File:The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of London (13859747845).jpg

GRAVEL BEDS OF ABERDEENSHIRE.
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In some of the cliffs about half
a mile to the north of Collieston
this grey stuff seems to thin out

and the lowermost bed next the
rock consists of a mass of loose
pebbly gravel and sand, exactly the
same as that of the Sippet Hills,
with abundance of limestone debris
and frequent crumbs of shells.
This coarse pebbly gravel is seldom
more than 5 feet deep (but in one
section there are 16 feet of it)

and it passes up into a thick mass
of fine brownish sand, with occa-
sional streaks of gravel. This sand
and gravel (c) form a large part of
the sea-banks along the coast of
Slains

and in some few places they
lie, as I have said, upon the sur-
face of the gneiss rock, without the
intervention of any noticeable bed
of other stuff between them

but
as a rule they repose upon the top
of some thickness of the grey
rubbish I have just described. The
thickness of the sand and gravel
is often very great, from 40 to 60
feet being not uncommon between
Collieston and Clochtow. Occa-
sionally the whole mass is com-
posed of fine, soft, brownish sand,
without stones of any kind

and
in these cases no shells are met
with, or only some very fine shelly
dust. Generally there are some
streaks and seams of reddish sandy
clay or silt interstratified with the
brownish sand, especially towards
the top; and the sand in these
places is often tinged with red. In
other places the sand is varied with
seams and irregular undulating
beds of pebbly gravel or coarse
sand

and in these we generally
find some of the limestone debris
and crumbs of shells.
I have not observed any large
boulders imbedded in this deep mass
of sand and gravel, which extends
along the coast all the way from
a. J. GL S. No.