A Handbook to the Geology of Cambridgeshire: For the Use of Students (Cambridge Library Collection – Cambridge)

Beneath Cambridgeshire’s towns, villages, farmland, hills, fens and waterways lie the rocks that display a variety of geological landscapes. Basement rocks are buried under sandy deposits from ancient tropical seas. The rising and tilting of the land due to large-scale movements permitted water flows that produced gradual alterations. Glaciation, erosion and dramatic variations in climate all wrought more rapid changes. The consequences of these processes are revealed in this scholarly 1897 account of the geology of Cambridgeshire, which integrated the latest research then available. Proceeding from the most ancient to the most recent beds, systematic consideration is given to the features, distribution and modes of formation, as well as the economic implications of the various strata. Discussions of palaeontology, including detailed lists of site-specific fossils, and of water supply are also provided. An appendix, lists, maps, memoirs and other publications of H.M. Geological Survey from 1814 to 1897 are included.