Benton, M.J., Cook, E. and Hooker, J.J. 2005. Mesozoic and Tertiary Fossil Mammals and Birds of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series No. 32, JNCC, Peterborough.

The original source material for these web pages has been made available by the JNCC under the Open Government Licence 3.0. Full details in the JNCC Open Data Policy

Tables

(Table 2.1) The stratigraphy of the Stonesfield Slate

Thickness (m)
White Limestone Formation
Rubbly Limestone
Hampen Marly Formation
Clay with Terebratulites
Limestone
Blue Clay
Oolite
Blue Clay In total 9.75
Taynton Limestone Fomation c. 7.6
'Rag', consisting of shelly oolite, with casts of bivalves and univalves
Stonesfield Slate Beds
'Soft stuff, yellowish sandy clay, with thin courses of fibrous transparent gypsum 0.15
'Upper Head', sand enveloping a course of spheroidal laminated calcareous gritstones which produce the slate. These are called Totlids' from their figure, and receive with the other slaty bed the name of 'Pendle' as characteristic of workable stone. The stone is partially oolitic and shelly, sometimes full of small fragmentary masses 0.45
'Manure' or 'Race', slaty friable rock 0.3
'Lower Head', sand and grit, including a course of spheroidal concretions of slate 0.45–0.6
'Bottom stuff, sandy and

calcareous grit, with admixture of oolite grains

 0.3
Chipping Norton Limestone Formation

(Table 2.2) Composite section of the Kirtlington Old Cement Works GCR site, Oxfordshire (after Benton and Spencer, 1995)

Thickness (m)
Lower Cornbrash Formation
1. Limestone, rubbly and marly 1.07
2. Limestone, tough 0.76
3. Marl and nubby limestone, in places nodular 0.23
4. Astarte–Trigonia Bed. Limestone, very hard, grey 0.61
5. Clay, brown marly 0.30
Forest Marble Formation
1. Clay, grey and bluff, with some thin irregular hard bands 1.53
2. Clay, dark-grey (= beds 3w–z of Freeman, 1979) 0.69
3. Limestone, yellowish, flaggy, locally marly and 'shaly', oolitic, with occasional inclusions of white lithographic limestone; ripple marks, rain pits (?= bed 3v of McKerrow et al., 1969; Freeman, 1979) 0.61–0.92
4. Clay, grey-blue, with three pale mudstone layers, one at the bottom (= 3p–u of McKerrow et al., 1969; Freeman, 1979; = Unfossiliferous Cream Cheese Bed of Odling, 1913;and Arkell, 1931). The basal unconsolidated 0.04–0.25 m brown marl unit (Bed 3p) is the Kirtlington Mammal Bed of Freeman (1979). 2
5. Coral–Epithyris Limestone (Upper Epithyris Bed or 'Fossiliferous Cream Cheese Bed of Odling, 1913; and Arkell, 1931; ?Beds 3n–o of McKerrow et al., 1969). Limestone; at northern end an extremely hard white blue-hearted lithographic rock. Passes locally into unfossiliferous oolite 1.23–2.21
6. fimbriatus–waltoni Beds (= Bed 10 of Arkell, 1931; Beds 3k, 1 of McKerrow et al., 1969). Clay, grey-green to greenish black, with some pellets at top; bed largely made up of bivalves; when bed 7 is absent, there is lignite at the base 1.07
7. Oyster–Epithyris Marl (= Bed 9; Middle Epithyris Bed of Arkell, 1931; Bed 3k of McKerrow et al., 1969). Marl, brown. Locally, a thin layer of corals occurs below 0–0.75
White Limestone Formation
1. Limestone, hard, blue-hearted (?= Beds 3i, j of McKerrow et al., 1969) 0.92
2. Marl (?= Bed 3h of McKerrow et al., 1969) 0.23
3. Limestone, similar to 8 (?= Bed 3g of McKerrow et al., 1969) 0.84–0.92
4. Epithyris Limestone (= Lower Epithyris Bed of Arkell, 1931; = Beds 3a–f, Bed 1e of McKerrow et al., 1969). Limestones, white at west end of pit a mass of Epithyris. Thins out eastwards and replaced from beneath by lenticular limestones 2.44
5. Aphanoptyxis ardleyensis Bed. Limestones, well bedded 0.46–0.61
6. Nerinea eudesii Beds. Limestones in three courses 1.68

