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Wensleydale the Yoredale Series at Leyburn in on Some Remains Of Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Virginia on November 8, 2013 Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society On some Remains of Fossil Fishes from the Yoredale Series at Leyburn in Wensleydale James W. Davis Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 1884, v.40; p614-635. doi: 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1884.40.01-04.51 Email alerting click here to receive free service e-mail alerts when new articles cite this article Permission click here to seek permission request to re-use all or part of this article Subscribe click here to subscribe to Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society or the Lyell Collection Notes © The Geological Society of London 2013 614 J.W. DAVIS 0N REMAINS OF FOSSIL FISHES 42. On some R~Ar~s of FossrL FIsn~.s from the Yo~vA~ Smu~ at LErBVR~ in WrNSZErVA~E. By J~ws W. DAWs, Esq., F.G.S., &c. (Read December 19, 1883.) [PLATES XXVI. & XXVIL] IN Yorkshire the fossil remains of fishes in Carboniferous strata other than those of the Coal-measures are comparatively rare. Some species have been found in the Millstone-grit series, notably in a calcareous bed of sandstone at Hebden Bridge, near Halifax. Immediately below the Millstone Grit in Wensleydale there are a number of alternating beds of limestone, shale, and sandstone, about 1000 feet in thickness, to which Prof. Phillips applied the term "Yoredale Series." In the uppermost bed of these rocks, namely the Crow Limestone, a number of fish-remains have been discovered, and in the next limestone, about 60 feet lower in the series, a most important stratum has been found, which contains an immense assemblage of the remains of fossil fishes of extremely varied and, in some instances, extraordinary types. The limestone was named by Prof. Phillips the "Main Limestone," and is locally known by the term "Red Beds," derived from the reddish eolour of the limestone. It has a crystalline texture and presents a coarse and rough appearance. It has been worked at the Harmby limestone- quarrY near the railway-station at Leyburn, and it is from this quarry that the greatest number of fossils have been obtained. They principally occur on one horizon about 30 feet below the original surface of the ground; and when a fresh exposure of this horizon or stratum is made during the operat:ion of quarrying, the fish-remains, consisting for the most part of teeth, and an occasional spine, may be seen scattered over the surface in large numbers. They are nevertheless extremely difficult to detach, and fracture with the limestone in a most tantalizing manner, so that com- paratively few good specimens can be secured. I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Rodwell, mining engineer, for the following section of the strata in Wensleydale, taken at the Keld Head lead-mines. It will show the relative posi~on of the beds more clearly than a description in words :- fins. ft. in. /'Grits ................................... ~, ......................... 6 0 0 I Plate or shale ....................... : ........................... 1 0 0 ~ [Millstone-grit ...................... $ ........................... 6 0 0 J Hasle-grit ........................................................ 1 0 0 !~ ] Plate and ~rdles ....................... : ........................ 4 0 0 ~ I Stoneplate ...................................................... 1 0 0 IC'oal ............................................... 6 inchesto" 0 3 6 ~ Grits and shales alternately in th~ beds .................. 11 0 0 Crow chert ...................................................... 3 1 6 Crow limestone (tlsh-remains) .............................. 2 4 6 Gritstone ......................................................... 6 0 0 Plate ............................................................... 3 0 0 Girdles and shale ............................................. 2 0 0 '. 13. 12, ', ~/- "'\ / A " 2. ! ' 17, Mdn~er,n ~os "imp YO~EDALEI FOSSIL F:SHES. L ' . ! qu~rt,, dom,n. Oeoi. Soc. 7o~. )~. n: )~v~fl. T~{nteen Bros. ~mp. YORF_X).AL.Z FOSSIL, FIS~t.E~ FRO:~[ THE YOREDALE SERIES. 615 fms. ft. in. Main chert or "Red Beds" (fish-remains) (Harmby limestone quarry) ............................................. 7 0 0 Thin limestone................................................... 1 1 6 Shales (Black quarry) .......................................... 1 1 0 Main or twelve-fathom limestone (Leyburn Scars) ...... 10 3 0 Grit ............................................................... 5 0 0 :Plate or shale ................................................... 4 0 0 Sandstones with coal 6 inches thick in Leyburn Shawl. 2 4 6 Plate ............................................................... 4 4 6 Undersett limestone (fish-remains) ........................ 