On the Geology of the Country near Ripon

Abstract

The city of Ripon is built upon a thick bed of Glacial drift, which lies in a trough, between the Magnesian limestone and the New red sandstone. This drift is to the geologist particularly interesting. But before I proceed to speak of the manner in which, apparently, it was deposited, it will be well first to describe the older formations upon which it lies: and in doing so I shall take them in a descending order. The most recent of these is the New Red sandstone. This lies to the east of Ripon, and rises into a gentle hill near the railway station, thence it dips eastward at a very small angle, and forms the greater portion of the vale of York. It is commonly a fine grained red sandstone; though sometimes it is of a yellowish-white colour, as at Rainton. As a building stone it is somewhat perishable. It is entirely devoid of fossils, but contains beds of gypsum, about a mile and a half to the north of Ripon, on the west side of the river Ure. These consist of layers of grey and white gypsum, alternating with seams of red sandy clay, and are remarkable on account of their contorted stratification. Here and there the gypsum is of a pale green tint, which is perhaps due to the presence of a small amount of copper. The Magnesian Limestone lies below the new red sandstone, and rises towards the west at a gentle angle, forming a series of ...