VIII. The Post-Tertiary Fossiliferous Beds of Scotland

Abstract

II.—CUMBRAE COLLEGE. During the sinking of a water tank (1867), a bed of shell-bearing sand was exposed near the College, in the Isle of Cumbrae, which must be classed with the older Arctic deposits of the West of Scotland. We were kindly apprised of its existence by Mr. Levack, and found the depth of excavations reached to be 7 feet, with the following succession of deposits :— The elevation (obligingly taken for us by Mr. James Brown, Engineer, Millport) is 32 feet 9 inches above high water level; and the bed occurs at a distance of about 200 yards from the shore, measuring from the high tide mark. The excavation was made on the road side, a little north of the College gate, upon the flat of slightly elevated ground, on which the residence of the Hon. Mr. Boyle (termed the “Garrison”) is built. On parts of this flat ground beds of Nullipore are met with, belonging to an old sea beach, and covered by a few inches of mould, which has the appearance of being a late addition for agricultural purposes. The Nullipore, however, is remarkable, since it is not now found in the adjoining bay. The shell-bed reached during the workings, which we propose to term the Cumbrae College Deposit, is remarkable among the glacial beds of the Clyde district, through containing so large a proportion of sand. Taking 7 ½ lbs. of the dried material, only ten ounces washed away through a sieve of 96 threads to This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract