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The Raised Beach and Rubble-Drift at Aldrington, between Hove and Portslade-by-Sea, Sussex. With notes on the microzoa, by Frederick Chapman, A.L.S., F.R.M.S., published 1899 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 16 issue 5, article, pp.259-270)   View Online

The Pleistocene fauna of West Wittering, by J. P. Johnson, published January 1901 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 17 issue 5, article, pp.262-264)

Chapter X. The Chalk cliffs of Kent and Sussex, and the tertiary beds of Herne Bay, by George William Young, F.G.S., published 1910 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (vol. 1-20, P2, article, pp.256-269)   View Online

Chapter XI. The tertiary and post-tertiary deposits of the Sussex coast, by J. V. Elsden, B.Sc., F.G.S., published 1910 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (vol. 1-20, P2, article, pp.270-276)   View Online

The geology of the country around Heathfield, Sussex: With report of excursion to Heathfield, Brightling, Netherfield and Robertsbridge. Saturday, June 4th, 1921, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., F.G.S., published 1922 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 33 issue 2, article, pp.142-151)   View Online

The country visited embraces an area extending from Heathfield eastwards to the main Tunbridge Wells-Hastings Road, a distance of ten miles, being naturally defined to the north by the high ground of Burwash, and to the south by the ridge on which Dallington and Netherfield are situated. In this comparatively small portion of the central Weald the geology is of exceptional interest, presenting as it does features of stratigraphical, tect onic and economic importance.

Notes on the geology and structure of the country around Tunbridge Wells: With report of excursion to Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, High Rocks and Eridge. Saturday, May 20th, 1922, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1923 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 34 issue 1, article, pp.47-55)   View Online

The following notes describe the geology of some forty square miles of country in the vicinity of Tunbridge Wells, stretching northward almost to Tonbridge and southward to Eridge and Boarshead in Sussex, and as far as Groombridge and Ashurst to the west, of which some of the main features were investigated by members of the Association during the excursion. The six-inch mapping of this area is a continuation of the author's work in the Weald, of which some results have already been published in these proceedings.
The Tunbridge Wells country presents many geological features meriting the attention of those interested in the Weald. Much to be learned from a detailed study of the Lower Cretaceous rocks as developed here, and from their modes of occurrence, has a wider significance than would at first be apparent from casual inspection; thus certain phases in the course of the evolution of the Weald as a whole are realised, the nature of the evidence permitting of a ready appreciation of the factors involved.
The normal Wealden sequence comprises (in descending order) Weald Clay (1200ft.), Tunbridge Wells Sand (180ft.), Wadhurst Clay (150ft.), and Ashdown Sand (400ft.); all four divisionsoccur in this region. In the paper above referred to, the author drew attention to the great practical value accruing from a petrographic study of the individual Wealden beds as an aid to geological mapping. The rocks of the district, by their general barrenness of fossils and by the marked similarities shown frequently by the clays and sands, serve to emphasize this point, especially in cases of repetition or elimination of beds by faulting, a prominent feature of the area. Consequently in the following paragraphs stress is laid on the petrographic criteria which have contributed so largely to the identification and differentiation of horizons in the field.

The Geology of the country around East Grinstead, Sussex: With Report of Excursion to Hartfield, Holtye Common, Forest Row, Ashurstwood and East Grinstead, Saturday, June 16th, 1923, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1923 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 34 issue 4, article, pp.283-300)   View Online

The country to be described covers an area of some thirty-six square miles and is embraced by parts of Sheets IV. and VI. and the whole of Sheet V. of the six-inch Ordnance Survey maps (Sussex). It is a continuation westward of the author's work in the Tunbridge Wells district, some results of which were published in a recent number of these proceedings. The area includes the town of East Grinstead with Felbridge, and extends as far east as Ashurst (Kent); to the north it takes in Cowden (Kent) and a small strip of the Surrey-Sussex border-land; southward it extends to the northern fringe of Ashdown Forest and includes the picturesque country from Kingscote by Forest Row to Hartfield and beyond.
It has been the author's hope that by a combination of six-inchmapping and detailed petrographic investigation of the rocks occurring in the more disturbed area of the Weald, new light would be thrown on some of the still debatable points concerning its tectonics and on the origin of the sediments composing it, anticipations yet further strengthened by the results of the work in this district.

