On the Discovery of Hippopotamic and other Remains in the Neighbourhood of Leeds

Abstract

The superficial deposits which are so prominent in every quarter of the globe,—on the vast plains of South America, the swamps of North America, the flats and gorges of New Zealand and Australia, the ridges of the Himalayas, the shores of Siberia, the Steppes of Russia, and, lastly, on extensive districts in the British Isles,—must of necessity be invested with great interest, from the circumstance that such accumulations are the relics of the last physical changes which have taken place on the surface of the earth, and are, therefore, (geologically speaking,) of comparatively modern date and, in some instances, probably, approaching to, if not during, historic times. These accumulations, known as beds of gravel, boulder clay, &c., are of varying character and nature, and also derived from different sources. They are, further, either extensive in their distribution, or limited and local. The Rev. Wm. Thorp, in an able paper read before this Society, has demonstrated four such gravel beds as occurring in Yorkshire, of different geological ages and derived from different sources, each possessing peculiar and well marked characters. The first of these, which covers vast districts in other counties, and is known as the Great Northern Drift, has transported boulders of rocks from Cumberland and Westmoreland for 110 miles, over the plains of York, from the Tees to the Humber, and up to Flamborough Head. The second is a range of gravel which touches the former, and varies from one to two miles in breadth, and passes ...