Geology at the British Association

Abstract

IT is only natural that the salient geological features of the district in which the association meets should in some degree influence the character of the papers pre-sented to Section C. Yorkshire, being rich in glacial and post-glacial problems, it is not surprising that special attention was directed to the more recent episodes in the earth's history. The presidential address dealt with British drifts and the inter-glacial problem, and, after a review of all the evidence bearing on the question, Mr. Lamplugh pronounces that no proof of mild inter-Glacial epochs, or even of one such epoch, has been discovered during the examination of glaciated districts in England, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. The “Middle Glacial” sands and gravels of our islands afford no proof of mild inter-glacial conditions or of submergence. In most cases, if not in all, they represent the fluvio-glacial material derived from ice sheets. Most of the fossiliferous beds regarded as inter-glacial contain a fauna and flora compatible with cold conditions of climate, and, in the exceptional cases where a warmer climate is indicated, the relation of the deposits to the Boulder-clays is open to question.