The Wealden (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Wessex Sub-basin, southern England

Abstract

The Wealden Beds (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Wessex Sub-basin, southern England, are exposed principally in coastal sections on the Isle of Wight and in Dorset. Geological Conservation Review sites within these strata have been extensively documented since the earliest days of geological enquiry in Great Britain. The succession is dominated by the alluvial Wessex Formation which demonstrates a broad east–west transition from meanderplain lithofacies to coarser-grained alluvial sediments, in relative proximity to the Cornubian source massif. The meanderplain sediments on the Isle of Wight are of international importance for their plant and animal fossils, the latter including many dinosaurs and their trackways. Upper Barremian transgression resulted in the spread of muddy lakes and coastal lagoons from the Weald Sub-basin into the eastern part of the Wessex Sub-basin, around or through the Purbeck–Isle of Wight structure. The resulting richly fossiliferous mudrock-dominated strata are now represented by the Vectis Formation on the Isle of Wight and in Swanage Bay, Dorset. The Geological Conservation Review sites in the Wessex Sub-basin are documented and interpreted, with particular reference to research history, chronostratigraphy, structural context, palaeoenvironments, palaeobiology and palaeoclimatology. New directions for research are proposed, as applicable.