(Table 2.3) Section of the Watton Cliff GCR site

Thickness (m)
Forest Marble Formation
10. Flaggy blue limestone, showing ripple-marks, and clays or shales, with 'race'; the limestone preponderating 3.04
9. Clays with 'race', shaley limestone, thin shelly limestone and thin leaves of sandy limestone, ferruginous in places; the clay preponderating 6.10
8. (= 'calcirudite' of Holloway = ?Digona Bed of Torrens = 'Mammal Bed' of Freeman). Cross-bedded shelly limestones, sandy and oolitic in places, with irregular clay seams, many ochreous galls, lignite; and with the bivalves Camptonectes, Plagiostoma, Praeexogyra and fragments of the crinoid Apiocrinus 3.00–4.60
7. Grey clay (impersistent) 0–0.90
6. Hard, white or grey marl, with thin seams of bluish shelly limestone 0.15
5. Blue, flaggy argillaceous limestones, and blue and yellow clays, with thin layers of calcareous grit 9.15
4. (= Boueti Bed). Hard, sandy marl stained reddish-brown; Rhynchonella' bed, with the bivalve Chlamys vagans and the brachiopods Goniorhynchia boueti, Avonothyris langtonensis, Ornithella digona, crinoid (Apiocrinus) ossicles and serpulids Fuller's Earth 0.30
3. Bluish-yellow marl, with impersistent band of hard white marl 2.74
2. Hard, fissile white marl 0.84
1. Grey marls seen 25.00

(Table 2.4) Section of the Durlston Bay GCR site

Thickness (m)
Purbeck Limestone Group
Durlston Formation
Upper 'Cypris' Clays and Shales Member Total 12.8
Beds DB246 to DB224, including
Upper Purbeck Marble (= Blue Marble) DB244 0.76
Lower Purbeck Marble (= Red Marble) DB241 0.81
Green Marble DB237 to DB234 0.46
'Crocodile Bed' top of DB221
Unio Member Total 1.14
Beds DB223 to DB221
Broken Shell Limestone Member Total 8.15
Bed DB220
Chief Bed Member Total 8.15
Beds DB219 to DB190
Corbula Member Total 10.27
Beds DB189 to DB154
Scallop Member Total 1.55
Beds DB153 to DB146
Intermarine Member (or Upper Building Stone) Total 15.64
Beds DB145 to DB112, including
Leaning or Laning Vein DB144 to DB141 1.62
Royal Limestone DB140 0.30
Red Rag DB133 0.74–0.79
Under Rag DB131 0.69–0.76
Cinder Member Total 2.95
Bed 111
Lulworth Formation
Cherty Freshwater Member Total 8.12
Beds DB110 to DB87, including:
Flint Bed (or Cherty Freshwater Bed) DB97 0.84
Marly Freshwater Member Total 4.29
Beds DB86 to DB75, including
Mammal Bed DB83
Soft Cockle Member Total 23.16
Beds DB74 to DB42
Hard Cockle Member (?) Total 4.19
Beds DB42 to DB34
Cypris' Freestones Member (?) Total 15.47
Beds DB33 to DB11
Broken Beds Member At or below beach level

(Table 2.5) Section of the Cliff End GCR site

Thickness (m)
Hastings Group
Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation
Fine-grained, yellowish sandstones and silts with impersistent seams of mottled silty clay Up to 50
Wadhurst Clay Formation 50–57
Grey mudstones interlaminated with thin siltstones
Also: calcareous sandstone beds (Tilgate Stone), sandstone channel, fills, soils and, near the base:
Cliff End Bone Bed
Cliff End Sandstone
Top Ashdown Pebble Bed 10
Ashdown Sand Formation 180–200
The upper 30–50 m are chiefly sandstones, whereas the strata below are dominantly massive mottled sideritic sandstone beds.
Near the base:
Lee Ness Sandstone 1–2

