem41 ,i4,w41 #aiba1 p4 #agd4 ,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,scenery ,,of ,,the ,,island--,conclusion4 ,after studying the various geological formations that enter into the composition of the ,isle of ,wight1 and learning how the ,island was made1 it will be interesting to take a general view of the scenery1 and see how its varied character is due to the nature of its geology4 ,it would hardly be possible to find anywhere an area so small as this little ,island with such a variety of geological formations4 ,the result is a remarkable variety in the scenery4 ,the main feature of the ,island is the range of chalk downs running east and west1 and terminating in the bold cliffs of white chalk at ,freshwater and the ,culvers4 ,here we have vertical cliffs of great height1 their white softened to grey by weathering and the soft haze through which they are often seen4 ,in striking contrast of colour are the ,red ,cliff of ,lower ,greensand adjoining the ,culvers1 and the many-coloured sands of ,alum ,bay joining on to the chalk of ,freshwater4 ,the summits of the chalk downs have a characteristic softly rounded form1 and the chalk is covered with close short herbage suited to the sheep which frequently dot the green surface4 ,where sheets of flint gravel cap the downs1 as on ,st4 ,boniface1 they are covered by furze and heather1 producing a charming variation from the smooth turf where the surface is chalk4 ,the ,lower ,greensand forms most of the undulating country between the two ranges of downs2 while the ,upper ,greensand1 though occupying a smaller area1 produces one of the most conspicuous features of the scenery--the walls of escarpment that form the inland cliffs between ,shanklin and ,wroxall1 ,gat ,cliff above ,appuldurcombe1 the fine wall of ,gore ,cliff above ,rocken ,end1 and the line of cliffs above the ,undercliff4 ,to the ,gault ,clay is due the formation of the ,undercliff--the terrace of tumbled strata running for miles well above the sea1 but sheltered by an upper cliff on the north1 and in parts overgrown with picturesque woods4 ,the impervious ,gault clay throws out springs around the downs1 which form the headwaters of the various ,island streams4 ,the upper division of the ,lower ,greensand1 the ,sandrock1 forms picturesque undulating foothills1 often wooded1 as at ,apsecastle1 and at ,appuldurcombe and ,godshill ,park4 ,on a spur of the ,sandrock stands ,godshill ,church1 a landmark visible for miles around4 ,at ,atherfield we have a fine line of cliffs of ,lower ,greensand1 while the ,wealden ,strata on to ,brook form lower and softer cliffs4 ,to the north of the central downs the ,tertiary sands and clays1 often covered by ,plateau gravel1 form an extended slope towards the ,solent shore1 much of it well wooded1 and presenting a charming landscape seen from the tops of the downs4 ,this slope of ,tertiary strata is deeply cut into by streams1 which form ravines and picturesque creeks1 as ,wootton ,creek1 #bjj feet below the level of the surrounding country4 ,while much of the ,island coast is a line of vertical cliff1 the northern shores are of gentler aspect1 wooded slopes reaching to the water's edge1 or meadow land sloping gradually to the sea level4 ,opposite the mouths of streams are banks of shingle and sand dunes1 forming the spits locally known as dovers4 ,some of these1 in particular1 ,st4 ,helen's ,spit1 afford interesting hunting grounds for the botanist4 ,the great variety of soil and situation renders the ,isle of ,wight a place of interest to the botanist4 ,we have the plants of chalk downs1 of the sea cliff and shore1 of the woods and meadows1 of lane and hedgerow1 and of the marshes4 ,the old villages of the ,island1 