On some Sections in the Liassic and Oolitic Rocks of Yorkshire

Abstract

The upheaval of the Penine Anticlinal separating Lancashire and Yorkshire in a direction north and south; and the dislocation of the strata caused by the Great Craven Faults running east and west, have not only influenced the physical features of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but have also been instrumental in moulding the character of the country towards the eastern boundary of the County. The Carboniferous series were forced into a semi-circular basin, with a general depression towards the south-east, the Coal Measures were crushed and fractured in every direction, and innumerable faults exist as the result of this action. A long period of depression followed, and the several beds of the Millstone Grits and Coal Measures were denuded to a more or less regular surface, over which the Magnesian Limestones and other members of the Permian Series were unconformably deposited. They dip towards the east and disappear under the Keuper and Bunter Sandstones and Marls. The latter are in turn hidden beneath the thick glacial beds and river deposits which form the surface of the extensive plain of the river Ouse. On the eastern side of the plain of the Ouse, the physical conformation of the country assumes a lofty character; the Liassic series of the North Riding, surmounted by the sandstones of the Inferior Oolites, give rise to an extensive area of undulating moorlands reaching from Saltburn, in the north, to Emsley, Pickering, and Goathland Moors, in the south; towards Cloughton and Scarborough the sandstones are obscured by ...