On the “Lower London Tertiaries” of Kent

Abstract

From what has been said above, and from a study of the sections in Plate XXII., we may gather the following facts amongst others:— 1. That the base-bed ( a ) is the only constant part of the Thanet Beds. 2. That the higher and fossil-bearing parts of that series ( d, e ) occur only in the east, which partly explains why it is often very hard to separate the Thanet Beds from the overlying series in the eastern part of Kent, whilst the division is well-marked westward; and that the unfossiliferous sand ( c ) thins out on the east, so that the Thanet Beds near Canterbury may be a different thing from the Thanet Beds between London and Rochester. 3. That the bottom-bed (1) is also constant, except in the far east. 4. That above this last there is always a sand (2), a pebble-bed (2 a ), or a mottled clay (2 b ), which replace one another. 5. That one very thin bed (3) in the middle of the Woolwich Series seems to occur right through Kent, at all events through the eastern division. 6. That the higher and estuarine members (4, 5) of the same series occur only in the western and central parts of the county. 7. That the pebbles (β) at the bottom of the Oldhaven Beds (except at Upnor, where there is a little sand (α) below) are constant, being, however, locally replaced by brown iron-ore in some places near Canterbury. 8. That in West Kent this series lies irregular on that below, whilst in the