(Table 3.1) The sedimentary log for the Creechbarrow GCR site, from Hooker (1986)

Thickness (m)
Superficial deposits
D. Modern topsoil 0.01–0.4
C. Soil horizon with limestone fragments and artefacts 0.2–0.4
B. Fine sandy soil horizon, no artefacts 0–0.3
A. Limestone rubble 0–0.3
Creechbarrow Limestone Formation
12. Buff marl with variable-sized limestone clasts and fossils including shells of land and freshwater snails, snail opercula, slug plates, vertebrates and reworked silicified Cretaceous bryozoans max. 1.6
Unnamed sands and clays
11. Pale-brown, sandy silty clay with occasional angular flint fragments 1.0
10. Pale-brown, clayey silty sand 0.3
9. Pale-brown, very sandy silty clay 0.16
8. Pale-grey, silty clay with low sand content 0.16
7. Pale-brown, very sandy silty clay 0.2
6. Pale-grey, very silty clay with low sand content 0.2
5. Pale-grey, sandy silty clay 0.31
4. Pale-brown, slightly clayey silty sand, the clay content reduced in the middle of the bed 0.5
3. Pale-brown, very clayey silty sand 0.18
2. Very pale-grey, calcareous silty sand 0.14
1. Whitish buff, very calcareous sand with small ovoid and tubular calcareous concretions 2–5 mm in diameter 0.14

(Table 3.2) The sedimentary sequence at Hordle Cliff (after Edwards and Daley, 1997)

Thickness (m)
Colwell Bay Member ('Middle Headon Beds')
Sand, fine; carbonaceous mottles and streaks (Milford Marine Bed) seen to 1.25
Totland Bay Member (lower Headon Beds')
33. Marl, grey-green, weathering rusty, with intercalated lenticular fine-grained sand 0.85
32c. Mud, carbonaceous, weathering pale pinky-grey; shell debris and bone fragments (Rodent bed in part) 0.04
32b. Marl, sandy, pale-green; abundant shell debris and bone fragments; Lymnaea, theridomyid teeth (Limnaea marl, Rodent bed in part) 0.10
32a. Marl, sandy, pale-green to rusty, to manly sand; scattered shell fragments 0.20
31c. Sand, fine-grained 0.60
31b. Muddy silt, thin bedded, passing up into fine-grained sand 0.80–1.07
31a. Muddy silt, thin bedded with marl and thin black mud intercalations; lenses of Viviparus lentus, Potamaclis turritissima, Unio solandri, ostracods; bands of seeds at base (Limnocarpus band) 0.40–0.46
30b. Greyish marls and clays, with intercalated fine-grained sand beds 2.80
30a. Muds, thin bedded, with intercalated fine-grained sand, especially near base, with U. solandri, V. lentus, seeds of Stratiotes, charophytes c. 2.50
29. Muds; seam of fine-grained sand with P. turritissima, basal sand resting on strongly burrowed junction 0.50
28. Sand, fine-grained, pale-brown to purplish; black muds with sand-filled burrows; humic muds at base (Chars bed) 0.50
26. Marl with sand-filled burrows passing down into sandy limestone 0.25–1.12+
25. Sand, medium-fine grained; thin marl near top 0.58
24. Marl, with calcareous mottles 0.75
23. Sand, fine-grained, passing up into muddy silt; black mud lenses in upper part 0.53
22. Mud, silty, blue; carbonate mottles common 0.36
21. Mud, shelly fine-grained sand layers; Potamomya plana 0.25
20. Sand, very fine-grained, passing up into mud with carbonate mottles; black mud lenses in upper part 0.28
19/18. Mud, blue carbonate mottles at top; shelly layers; P. plana, Lymnaea at base 0.40
17. Limestone; Lymnaea, Australorbis (Lymnaean limestone) 0.10
16. Mud, greenish; thin black mud at top, rusty-weathering mudstone; nodules towards base 0.95
15c. Silt, muddy; P. plana 0.10–0.20
15b. Sand, very fine-grained or silt; greenish mud bands; calcareous cementation near top; shell bed at base with P. plana (Crocodile bed) 1.36
15a. Thin bedded muddy silt and silty mud, brown and black; P. plana and seeds 0.32
14. Mud, silty; sand-filled burrows 0.04
13. Sand, medium-grained; shell debris at base (Rolled Bone Bed) 0.20–0.70
12. Muds, mainly very dark-grey, interbedded with layers and lenses of grey medium-grained sand; and sand, medium-grained; lignite layers; plant debris and seeds 0.50–1.90
11. Sand, medium-grained 1.30
10. Mud, silty: in-situ carbonaceous woody roots (Leaf bed) 0.40
9. Mud, blue-green, passing down into sand, fine, bluish mud mottles; muddy silt towards base; V. lentus, bones (Mammal bed) 2.50
8. Mud, massive, grey-blue; large rusty-weathering calcareous mudstone nodules near base 1.00
6. Silt or very fine sand, mottled with blue mud 0.15
5. Mud, massive, grey-blue, brown mottles, silty near base 1.70
1–4. Alternations of black and grey muds, some silty or sandy; some levels with rootlets and burrows; P. plana, Corbicula deperdita 1.25
Rests conformably on Becton Sand Formation ('Barton Sand')

