Page:Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1838 Vol.2.djvu/217

Mr. H UTTON on the Stratiform Basalt. At Ratcheugh Crag, the Basalt forms a bold escarpment facing the west, upon the top of which the Duke of Northumberland has a tower which commands an extensive prospect. Near Ratcheugh House the Whin is overlaid by a thin bed of Limestone, not more than six inches thick, which is rendered perfectly chrystalline and white. From this spot the edge of the Whin forms a ridge indicated by a series of round-topped eminences proceeding towards Long Houghton; these may be easily traced by the eye running towards the sea-coast.

At the north end of Long Houghton, the Whin rises above the surface by the road side, and to the east of Howick Hall it forms a bold cliff presenting its face to the west, the bed being here seven to eight fathoms thick; this line of escarpments continues with the usual depressions by Craster Sea Houses to Dunstanbrough Castle. At this spot the Whin forms the uppermost bed, which by the natural course of the strata dips into the sea in an unbroken face of rock, which is constantly black by being wet with the spray; this forms the horrible rocky coast to the east and south of the castle.

A small stream, called Embleton Mill Burn, cuts through the Whin in its passage to the sea. At the south end of the village of Embleton the Whin is worked for the roads, and is found reposing upon a Shale bed of a light blue colour (here called a pencil bed), the natural and perpendicular partings of which contain thin films of brown Sulphuret of Zinc. From Embleton, the edge of the Whin is indicated by a series of low hillocks gradually approaching the sea until it disappears a little north of Newton.

By a general depression of the strata the bed under review reappears about two miles south of Bambrough, and running by Elford, which is upon its edge, it sweeps up to Belford by Spindleston and Easington, its course being marked, as usual, by a series of irregular eminences. From Belford it runs by Raven Crag to Kyloe; at Raven Crag it rises majestically into a cliff of eighty or ninety feet high. The Whin here is underlaid by a series of thick Sandstone beds which present their