GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
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plain around Yuen Long are alluvial deposits brought down by the local streams. Marine shells have been dug up fifteen feet below the alluvial deposits at the brickyards on the Sheung Shui plain.
The alluvial origin of the plains is thus clear, and it is also evident that these plains are yearly growing seaward due to the deposition of the sediment brought down by the streams. It is interesting to note that an elevation of the land by 100 feet would restore the strand line approximately to the 16 fathom line and make all Hong Kong and the New Territories an integral part of the mainland. Thus across wide alluvial plains the Pearl River would develop several distributaries to the sea. There would possibly be a small channel flowing between Hong Kong and Lantau Island eastwards and a larger one passing close to the western end of Lantau Island in a south-easterly direction.
Note: The Geology section of this Chapter is reproduced from The Geology of Hong Kong by S. G. Davis.
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