(Table 3.3) Simplified sedimentary log for Headon Hill (based on Cray, 1973, Insole and Daley (1985) and personal observations by the present author, JJH, for the Headon Hill Formation, and Hooker et al. (1995), for the Bembridge Limestone Formation)

Thickness (m)
Bembridge Limestone Formation
Marl, grey with intercalated brown to back shelly and non-shelly muds 1.0
Shelly mud, grey, blue or green 1.4
Many limestone and limestone units, white and pale-brown c. 5.0
Headon Hill Formation
Osborne Member (part of 'Osborne Beds') Mud, red-green, mottled (partly obscured) 6.8
Fishbourne Member (part of 'Osborne Beds')
Mud, grey-green, shaly 4.0
Sandstone, brown, with thin pale-green marl at base 0.7
Lacey's Farm Limestone Member (part of 'Osborne Beds')
Arenaceous limestone, rubbly 3.7
Sandy marl and sand, green; calcareous concretions 0.5
Marl, pale-green 2.5
Cliff End Member (part of 'Osborne Beds' and part of 'Upper Headon Beds') Clays and marls 9.0
Hatherwood Limestone Member (part of 'Upper Headon Beds')
Limestones 2.8
Lignite (Lignite Bed) 0.7
Limestones 3.5
Linstone Chine Member (part of 'Upper Headon Beds')
White and grey sands (Microchoerus Bed at base) 0–2.0
Colwell Bay Member ('Middle Headon Beds')
Blue-green clays and sands 2.0
Lymnaea Limestone 0.2
Blue, green and brown sandy clays (Venus Bed) 4.4
Sands,clays and lignites (Neritina Bed) 3.0
Tolland Bay Member ('Lower Headon Beds')
Lymnaea limestone (How Ledge Limestone) 2.6
Mans, clays, sands and lignites 3.7
Lymnaea limestone 0.4
Green clays and pale sands 3.0
Lymnaea limestone 1.8
Blue and green clays 1.9
Lymnaea limestone 0.3
Green clays and intercalating very fine-grained sands 3.5

(Table 3.5) The measured section of the Solent Group for Whitecliff Bay (after Insole and Daley, 1985; Daley and Edwards, 1990)

