II.—The Chalk Bluffs at Trimingham

Abstract

The huge masses of chalk in the glacial drift on both sides of Cromer, and especially at the headland near Trimingham, have for many years attracted the attention of geologists. In this Magazine (Dec. II, Vol. VII, 1880, p. 55) and in the Survey Memoir on the Geology of the Country around Cromer, published in 1882, Mr. Clement Reid ascribes those at the latter place to the advance of an ice-sheet by which the chalk has been thrust up into a kind of fold and the flint layers have been bent, illustrating his interpretation by a diagrammatic section. We visited the Cromer cliffs for the first time in 1892, and after a careful examination of the Trimingham headland, not only felt more strongly than before certain weak points in Mr. Reid's reasoning, but also observed some facts difficult to reconcile with his conclusions. Since that date we have more than once visited these sections, and found last April that comparatively recent inroads of the sea had made great changes which had shown the relations of the chalk and glacial drift to be, in our opinion, incompatible with Mr. Reid's interpretation.

Stratigraphy of Maastrichtian Foraminiferida from the United Kingdom; the Maastrichtian of Norfolk

“…In many cases the structure and internal stratigraphy of these masses are complex and difficult to determine, given the vagaries of exposure at any one time. However, over a hundred years of careful observation of the constantly changing patterns of exposure (Lyell, 1840;Trimmer, 1847;Reid, 1882;Bonney & Hill, 1905;Brydone, 1906Brydone, , 1908Brydone, , 1909Brydone, , 1938Peake & Hancock, 1961, 1970Wood, 1967Wood, , 1988 have produced a relatively clear understanding of the overall geometry and structure of most of the masses. Many of these masses are completely enclosed within the till.…”