On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems

Abstract

O n two former occasions I have given some account of the deposit immediately underlying the London Clay, as well as of that which, to the eastward of London, lies upon the Chalk, and which I have respectively termed the “B asement B ed of the L ondon C lay ” and the “T hanet Sands †.” Between these divisions, which form the upper and lower portions of the Lower London Tertiaries , is a group of sands, pebble beds, and mottled clays, extending from Sandwich to Mariborough and from Newhaven to Dorchester. This group, with the two above-mentioned, completes the series of these Lower Tertiaries, and is the one which more particularly embraces the beds which have hitherto been described as the “ Plastic Clay Formation ,” exhibiting in one part of its range the mottled clays of Reading and Newbury, and, in another, the clays and sands, with fluviatile and æstuarine shells, of New Cross, Woolwich, and Bromley. Some of the principal sections in these localities have been described by Parkinson, Webster†, Dr. Buckland‡, Phillips and Conybeare§, Morris∥, Mitchell, Richardson††, Warburton‡‡, and more recently by the Rev. Mr. De la Condamine§§; whilst outlines of some underground sections have been planned by Mr. R. W. Mylne∥∥, and a short notice relating to the superposition of these and the other Tertiary strata has lately been given by M. Hébert***. But nevertheless the correlation of. the beds at the different sections has not, I conceive, been correctly shown, and the position which the strata of the Reculvers and Herne Bay hold with

Sarsen stone quarrying in southern England:

“…3). Albeit arbitrary, given sarsen dispersal, the boundary was defined by the intensity of existing sarsen stone records (Davies and Baines 1953;Prestwich 1854;Sheahan 1872;Sherlock 1922;Noble 1912, 1922;Spicer 1905;Woodward 1891). The resulting dataset provides the overall context of extractive industry within which sarsen was exploited, in more detail than Mines Inspectorate reports that are limited to regulated quarries: Ordnance surveyors mapped all features that made a definite impact on the landscape (Oliver 1993, 98).…”

Mining and Quarrying in Neolithic Europe

“…Following periods of erosion which removed uncemented material, and later movement under periglacial conditions, the remaining cobbles and boulders can now be found both exposed on the surface in sarsen spreads (for example, at Knighton Bushes Plantation, Oxfordshire) and buried in superficial deposits (such as the clay-with-flints south of Eynsford, Kent). The silica content is usually greater than 95% (Prestwich 1854;Dewey et al 1924;Ullyott et al 2004;Nash and Ullyott 2007;Ullyott and Nash 2016).…”