Thickness (m)
Pleistocene
Plateau gravels
Bouldnor Formation
Bembridge Marls Member
Mud, green-grey to grey, with shell bands c. 18.0
Siltstone, grey-green, erosional structures, pseudomorphs after gypsum, gastropods 1.4
Mud, grey-green, occasional sandstone bands 1.2
Marl, light green-grey, some siltstone bands 0.9
Mud, green-grey mottled red, sandy lenses 9.0
Mud, dark green-grey, pyritized shell band at base 1.2
Mud, green-black, discontinuous argillaceous limestone near middle 0.9
Muddy sand, light green-grey, marine fossils 0.4
Mud, grey-green, with shelly sands and muds 1.4
Bembridge Limestone Formation
Marls, pale-green, burrowed top 1.2
Limestone, white, conglomeratic at base 1.4
Limestone, pale-brown, with gastropods 0.7
Marl and mud, grey, becoming darker downwards, with Corbicula 1.3
Limestone, pale-brown to pale-grey at base, lignitic near middle 2.3
Marl, pale-grey, with thin limestone at base 1.8
Headon Hill Formation
Seagrove Bay Member
Mud, dark green with pale green siltstone above 2.8
Sandstone and sandy limestone, with mud band 0.8
Mud, green with brown mottling, some calcareous concretions 4.8
Sandstone, yellow, with basal erosion surface 0.7
Osborne Member
Mud, red and green mottled near top, grey in middle, grey-green with red mottling lower, and black at base 10.4
Fishbourne Member
Mud, grey and grey-green, shaly with sporadic Viviparus bands 10.9
Lacey's Farm Limestone Member
Marl, green, with concretions and calcareous bands 6.7
Cliff End Member
Mud, green with red mottling 4.0
Mud, grey-green 8.0
Linstone Chine Member
Fine-grained pale-green sandstone 1.5
Colwell Bay Member
Mud, green and green-grey, with Lymnaea 5.8
Fine-grained sand, pale-green to mud, grey-green 1.6
Mud, dark-green, passing down into pale-yellow fine-grained sand 3.2
Sandy mud, blue-grey, very shelly in upper half 4.1
Mud, pale grey, abundant Ostrea at base 1.2
Sandy mud, blue-grey, with shell beds, basal erosion surface 12.9
Totland Bay Member
Marl, pale-green, with shelly bands 1.8
Muddy fine-grained sand, pale-grey, sandy ironstone at base 1.8
Mud, pale grey, with several lignitic layers 2.8
Mud, bright green 1.7
Rests conformably on Becton Sand Formation

(Table 3.6) Section for Bouldnor Cliff (after Benton and Spencer, 1995)

Thickness (m)
Bouldnor Formation
Cranmore Member (Upper Hamstead Beds of White, 1921)
Corbula Beds 5.8
Cerithium Beds 3.4
Hamstead Member (Lower Hamstead Beds of White, 1921)
Green and mottled clays, with lignite beds and shell beds c. 25
Water-Lily Bed: laminated lignite with seeds, palm leaves, water-lily leaves and molluscs 0.6
Green and red marls (much obscured) 20.7
White Band: green clays with white shell-marls 1.8
Green clay with ironstone nodule band (much obscured) 10.8
Nematura Bed: black lignitic clay, full of gastropods 0.9
Green and black clays, with bivalves and gastropods 8.1
Black Band: lignite, full of Viviparus and Unio 0.5
Bembridge Marls Member (Bed notation from Daley, 1973)
HAM XXXI–XXXIV: freshwater clays 1.8
HAM XXX: lignite with seeds and molluscs 0.1
HAM XXVI–XXIX: clays with seeds and molluscs 5.7
HAM XXIII–XXV: lignite and clay, rich in water-plant seeds, leaf fragments and gastropods 2.0
HAM XX–XXII: freshwater clays and silts 2.0
HAM XIX: green clays and white marls, with bivalves 0.3
HAM XVI–XVIII: green muds and lignite band 1.8
HAM XV: black clay with gastropods 0.2
HAM XI–XIV: muds and silts, with bivalve band 3.6
HAM VI–X: grey and blue-green laminated clays, with brackish water bivalves and gastropods 2.7
HAM V: greenish-grey clay with bands containing Melanoides acuta, Serpula sp. and Viviparus lentus 0.3
HAM I–IV: grey and black clays with Shelly partings and bands containing bivalves and gastropods; thin shell bed with Ostrea at the base (Bembridge Oyster Bed) 0.9
Rests on Bembridge Limestone Formation