The Chalk of the Worthing District Sussex, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1924 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 35 issue 2, article, pp.89-110)   View Online

For some years past I have been working on the Chalk of Sussex, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Worthing, and my results are outlined in this paper. The chalk pits collected from are situated on the south side of the Downs between the rivers Adur and Arun, a distance east and west of about 10 miles. The zones range from the Uintacrinus band of the Marsupites zone to the zone of Actinocamax quadratus as defined by Mr. Brydone (I9I2a, pp, 10, II). As the majority of the pits are in the A. quadratus zone, opportunities were afforded for paying particular attention to this Chalk, the recorded details of which will now be entered into as briefly as possible.
Since the publication of Rowe and Sherborn's valuable papers on the White Chalk of the English Coast (1900-1908) various adjustments have been made in the zonal divisions of the Upper Chalk.

The Geology of the country between Goudhurst (Kent) and Ticehurst (Sussex): With special reference to the Excursion to Goudhurst, Lamberhurst Cousleywood and Wadhurst, Saturday, June 21st, 1924. Weald Research Committee Report No. 1, by H. B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1924 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 35 issue 4, article, pp.383-394)   View Online

The country included in this area lies to the east of Tunbridge Wells, and embraces the picturesque East Sussex-Kent borderland with the villages of Goudhurst, Lamberhurst, Wadhurst and Ticehurst, comprising a district of thirty-five square miles. It lies principally in the southern part of the Medway basin, though it also takes in a portion of the watershed between that and the Rother basin, the divide being formed by the high ground of Ashdown Forest (Crowborough) and Rotherfield to the west, continuing eastward to Wadhurst, Ticehurst, Cranbrook and beyond. Geologically and tectonically the main features of interest centre round the compound Crowborough-Ticehurst fold, extremely fractured in its eastern development, and in the relationship of that fold to the more northerly Chiddingstone-Pembury anticline, already alluded to in a previous paper.

The Geology of the Eastbourne - Hastings Coastline: With Special Reference to the Localities visited by the Association in June, 1925. Weald Research Committee Report No. 3, by H. B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S. and A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1925 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 36 issue 3, article, pp.291-316)   View Online

The following pages present in outline the geology of the coast-section exposed from Beachy Head to Cliff End, beyond Fairlight, a distance of 26 miles. One of us (A.J.B.) is responsible for the survey from Beachy Head to Rockhouse Bank, the other (H.B. M.) from Rockhouse Bank eastward to Cliff End. The work forms part of the six-inch geological survey of the Weald being under taken by members of the Weald Research Committee of the Geologists' Association.
The authors wish to point out that they do not here include the inland geology of the districts traversed, except in so far as exigencies of building or similar circumstances necessitate a detour for a few hundred yards inland to preserve continuity of geological description. For this reason much that is generally known to be of unusual interest in the region, especially in the vicinity of Hastings and S1. Leonards, finds no mention here, the object being rather to draw attention to this exceptionally fine coast-section, wherein is displayed such varied stratigraphy and tectonics, and also to render it possible for casual visitor or more serious student to explore it with some guide to the trend and sequence of geological events.
The description of the coast is arranged from west (Beachy Head) to east (Cliff End); but so as to enable those who desire to pick up the thread at any particular place, insets in the text indicating localities have been employed, from which a start can be made at will.
This section of coast has on it the towns of Eastbourne, Bexhill, St. Leonards and Hastings, while smaller residential and holiday resorts are springing up at Fairlight and Cooden, and even in unpromising places on the edge of the marsh-land.