often occupying very picturesque situations--as ,godshill on a spur of the southern downs1 ,newchurch on a bluff overlooking the ,yar valley1 ,shorwell nestling among trees in a south-looking hollow of the downs1 ,brighstone with its old church cottages and farmhouses among trees and meadows between down and sea--the old and interesting churches1 the thatched cottages1 the old manor houses of ,elizabethan or ,jacobean date1 now mostly farm houses1 for which the ,island is famous1 add to the varied natural beauty4 ,one of the most characteristic features of the southern coasts of the ,island1 should be mentioned1 the ,chines1--narrow ravines which cut inland from the coast through the sandstone and clays of the ,greensand and ,wealden strata1 and along the beds of which small streams flow to the sea4 ,narrow and steep-sided1--the name by which they are called is akin to chink--they are in striking contrast to the more open valleys of the streams which flow into the ,solent on the north shore of the ,island4 ,the most beautiful is ,shanklin ,chine4 ,the cliff at the mouth of the chine1 just inside which stands a picturesque fisherman's cottage with thatched roof1 is #ajj ft4 high2 and the chasm runs inland for #cej yds41 to where a very reduced cascade 7for the water thrown out of the ,upper ,greensand by the ,gault clay is tapped at its source for the town supply7 falls vertically over a ledge produced by hard ferruginous beds of the ,greensand4 ,above the cascade the ravine runs on1 but much shallower1 for some #ijj yards4 ,the lower ravine has much beauty1 tall trees rising up the sides1 and overshadowing the chasm1 the banks thickly clothed with large ferns and other verdure4 ,much wilder are the chines on the south-west of the ,island4 ,the cascade at ,blackgang falls over hard ferruginous beds 7to which the beds over which ,shanklin cascade falls--though on a smaller scale--probably correspond74 ,the chine above these beds1 being hollowed out in the soft clays and sands of the ,sandrock series1 is much more open4 ,whale ,chine is a long winding ravine between steep walls1 the stream at the bottom making its way through blocks of fallen strata4 ,the cause of these chines seems to be the same in all cases4 ,it may be noticed that ,shanklin and ,luccombe chines are cut in the floors of open combes1--wide valleys with gently sloping floors2 and at each side of these chines is to be seen the gravel spread over the floor of the old valley4 ,it can scarcely be doubted that these combes are the heads of the valleys of the old streams1 which flowed down a gradual slope till they joined the old branch 7or1 rather the old main river7#ba of the ,yar1 flowing over land extending far over what is now ,sandown ,bay4 ,when the sea encroached1 and cut into the course of this old river1 and on till it made a section of what had been the left slope of the valley1 the old tributaries of the ,yar now fell over a line of cliff into the sea4 ,they thus gained new erosive power1 and cut back at a much greater rate new and deeper channels2 with the result that narrow trenches were cut in the floors of the old gently sloping valleys4 ,the chines on the ,s4,w4 coast are to be explained in a similar way4 ,they have been cut back with vertical sides1 because the encroachment of the sea caused the streams to flow over cliffs1 and so gave then power to cut back ravines at so fast a rate that the weathering down of the sides could not keep pace with it4 ,the remarkable wind-erosion of these bare south-westerly cliffs by a sort of sand-blast driven before the gales to which that stretch of coast is exposed has already been referred to4 ,a few words in conclusion to the reader4 ,i have tried to show