2 1 6 Plate ............................................................... 4 3 0 Soapy gritstone ................................................ 3 3 6 Plate ............................................................... 4 3 0 Thin limestone ................................................... 1 3 0 :preston gritstone ................................................ 6 0 0 :plate and shales ................................................ 1 0 0 Limestone(fossiliferous).................. 9 4 0 Sandstones and shales in ai~rna~"beds"i ..... 10 0 0 KeldHeadslimestone .......................................... 10 4 0 Flagstone (Gilbert Scar) ....................................... 3 0 0 Plate ............................................................... 1 5 0 Gritstone and shale ............................................. 8 5 0 Grit and limestone ............................................. 2 1 0 :plate and shale ................................................ 4 0 0 Ash-bank limestone............................................. 7 0 0 Alternations of shale and sandstone ........................ 10 3 0 Six-fathom limestone .......................................... 10 1 0 Shales and limestone .......................................... 5 0 0 Limestone (thickness not proved, estimated) ............ 15 0 0 Grit (at West Burton) ....................................... 4 0 0 Limestone, thickness not known. The fish-remains from the Crow and Undersett limestones are rare both in numbers and species; nearly all those described in this paper have been obtained from the upper beds of the main limestone or "Red Beds." I wish to express my obligation to ]kIr. William Home, of Leyburn, for his kindness in placing his large collection, the result of many years of well-directed energy and persistent labour, at my disposal. Nearly all the specimens described or figured are from his cabinet. It is proposed: very briefly to draw attention to one or two ~features in the character of the Yoredale series of rocks, and to some peculiarities of the fishrfauna contained in them, and then to give a detailed account of the genera and species which have been determined. The thick-bedded massive limestone which occupies the surface of the county in the northern parts of Craven, attains a thickness ,varying between 600 and 1000 feet. The upper part of this great mass a little further north becomes intercalated with beds of shale, and the latter in its progress still further northward becomes of increasing thickness and importance, and in addi- tion strata of sandstone and grit also make their appearance. I~ the same localities the limestone holds a proportionately less important position, diminishing in thickness as the shales and sandstones increase. In Wensleydale the variety of alternations 2T2 616 ~. W. DAVIS ON REMAINS OF FOSSIL FISHES reaches its maximum, and in the upper beds there are one or two thin seams of coal. The inference to be drawn from these facts appears to be, that, during the period when the thick Mountain Limestone was in process of formation in the southern area, water constantly occupied the space, and whilst the ground was lowering and the limestone increasing in thickness in a more or less gradual and regular manner, a very much more complicated series of changes was taking place in the district to the northward. The alternations of limestone, shale, and sandstone, indicate repeated changes in the level of the land. At one time the water was deep enough for the existence of the animal forms of life which originated the limestone ; at others, the mud, brought from some adjacent land, formed accumulations represented by the shales, probably in water shallower than during the formation of limestone. The sandstones point to extensive shore-deposits and the immediate proximity of land, whilst the coal-seams are the result of the decomposition of plants which grew on the land, the disintegration of which supplied the materials for the accumulated deposits of shale and sandstones. The fish-fauna preserved in these strata presents some peculiarities which distinguish it from that of the thick-bedded Mountain Lime- stone below, as well as from that of the Coal-measures above. The remains of large predaceous fishes common in the Lower Limestone, such as Ctenacanthus major, Phoderacanthus, and the large species of Orodus, are absent ; on the other hand, the similarly large represen- tatives of the Coal-measures, such as Gyracanthus and Ctenacanthus hybodoides, are also absent from the Red Beds of Wensleydale. Several genera found in these beds are, however, common to the Mountain Limestone, such as Petalodus, Lophodus, and Cladodus ; but they axe for the most part of different species. Polyrhizodus, Psammodus, Copodus, and Peecilodus, typical forms in the Mountain Limestone, are also
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