(Table 4.1) Section at Walton-on-the-Naze (Cooper, 1970)

Thickness (m)
2. Silty to very silty clays, logs often preserved in concretions 10.0
1. Sandy clayey silts and clayey sandy silts, especially sandy at the top, contains erosive scours up to 30 cm deep and 3 m wide infilled with finely laminated silty fine sands. Small-scale ripple-cross-stratification occurs locally. Occasional small rounded flint pebbles are found, usually close to the upper junction. Intense bioturbation seen on weathered surfaces at least 1.5

(Table 4.2) Composite section at Walton-on-the-Naze (George and Vincent, 1977, p. 84)

Thickness (m)
Above 11 alternating slightly silty clay bands (0.60 m thick) and clay bands (0.30 m thick) are seen in the cliff
11. Grey clay. Very low silt fraction. Wood and nodules occur, but no other fossils observed seen to 0.30
10. Silty clay. Woody pockets still occur and occasionally large logs may be seen.
Black flint pebbles and small nodules in this bed 0.61
9. Green silt band 0.05
8. Very silty clay. Wood fragments and woody accumulations are common. 0.45
Small rounded black-coated flint pebbles also occur
7. Green silt band 0.05
6. Silty clay. Approximately 0.07 m into this unit is a discontinuous nodule band. The nodules are usually quite small, very hard and formed around pieces of wood containing much pyrite. Pieces of wood and woody pockets are common. Black pebbles occur. Shelly nodules probably come from this horizon 0.40
5. Blue-grey clay 0.85
4. Blue hard clay. Sometimes represented by mattings of bioturbation 0.05
3. Blue-grey clay with woody fragments and pockets 0.23
2. Blue hard clay. Sometimes represented by mattings of bioturbation 0.05
1. Blue-grey clay with isolated pockets of vegetation. A band of whitish soft nodules may be seen at the top of this unit in close proximity to Unit 2 0.30

(Table 4.3) Succession of the London Clay Formation at Bognor Regis after King (1981) and Venables (1962)

Thickness (m)
London Clay Formation
Division C (of King, 1981)
5. Upper Clay (of Venables, 1962)
Undescribed deposits 6.1
Grey clay with plant remains 0.9
Undescribed deposits 3.5
Pagham Rock 0.6
Clay (partly described, sparsely fossil iferous) 18.6
Cainocrinus Bed 1.2
Pholadomya Bed 0.6
Clay, partly described, with basal glauconitic pebble bed 3.7
Division B (of King, 1981)
4. Barn Rock Bed (of Venables, 1962) 2.4
3. Middle Clay (of Venables, 1962)
Base of Barn Rock 1.2
Undescribed deposits 1.2
Craigwell Bed 1.5
Undescribed deposits 3.0
3.3. Upper Aldwick Beds (of Venables, 1962)
Clay with pyritized plant remains 2.4
Two septarian bands 0.6
Clay with pyritized plant remains 1.2
Septarian band (with Artica planata in clay) 0.3
Upper Fish-tooth Bed 1.5
3.2. Clay, unfossiliferous, with septarian band 1 m above base 3.7
3.1. Lower Aldwick Beds (of Venables, 1962)
Beetle Bed. Clay with septarian band 1.2
Lower Fish-tooth Bed. Earthy clay, with clay pellets and basal black flint pebble bed 0.6
Division A3
2. Bognor Rock Group (of Venables, 1962),
Bognor Member (of King, 1981)
Bognor Rock Bed. Interbedded unconsolidated grey sand and partially cemented, fine glauconitic sandstone 6.7
Sandy Clay and soft sandstone 3.0
1. Lower Clay (of Venables, 1962)
Septarian band, with white clay, iron stained 0.6
'Cyprina' Bed, 5.5
Starfish Bed 1.8
Clay 1.2
Astarte Bed 2.4
Division A2, Walton Member (of King, 1981)
Friable clay 2.7
Clay with occasional pyritized plant remains 2.7
Sandy layer 0.3
Clay, partly described 4.6
Septarian band, with white clay, iron stained 0.3
Dark-grey, silty clay 0.6+
Oldhaven Formation (of King, 1981)
Decalcified glauconitic sandy silts obscured by alluvium 3.0+

