The Medals of Creation, Volumes 1 and 2: First Lessons in Geology and the Study of Organic RemainsMantell, Gideon Algernon
Science
The Medals of Creation, Volumes 1 and 2: First Lessons in Geology and the Study of Organic Remains
Mantell, Gideon Algernon
Geology -- England -- Guidebooks; Paleontology
The Tertiary formations afford numerous species of Caryophylliæ,
Flustræ, Escharæ, Spongia, &c.; and the _Crag_, several genera that
are as yet but imperfectly determined. The older Tertiary, or Eocene
deposits, contain Turbinoliæ, Astreæ, Fungiæ, Meandrinæ, and species
of other genera, the recent types of which are inhabitants of tropical
seas.
The zoophytes of the British Chalk have been illustrated in detail
by Mr. Lonsdale in Dixon's Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils of the
South-East of England; and by Dr. Milne Edwards in the Monographs of
the Palæontological Society.
In the Maestricht deposits, lamelliferous corals, as Astreæ, Fungiæ,
Meandrinæ, &c. prevail, and may be extracted from the friable
arenaceous limestones in a fine state of preservation. In the White
Chalk and Greensand of this country, the Spongites and allied genera
are abundant, and associated with Caryophylliæ, Astreæ, and many forms
of Bryozoa.
But in the cretaceous formation of England, no coral-reefs are
observable; the zoophytal remains, with but a few local exceptions,
occur promiscuously intermingled with the fishes, shells, Radiaria, and
other marine exuviæ; although many layers, or thin seams of chalk and
marl, are largely composed of the detritus of corals, like the modern
deposits of the Bermudas (_Wond._ p. 613). These phenomena are in
accordance with the lithological characters of the White Chalk strata,
and the nature of its mollusca, both of which indicate a deep sea; and
coral-reefs are only formed at moderate depths. But in regions where
the sea was shallow, during the deposition of the cretaceous rocks,
beds of coral limestone were produced; and these also contain littoral
(sea-shore) shells, associated with the usual sponges and zoophytes
(_Wond._ p. 613).
In the marine secondary formations antecedent to the cretaceous,
namely, the Lias and Oolite, coral-reefs, which appear to have
undergone no change save that of elevation from the bottom of the sea,
and the consolidation of their materials by mineral infiltrations,
demonstrate a condition of the ocean in our latitudes, which is now
only met with in the tropics (_Wond._ p. 614).
The limestones of the Carboniferous, Devonian, and Silurian formations,
abound in anthozoan corals, and among them are many kinds of
Cyathophyllum, Lithododendra, Syringopora, Catenipora, Graptolites,
&c., which are characteristic of these deposits.
The Silurian zoophytes are figured in _Sil. Syst._; and the splendid
works on the British Palæozoic Fossils, by Prof. Sedgwick and Prof.
McCoy, now in course of publication, contain many admirable figures of
new, or but imperfectly known species.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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