you something of the interest and wonder of the story written in the rocks4 ,we have seen something of the world's making1 and of the many and varied forms of life which have succeeded each other on its surface4 ,we have had a glimpse of great and deep problems suggested1 which are gradually receiving an answer4 ,geology has the advantage that it can be studied by all who take walks in the country1 and especially by those who visit any part of the sea coast1 without the need of elaborate and costly scientific instruments and apparatus4 ,any country walk will suggest problems for solution4 ,i have tried to lead you to observe nature accurately1 to think for yourselves1 to draw your own conclusions4 ,i have shown you how to try to solve the questions of geology by looking around you at what is taking place to-day1 and by applying this knowledge to explain the records which have reached us of what has happened in the past4 ,you are not asked to accept the facts of the geological story on the word of the writer1 or on the authority of others1 but to think for yourselves1 to learn to weigh evidence1 to seek only to find out the truth1 whether it be geology you are studying or any other subject1 and to follow the truth whithersoever it leads4 ,footnote #ba3 ,see p4 #ia4 ,,table ,,of ,,strata ,recent4 ,peat and ,river ,alluvium4 ,pleistocene4 ,plateau ,gravels3 ,valley ,gravels and ,brick-,earth4 ,pliocene ,absent from the ,isle of ,wight4 ,miocene ,marine1 ,corbula ,beds ,hamstead ,freshwater ,estuarine4 ,bembridge ,marls ,bembridge ,beds ,bembridge ,limestone ,oligocene ,osborne and ,st4 ,helen's ,beds4 ,tertiary ,upper4 ,freshwater and ,brackish ,headon ,middle4 ,marine ,beds ,lower4 ,freshwater and ,brackish ,barton ,barton ,sand4 ,beds ,barton ,clay4 ,eocene ,bracklesham ,beds4 ,bagshot ,sands ,london ,clay ,plastic ,clay 7,reading ,beds7 ,white ,upper ,chalk 7,chalk with flints7 ,chalk ,middle ,chalk 7,chalk without flints7 ,a4 plenus ,marls ,upper ,lower ,grey ,chalk ,cretaceous ,chalk ,chalk ,marl ,chloritic ,marl ,upper ,chert ,beds ,selbornian ,greensand ,sandstone and ,rag ,beds ,mesozoic ,gault or ,secondary ,carstone ,lower ,sandrock and ,clays ,greensand ,ferruginious ,sands ,atherfield ,clay ,lower ,perna ,bed ,cretaceous ,shales ,wealden ,variegated ,marls ,,for ,,further ,,study4 ,memoirs of the ,geological ,survey4 ,general ,memoir of the ,isle of ,wight1 date #ahhi4 ,new edition1 entitled ,a short account of the ,geology of the ,isle of ,wight1 by ,h4 ,j4 ,osborne ,white1 ,f4,g4,s41 #aiba1 price #ajs4 ,the ,memoirs are the great authority for the ,geology of the ,island3 technical2 books for ,geologists4 ,the ,new ,edition is more condensed than the original1 but contains much later research4 ,mantell's ,geological ,excursions round the ,isle of ,wight1 #ahdg4 ,by one of the great early geologists4 ,long out of print1 but worth getting1 if it can be picked up second-hand4 ,norman's ,guide to the ,geology of the ,isle of ,wight1 #ahhg1 still to be obtained of ,booksellers in the ,island4 ,gives details of strata1 and lists of fossils1 with pencil drawings of fossils4 ,other books bearing on the subject have been mentioned in the text and foot-notes4 ,an excellent geological map of the ,island1 printed in colour1 scale #a in4 to the mile1 full of geological information1 is published by the ,survey at #cs4 ,a good collection of fossils and specimens of rocks from the various strata of the ,isle of ,wight has recently been arranged at the ,sandown ,free ,library1 and should be visited by all interested in the ,geology of the ,island4 ,it should prove a most valuable aid to all who take up the study1 and a great assistance in identifying any specimens they may