(Table 4.4) Description of the London Clay Formation on the Isle of Sheppey based on King (1984)

Thickness (m)
Virginia Water Formation
Well-defined junction with SH-14, although not marked by a break in deposition or an erosion surface 10
London Clay Formation
Division E
SH-14. Silty clay/clayey silt; well-defined impersistent silt and sand partings, especially near the base and top 3.55
SH-13. Silty sand grading into sandy silt, intensely bioturbated, no primary sedimentary structures seen 1.00
SH-12. Silty and very silty clays, sandy horizon near the base (SH-12b), increase in prominent sandy lenses towards the top, base marked by septarian nodules 12.10
SH-11. Silty clays (SH-11a), sharp base with prominent layer of septarian nodules; irregularly spaced septarian nodules at higher levels; grades up into sandy silty clays (SH-11b) with occasional rounded septarian nodules 3.25
SH-10. Sandy clayey silt, transitional base, occasional lenticular septarian nodules near the top c. 2.35
SH-9. Silty clay with sandy partings in upper part, tabular septarian nodules just above the base, small phosphatic nodules common in highest 0.8 m c. 2.85
Division D
SH-8. Very silty clay with pockets and lenses of very silty sand, base very poorly defined, top sharper c. 1.90
SH-7. Silty clay, irregular septarian nodules in upper part, sharp base c. 3.70
SH-6. Sandy clayey silt, poorly defined transitional basal junction, irregular and widely spaced band of lenticular septarian nodules near base, scattered nodules approximately 0.85 m below the top of the unit c. 2.80
SH-5. Silty clays with a central subunit (SH-5b) of siltier clays and silt pockets and lenses, base marked by lenticular septarian nodules, nodule layers at higher levels underlain by pyritic brown clay, thin lenses of red-brown claystone at the base of SH-5b c. 7.95
Division C
SH-4. Sandy clays and fine grained glauconite especially near the top c. 2.80
SH-3. Silty clays, central layer of septarian nodules, small ovoid phosphatic nodules at base c. 2.00
SH-2. Sandy clayey silts, small ovoid phosphatic nodules frequent at the top 7.20
SH-1. Lowest level normally exposed, silty clays, five layers of septarian nodules. An unknown thickness of very silty clay, glauconitic near base, (SH-0) occurs below, on the foreshore. 6.30

(Table 4.5) Succession of Elmore Member sediments at Elmore, Lee-on-the-Solent modified from Kemp et at. (1979)

