The Chalky Clay of the Fenland and its Borders: its Constitution, Origin, Distribution, and Age

Abstract

The distribution of the Clay (so often termed Chalky Boulder Clay) is noticed, and it is stated that it is surrounded on all sides by country occupied by different deposits, being mainly separated from the sea on the east and north-east by sandy and pebbly materials, while on every other side it is clearly and sharply defined. The paucity of foreign stones is noted as compared with natives, and the similarity of the matrix of the Chalky Clay to the material of the older deposits of the neighbourhood. The Author maintains that the contents of the Clay indicate movement of material from west to east in some places, as shown by Jurassic fossils in the East Anglian Chalky Clay, and from east to west in others: in fact, that movement took place in sporadic lines diverging from the Wash and the Fens. He appeals to the amount of disintegration that has taken place to furnish the material for the Clay, the shape of the stones in the Clay, and the distribution of the Clay itself, as evidence against the action of land-ice or icebergs, maintaining that there is no evidence of submergence at the time the Clay was formed; and criticizes the attempts made to explain the formation of the Clay by water produced by the melting of ice. The Author believes that the denudation of the Fen country which produced the great mass of the Chalky Clay with most of its boulders was coincident with and caused by the