On the Quartzite Pebbles of the Oldhaven (Blackheath), Beds of the Southern Part of the London Basin

Abstract

IT is common knowledge to all geologists interested in the Lower Eocenes of the southern part of the London Basin that, in the Oldhaven (Blackheath) Pebble Beds, pebbles of a brown quartzite are often to be found on searching amongst the rounded flints of which these beds are so largely composed. When geological parties visit sections exposing the pebble-beds of the Lower London Tertiaries, the search for these quartzites usually constitutes one of the items of the field-work to be done. A considerable number of these pebbles must, by this time, have been collected but, although their occurrence has given rise to a good deal of discussion and speculation, nobody appears, so far, to have undertaken a systematic examination of their characters and petrological affinities. The view has been propounded that the study of these pebbles would throw light on the question of the source of the material composing the Lower London Tertiary beds.