Thickness (m)
Barton Clay Formation
Elmore Member
Rimella canalis bed'
11. Sandy clay, pale blue-green, pyritic, glauconitic with clay-filled burrows and mollusc-bored lignite 0.52
10. Clay, pale blue, stiff, pyritic 0.46
9. clay, pale blue-green, laminated, with very fine glauconitic sand. Tabular siltstones at upper contact 0.35
8. Clay, pale blue, stiff, pyritic, slickensided at upper contact 0.80
7. Sandy clay, pale blue-green, nodular claystones and siltstones throughout. Probably the source of some of the vertebrate remains 'Coral bed' 0.42
6. Sandy clay, pale blue-green, Shelly, with bivalves, serpulids and corals, interspersed siltstones 0.90
Unnamed beds
5. Clay, pale blue-green, stiff, slightly sandy, slickensided at upper and lower contacts, glauconitic in lower part 2.15
4. Sandy clay, mid-green, finely glauconitic, with some medium-grained quartz and glauconite 0.60
3. Sand, green, silty, glauconitic, clay-filled burrows 0.32
2. Clay, pale blue, stiff, increasingly sandy and glauconitic downwards, slickensided in lower part 1.54
1. Sandy clayey silt, mid-green, glauconitic 0.98
Selsey Formation
'Nummulites variolarius Bed'
Shelly sandy clay, glauconitic, with abundant molluscs and nummulites c. 1.35

(Table 4.6) Succession of Selsey Formation sediments at Lee-on-the-Solent, north-west of Elmore, from Kemp (1985, pp. 35–8)

Thickness (m)
Selsey Formation
'Nummulites variolarius Bed'
L1 liii. Grey, weathering yellow-brown, glauconitic sandy clay, packed with Nummulites variolarius, molluscs and lignitized driftwood 0.51
L11ii. Grey stiff clay with rare molluscs 0.05
L11i. Green-grey sandy clay with patches of silty sand with fine glauconite, abundant Nummulites and large molluscs 0.50
'Brook Bed'
L10. Grey-green stiff slickensided clay, molluscs and Nummulites concentrated in small sandy lenses 1.06
L9. Green-grey sandy clay-silty sand, fine glauconite; thin burrows filled with pyritic sand, becoming more sandy in middle; diverse invertebrate fauna; vertebrates 0.76
'Pinna Bed'
L8. Grey, stiff, slickensided clays with brown patches 0.39
L7iii. Grey-green stiff sandy silty clays with well-preserved bivalves throughout 2.40
L7ii. Grey-brown stiff sandy clay, slightly slickensided at top, fine glauconite present, with large flat-oval concretions in upper part, many of which surround colonies of Pinna sp. and concentrated Nummulites variolarius; small molluscs common throughout, rare vertebrates concentrated in green sand pockets 1.80
L7i. Dark green-grey glauconitic sandy clay–silty sand, intensely bioturbated at base, with occasional round black pebbles and large molluscs above 0.57
'Miocardia Bed'
L6iii. Grey-dark-green clayey glauconitic sand, rare bivalves and small gastropods 0.63
L6ii. Light brown-grey stiff silty sand, fine glauconite, with rare small bivalves and occasional Nummulites sp. 0.45
L6i. Grey-blue silty sand with fine glauconite, large (100 mm diameter) calcareous concretions often containing bored drifted logs near upper contact, rare bivalves and occasional Nummulites sp. 0.60
'Amusium corneum Bed'
L5ii. Blue-grey sandy clay, with fine glauconite, becoming more sandy and glauconitic near upper contact; molluscs and vertebrate remains 0.64
L5i. Grey-green stiff sandy clay, rare glauconite with thin burrows filled with fine pyritic sand and occasional concretions throughout; frequent vertebrate remains (shark, ray, teleost) 1.60
L4. Green-dark-green clayey, silty glauconitic sand, many bivalves, burrows infilled with glauconite 0.50
'Silt Bed'
L3vi. Dark green-grey silty glauconitic sand, invertebrate, vertebrate and plant fossils, intense bioturbation at upper contact, rare black pebbles throughout 0.99
'Campanile Bed'
L3v. Grey laminated clayey silt 0.02
L3iv. Grey-green silty glauconitic sand, bioturbated 0.58
L3iii. Grey-green silty sand with fine glauconite, bioturbated 1.57
L3ii. Grey sandy silt with fine glauconite 1.60
L3i. Grey silty glauconitic sand becoming more sandy towards base 0.46
L2. Grey laminated silty clay 0.11
Ll. Grey glauconitic sand with abundant molluscs augered 0.25

References