themselves find4 ,illustration ,,geological ,,map ,,of ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,wight ,,index ,words in ,italics refer to a page where the meaning of a term is given4 ,agates1 #bb1 #da1 #ej ,alum ,bay1 #ef-fb ,ammonites1 #cb1 #cd1 #ci1 #dd ,anticline1 #ab ,astronomical ,theory of ,ice ,age1 #hc1 #he ,atherfeld1 #bi ,avon ,river1 #id ,barrows1 #ajb1 #ajd ,barton1 #fa ,belemnites1 #cc ,bembridge ,limestone1 #fe -- shingle at1 #ie ,benettites1 #bg ,blue ,slipper1 #ae ,bonchurch1 #ej1 #ajc ,bos primigenius1 #aja1 #ajb ,botany1 #ajf ,bracklesham1 #ei1 #fj ,brading ,harbour1 #ij1 #ia ,bronze age1 #ajc ,brook1 #bi ,building ,stone1 #ci1 #fe ,carstone1 #bf1 #ce ,chalcedony1 #bb1 #da1 #ej ,chale1 #cc ,chalk1 divisions of1 #de1 #ea1 #eb -- ,marl1 #de -- ,rock1 #de ,chalybeate ,springs1 #be ,chert1 #ci ,chloritic ,marl1 #dd ,climate4 ,coal1 #h1 #fa ,colwell ,bay1 #fd ,compton ,bay1 #ca1 #ci ,conglomerate1 modern1 #be ,crackers1 #cb ,cretaceous4 ,crioceras1 #cd ,current ,bedding1 #bg ,cycads4 ,denudation1 #c1 #ab1 #gf1 #hj1 #hb ,dip1 #aa ,echinoderms1 #dh1 #eb ,eocene1 #ed ,erosion1 marine1 #d pre-,tertiary1 #ed ,escarpment1 #ad ,faults1 #ac ,fault at ,brook1 #cj ,flint1 origin of1 #dg implements1 #ig ,flora1 ,alum ,bay1 #ei ,eocene1 #eh1 #fb ,wealden1 #ah1 #bg ,foraminifera1 #db1 #fa ,gat ,cliff1 #ch ,gault1 #cg ,glacial ,period1 #gg-he ,glauconite1 #bd1 #ci1 #dd ,gore ,cliff1 #ci1 #dd ,greensand1 ,lower1 #bc-cf ,upper1 #cg ,gravels1 #ej1 #gi1 #hi1 #ic-ie ,hamstead1 #fe1 #fg ,headon ,hill1 #fb-fd ,hempstead1 see ,hamstead4 ,hyopotamus1 #fi ,ice ,age1 #gg-he ,iguanodon1 #bj ,insect ,limestone1 #fg ,iron ,ore1 #bb1 #bd ,iron pyrites1 #bb ,landslips1 #be1 #ch ,limnaea1 #fc1 #fd1 #ff ,lobsters1 ,atherfield1 #cb ,london ,clay1 #eg ,luccombe1 ,landslip at1 #be ,mammalian ,remains1 #ff1 #fi ,mammoth1 #gg1 #ha ,marvel1 #ce ,medina1 #ic ,melbourn ,rock1 #de ,miocene1 #fi1 #ga1 #gf ,nautilus1 #cb1 #de ,needles1 #d ,neolithic ,man1 #ajj ,newtown ,river1 #ajb ,nummulites1 #fa ,oligocene1 #fc ,palaeolithic ,man1 #ig ,perna ,bed1 #bc1 #ca ,pine ,raft1 #bi ,planorbis1 #fc1 #fd1 #ff ,plastic ,clay1 #eg ,priory ,bay1 #ii ,purbeck ,marble1 #af ,quarr1 #fe ,rag1 #ch ,rock 7place71 #ce ,roman ,villas1 #ajd ,st4 ,boniface ,down1 #ej1 #ajj1 #aje ,st4 ,george's ,down1 #gi1 #ajj ,sandown ,anticline1 #aa-ac1 #hi ,sandrock1 #be1 #ce ,scaphites1 #cd ,scenery1 #aje ,sea ,urchins1 #dh1 #eb1 ,shanklin ,chine1 #ajg ,solent1 #id ,southampton ,dock1 #aja ,water1 #id ,sponges in ,flint1 #dg ,stone ,age1 #ig ,strata1 ,table of1 #aaj1 #aaa ,strike1 #aa ,submerged ,forest1 #aja ,swanage1 #ic ,syncline1 #ab ,table of ,strata1 #aaj1 #aaa ,tertiary1 #ed ,totland ,bay1 #fc1 #ie ,tufa1 #de ,turtle1 #eh1 #fe1 #fh ,undercliff1 formation of1 #be1 #ch ,volcanic ,action1 #e ,wealden1 #ae ,whitcliff ,bay1 #ef-fg ,wood1 ,fossil1 #h1 #ae1 #ah1 #bg1 #bi ,yar1 ,eastern1 #hi-ia ,western1 #ib ,zones of ,chalk1 #ea1 #eb ,printed by ,the ,crypt ,house ,press1 ,bell ,lane1 ,gloucester4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,with the exception of the changes noted below1 the text in this file is the same as that in the original printed version4 ,these may include alternate spelling from what may be common today 7for example1 gneisse72 punctuational and_/or grammatical nuances4 ,additionally1 several missing periods were inserted2 but are not listed below4 ,lastly1 the ,index seems to be missing a few references to page numbers and were left as originally printed4 ,emphasis ,encoding ,text - ,italicized ,text ,text - ,greek translation ,typographical ,corrections ,page #fi3 regious regions ,page #aja3 sourrounding surrounding ,page #ajb3 remains ,in the peat 444 in 444 ,page #ajf3 surounding surrounding