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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CAU-CHA |
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CHALK , the name given to any soft, pulverulent, pure white limestone. The word is an old one, having its origin in the Saxon cealc, and the hard form " kalk " is still in use amongst the country folk of Lincolnshire. The German Kalk comprehends all forms of limestone; therefore a special
The Chalk formation, in addition to the typical chalk material creta scriptoriacomprises several variations; argillaceous kindscreta marga of Linnaeusknown locally as maim, marl, clunch, &c.; and harder, more stony kinds, called rag, freestone, rock, hurlock or harrock in different districts. In certain parts of the formation layers of nodular flints (q.v.) abound; in parts, it is inclined to be sandy, or to contain grains of glauconite which was originally confounded with another green mineral
The earliest attempts at subdivision of the Chalk formation initiated by Wm. Phillips were based upon lithological characters, and such a classification as " Upper Chalk with Flints," " Lower Chalk without Flints," " Chalk marl or Grey chalk," was generally in use in England until W. Whitaker established the following order in 1865: Upper Chalk, with flints chalk rock Lower Chalk chalk with few flints chalk without flints Totternhoe stone marl In France, a similar system of classification was in vogue, the subdivisions being craie blanche, craie tufan, craie chlorites, until 1843 when d'Orbigny proposed the term Senonien for the Upper Chalk and Turonien for the Lower; later he divided the Turonien, giving the name Cenomanien to the lower portion. The subdivisions of d'Orbigny were based upon the fossil contents and not upon the lithological characters of the rocks. In 1876 Prof. Ch. Barrois showed how d'Orbigny's classification might be applied to the British chalk rocks; and this scheme has been generally adopted by geologists, although there is some divergence of opinion as to the exact position of the base line of the Cenomanian.The accompanying table shows the classification now adopted in England, with the zonal fossils and the continental names of the substages: Since Prof. Barrois introduced the zonal system of subdivision (C. Evans had used a similar scheme six years earlier), our know-ledge of the English chalk has been greatly increased by the work
The Upper Chalk has a maximum thickness in England of about r000 ft., but post-cretaceous erosion has removed much of it in many districts. It is more constant in character, and more typically chalky than the lower stages; flints are abundant, and harder nodular beds are limited to the lower portions, where some of the compact limestones are known as " chalk rock." The thickness of the Middle Chalk varies from about loo to 240 ft.; flints become scarcer in descending from the upper to the lower portions. The whole is more compact than the upper stage, and nodular layers are more frequentthe " chalk rock " of Dorset and the Isle of Wight belong to this stage. At the base is the hard " Melbourne rock." The thickness of the Lower Chalk in England varies from 6o to 240 ft. This stage includes part of the " white chalk without flints," the " chalk marl," and the "grey chalk." The Totternhoe stone is a hard freestone found locally in this stage. The basement bed in Norfolk is a pure limestone, but very frequently it is many with grains of sand and glauconite, and often contains phosphatic nodules; this facies is equivalent to the " Cambridge Greensand " of some districts and the "chloritic marl "of others. In Devonshire the Lower Chalk has become thin sandy calcareous series .The chalk can be traced in England from Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, in a south-westerly direction, to the coast of Dorset; and it not only underlies the whole of the S.E. corner, where it is often obscured by Tertiary deposits, but it can be followed across the Channel into northern France. Rocks of the same age as the chalk are widespread (see CRETACEOUS SYSTEM); but the variety of limestone properly called by this name is almost confined to the Anglo-Parisian basin. Some chalk occurs in the great
Economic Products of the Chalk.Common chalk has been frequently used for rough building purposes, but the more important building stones are " Beer stone," from Beer Head in Devonshire, " Sutton stone " from a little north of Beer, and the " Totternhoe stone." It is burned for lime, and when mixed with some form of clay is used for the manufacture of cement; chalk marl has been used alone for this purpose. As a manure, it has been much used as a dressing for clayey land. Flints from the chalk are used for road metal and concrete, and have been employed in building as a facing for walls. Phosphatic nodules for manure have been worked from the chloritic marl and Cam-bridge Greensand, and to some extent from the Middle Chalk. The same material is worked at Ciply in Belgium and Picardy in France. Chalk is employed in the manufacture of carbonate of soda, in the preparation of carbon dioxide, and in many other chemical processes; also for making paints, crayons and tooth-powder. Whiting
Chalk Scenery.Where exposed at the surface, chalk 'produces rounded, smooth, Chalk Marl Zonal fossils used in Britain. Stages. N. France S.E. and and S. France. Belgium. A.. -Ostrea lunata (Norfolk) Danian? u x B. Belemnitella mucronata (Trimingham) a c n a Actinocamax quadratus Upper Chalk 'C u =Inoceramus lingua in Yorkshire Senonian a p o Marsupites, Craie blanche a~ a ^ `Marsupites testudinarium I w 4a. 0) Uintacrinus a d a' Micraster cor-anguinum w .Ey. A. cor-testudinarium U a Holaster planus, Chalk rock .a? 3 a 0 ca a c a ~ ch Terebratulina gracilis Middle Chalk Rhynchonella Cuvieri,Melbourne rock Turonian Craie marneuse Actinocamax plenus Lower Chalk. Holaster subglobosus, Totternhoe stone. Chalk Marl and Schloenbachia varians. Cambridge Green- sand Cenomanian Craie glauconieuse grass-covered hills as in the Downs of southern England and the Wolds of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The hills are often intersected by clean-cut dry valleys. It forms fine cliffs on the coast of Kent, Yorkshire and Devonshire. Chalk is employed medicinally as a very mild astringent either alone or more usually with other astringents. It is more often used, however, for a purely mechanical action, as in the preparation hydrargyrum cum creta. As an antacid its use has been replaced by other drugs. Black chalk or drawing slate is a soft carbonaceous schist, which gives a black streak, so that it can be used for drawing or writing. Brown chalk is a kind of umber. Red chalk or reddle is an impure earthy variety of haematite. French chalk is a soft variety of steatite, a hydrated magnesium silicate. The most comprehensive account of the British chalk is contained in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, " The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain," vol. ii. 1903, vol. iii. 1904 (with bibliography), by Jukes-Browne and Hill. See also " The White Chalk of the English Coast," several papers in the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, (I) Kent and Sussex, xvi. 1900, (2) Dorset, xvii., 1901, (3) Devon, xviii., 1903, (4) Yorkshire, xviii., 1904. (J. A. H.) End of Article: CHALK If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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