The New Red Sandstone of South Devonshire

Abstract

The objects of this paper are to supplement previous descriptions of the coast sections of the New Red Sandstone from Exmouth to Oddicombe, and to discuss views of the origin of the rocks as stated in the following quotation from the revised Torquay Memoir (Ussher-LIoyd, 1933, p. 105): “It is generally accepted that the lower New Red Sandstone breccias result from continental conditions, in which the extremes of temperature and recurring torrential rainfall operated on the bare slopes of a mountainous region, to produce diluvial fans, similar to those now being formed in the mountain valleys of Kashmir and Persia, The Dartmoor granite no doubt once formed an elevated dome and from this high ground, much higher and more extensive than at present, torrents flowing in a general easterly direction would produce gravelly accumulations, composed largely of the angular debris of formations then exposed. These accumulations may in part have been swept into a lake and there mixed with, or alternated with, beds of sand deposited under normal conditions; wind-borne sand may also have been blown from the desert into this lake or inland sea.” The term “diluvial fans” was introduced by Lloyd into the revised memoir, obviously without any reference to Pleistocene glacial deposits or the Deluge of Noah, as might be suspected from the use of this old word “diluvial”. “Alluvial fans” is preferred here and no evidence has been found of glacial action at any time.

A history and bibliography of the study of fossil vertebrate footprints in the British isles

“…Clayden's discovery was briefly reported and discussed in Hickling's 1909 review [209] : it was mentioned in R. L. Sherlock's account of the Permian of southern England in 1928 [165] and in J. B. Scrivenor's account of the New Red Sandstone of Devonshire in 1948 [164].…”

The Lower New Red Sandstone of the Crediton Valley

“…They are usually cited as " torrential " deposits laid down in a semi-arid climate (Ussher, Lloyd, Chatwin and Shannon, 1933). Scrivenor (1948), however, favoured deposition on beaches. The source of the red colour may have been a result of " lateritic " weathering (Thomas, 1909 ;Scrivenor, 1948).…”

“…Pengelley described alleged " granite " pebbles from near North Tawton and Great Haldon (1862, p. 51). Shannon (1927) did not recognize granite in the New Red Sandstone near Torquay, but Scrivenor (1948) reported a boulder from south of Dawlish " that could not be distinguished from the porphyritic granite of the West of England ".…”

“…Since the feldspar is now known to be a sanidine (see below ; also Scrivenor, 1948) a granite source is unlikely.…”

Devonian Limestone Pebbles in Central Devon

“…The pebbles in these deposits have been the subject of an extensive study in the past (Worth, 1890 ;Ussher, 1902 ;Ussher, Reid et al, 1913 ;Scrivenor, 1948). They consist mainly of fragments from the underlying Devonian and Culm rocks, but at certain horizons pebbles and boulders of igneous and metasomatized rocks are abundant.…”