Weald Clay

Weald Clay
Stratigraphic range: Hauterivian-Barremian, 136–125 Ma
Type Geological formation
Underlies Wessex Formation
Overlies Hastings Group
Location
Region England
Country  UK

Weald Clay is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock underlying areas of South East England. It is part of the Wealden Supergroup of rocks. The clay is named after the Weald, an area of Sussex. It varies from orange and grey in colour and is used in brickmaking.

The un-weathered form is blue/grey, and the yellow/orange is the weathered form; they have quite different physical properties. Blue looks superficially like a soft slate, is quite dry and hard and will support the weight of buildings quite easily. Because it is quite impermeable , and so dry, it does not get broken by tree roots. It is typically found at 750mm down below a layer of yellow clay. Yellow, found on the surface, absorbs water quite readily so becomes very soft in the winter.

The two different types make quite different bricks.

Contents

Paleofauna

Dinosaurs reported from the Weald Clay
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Baryonyx

B. walkeri

Multiple partial skulls, one of which had an associated postcranial skeleton.[1]

Polacanthus

P. rudgwickensis

"Vertebrae, partial fore and hindlimbs, osteoderms."[2]

Valdosaurus

V. canaliculatus[3]

An iguanodontian

See also

Earth sciences portal
Paleontology portal
Dinosaurs portal

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 72.
  2. ^ "Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 367.
  3. ^ Galton, P.M., 2009, "Notes on Neocomian (Late Cretaceous) ornithopod dinosaurs from England - Hypsilophodon, Valdosaurus, "Camptosaurus", "Iguanodon" - and referred specimens from Romania and elsewhere", Revue de Paléobiologie 28(1): 211-273

References