The Rocks below the Red Chalk of Lincolnshire, and their Cephalopod Faunas

Abstract

I. Introduction Though the rocks below the Red Chalk of Lincolnshire are of peculiar interest, the absence of exposures along the coast, together with the rarity and transitory character of inland excavations, have made it exceedingly difficult to build up a body of information that approaches, even approximately, that standard of detail and accuracy which characterizes modern stratigraphy. Any information that can be culled from borings is, therefore, of especial value. In the early summer of 1932 the Alford Town Council sank a boring in search of water from the Spilsby Sandstone. After piercing a thick covering of boulder-clay, the boring entered the lower part of the Red Chalk and then passed through 200 feet of other strata before entering the Spilsby Sandstone. Fortunately, a long spell of dry weather preserved the core from that rapid disintegration which would have been produced by rain, and also enabled me to make the requisite number of journeys from Nottingham to Alford for effecting a careful examination of the core. My heartiest thanks are due to Mr. R. Bentham and to Mr. P. E. Kent, who accom- panied me on most of the journeys and helped me with the laborious task of breaking up the rock and of making a thoroughly representative collection of specimens from all portions of the core. Other borings have subsequently been put down at Maitbyle-Marsh, Fordington, and Skegness, but the use of the percussion method of boring, and other circumstances, have prevented me from obtaining more than fragmentary