The Geology of the country around Crowhurst, Sussex. Weald Research Committee Report No. 4, by G. S. Sweeting, F.G.S., published 1925 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 36 issue 4, article, pp.406-418)   View Online

This paper embodies the results of a geological survey of the country around Crowhurst, Sussex. The area examined is approximately 12 square miles in extent, forming part of I-inch sheet 5 (O.S.), and constituting roughly the eastern half of the 6-inch Ordnance sheet, 57 Sussex. It extends from Battle on the north to Crowhurst on the south, and from Crowhurst Park on the east to Catsfield on the west, Crowhurst being about 4½ miles from the coast towns of Bexhill and Hastings.
Apart from the structural problems germane to the study of any portion of the Central Weald, the chief interest of this area lies in the marked lithological variation characteristic of each member of the Hastings Sands here exposed, so much so that - for the Wadhurst Clay at least - the area constitutes a type locality for the South Weald. Accordingly the trend of this paper is mainly stratigraphical and petrological, structural details being left over for the time being until the wider area has been surveyed and continuity with the coastal structures to the south established.
The names of Tapley, Fitton and Mantell may be recalled as some of the earlier contributors to the investigation of the stratigraphy of this part of the Weald, chiefly by reason of their discoveries of some of the first fossil remains of the huge reptiles which formerly lived in the area.
The country is undulating in character, with parallel ridges usually striking W.N.W. - E.S.E., broken by transverse troughlike depressions, thus presenting a series of picturesque and often unexpected features over comparatively short distances. This type of scenery - which is so characteristic of the central and southern portions of the Weald - owes its origin to no small extent to the varying degrees of hardness of the Wealden rocks, particularly the Wadhurst Clay, and to their folding and faulting.

The Geology of the country around Horsham, Sussex, by J. C. Ferguson, B.Sc., published 1926 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 37 issue 4, article, pp.401-413)   View Online

The following are the chief results of this investigation of the Horsham district

1. The existence of small outcrops of Grinstead Clay has been shown in the southern part of St. Leonard's Forest.
2. The Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand has an unusually large thickness, viz., about 180 feet, compared, for instance, with its thickness at Tunbridge Wells (80 ft.).
3. The Horsham Stone - using the term in its broad sense so as to include the intercalated beds of clay, is a lenticular deposit, and does not keep to definite horizon.
4. There are three distinct lithological types of Horsham Stone: a flaggy calcareous sandstone, a fissile stone and a thickly bedded stone.
5. The Horsham Stone bears a strong similarity to the Tilgate Stone (Wadhurst Clay) in its microscopic structure.
6. The absence of limestone bands in the Weald Clay below the Horsham Stone is noted.
7. Attention is drawn to several interesting features concerning the rivers of the district.

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which help the author gratefully acknowledges.

Chalk zones in the neighbourhood of Shoreham, Brighton and Newhaven, Sussex, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1929 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 40 issue 4, article, pp.328-340)   View Online

This paper is a further contribution of my work on the zones of the chalk in Sussex. My previous paper dealt with the chalk of the Worthing District [1924 (3) p. 89, et seq .]; the present one, which continues eastward of that district, embraces the area between Shoreham and Seaford. The southern portion is coastal, extending east and west for about 15 miles and is chiefly of an urban character. It includes the towns of Brighton, Hove, Shoreham and Newhaven. Owing to a westerly inward bend of the coast the inland extension is about 2½ miles at Shoreham, widening to 6 miles at Bishopstone, west of Seaford. The western boundary is drained by the River Adur and the eastern by the River Ouse. The part of the South Downs which forms the cliff at Brighton and eastwards to Newhaven recedes from the coast west of Brighton and continues inland. The Mount Caburn syncline is pr esent in the north of Brighton and eastwards, also the anticline of Kingston near Lewes, which runs approximately parallel with the last fold [1924 (2) pp. 6, 7]. Brydone has recorded a series of folds transverse to the cliff-line from Black Rock, Brighton, to Seaford [1914 p. 361]. These are continued westwards by an anticline which may be known as the Brighton anticline, of which East Brighton is the axis. It is the westerly pitch of this fold that accounts for the presence of the higher zones in West Brighton (which may be seen in the railway sections between Brighton Station and Holland Road Halt) and finally terminates the outcrop of chalk on the coast in East Hove. The inliers of Cold Dean, Lower Bevendean and Balsdean recorded by the Survey [1924 (2) p. 40] are present in the area.

