The Lithological Succession of the Carboniferous Limestone (Avonian) of the Avon Section at Clifton

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Abstract
Although a very large amount of information concerning the lithology of the Carboniferous Limestone is now available, that of no section has hitherto been described in detail, and it seemed that a full account of the rocks of the classical Avon Section might prove of value. The first full account of the composition or structure of one of the rocks of that section was W. W. Stoddart's description of the ‘Bryozoa-Bed’ (‘Microzoal Bed’) in 1861 and 1865. In one of his papers on the Geology of the Bristol Coalfield, he further gave a considerable amount of information concerning the Avon rocks. Sorby, in his Presidential Address to the Geological Society in 1879, briefly alluded to some of the oolites from the Avon Section, but it was not until Mr. E. B. Wethered turned his attention to the subject that any detailed work was done. Mr. Wethered's investigations referred, on the one hand, to the chemical and mineralogical features, and on the other, to the faunal and microscopical characters. His paper on ‘Insoluble Residues obtained from the Carboniferous Limestone Series at Clifton’ dealt with the former subject, while that ‘On the Occurrence of the Genus Girvanella in Oolitic Kocks. & Remarks on Oolitic Structure’ contains a full description and analysis of the several oolitic bands occurring in the Avon Section. A fairly full account of the microscopical structure of many rock-types is also to be found in his paper on ‘The Building of Clifton Rocks.’ G. F. Harris also described and

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