The origin of the Devil's Dyke near Brighton, by R. L. Sherlock, D.Sc., A.R.C.Sc., F.G.S., published 1929 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 40 issue 4, article, pp.371-372)   View Online

The geological structure of the Ashburnham, Battle and Crowhurst districts (Sussex): With notes on the Wealden iron ore. Weald Research Committee Report, No. 10, by G. S. Sweeting, D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1930 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 41 issue 1, article, pp.44-52)   View Online

In 1925 the author published a paper on "The Geology of the Country around Crowhurst (Sussex) "; in this, attention was given to the stratigraphy and petrology of the main rock-types of that district, and the structural details were purposely excluded until a larger area (Ord. Surv. Sheet 57, Sussex), of which Crowhurst forms the eastern part, was surveyed. This has now been done and the final results are presented in this paper.

The geology of Etchingham and Robertsbridge, Sussex. Weald Research Committee Report, No. 11, by A. A. Fitch, A.R.C.S., B.Sc., published 1930 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 41 issue 1, article, pp.53-62)   View Online

The area described is 24 square miles in extent; it forms part of the Central Weald of Sussex and Kent, and constitutes Sheet XXX, Sussex, and part of Sheet LXXVIII, Kent, of the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch Series: the geological map is Sheet 5 of the Old Series (one-inch). It includes four towns or large villages - Burwash, Etchingham, Robertsbridge and Salehurst.

Notes on the Geology of Felpham, near Bognor Regis, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1931 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 42 issue 4, article, pp.363-369) accessible at: University of Sussex Library   View Online

The area dealt with in this paper is included in Sheet 332 of the Geological Survey, taking in about I½ miles of the Sussex coast at Bognor Regis, Felpham, and Middleton. This area, with the surrounding country, has been described by Mr. Clement Reid. Dixon's account of the district is scanty, although not without interest; but, apart from these papers, little appears to have been written about the area. Topley's map in Dixon's "Geology of Sussex" is of considerable interest in connection with this paper, as will be shown in due course.

Chalk zones in the foreshore between Worthing and Felpham, Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.201-211)   View Online

This paper deals with a stretch of about 14 miles of the Sussex coast, betwe en East Worthing and Felpham. A modern shingle bank, backed in places by a low cliff of brickearth, extends along the whole length of this coast and slopes down to a foreshore varying in width, at low-water spring tides, from about 300 yards to nearly half a mile. The upper part of the foreshore consists generally of sand, but in the lower part beds of broken Chalk are seen at frequent intervals and, in places, extend almost up to the shingle bank.
Nearly a century ago Sir Woodbine Parish recorded that "in front of the village of Felpham, chalk is exposed for a considerable distance cropping out of the sands between high and low water mark, and at low water it may be traced for upwards of a mile in the direction of Middleton. It abounds in its characteristic fossils." (Some of these he recorded, but the list unfortunately was not published.) Parish also noted that "chalk marl has long been dug out of the beach near Middleton at low tides for manuring the neighbouring beds."
Later geologists appear to have given little attention to these foreshore exposures, and no attempt to zone them seems to ha ve been made. They are briefly referred to by Dixon, H. B. Woodward, and by Clement Reid, who wrote "it is difficult to say to what zones this Chalk belongs, or whether zones older than the Upper Chalk may not be exposed on the foreshore towards Worthing." Mr. R. M. Brydone, however, in one of his papers on the zone of Offaster pilula, suggested that this zone "is probably exposed on the coast in West Sussex in the foreshore near Bognar."

The zones of the Chalk of the Arun Gap, Sussex: With description of new species of Bicavea, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.212-223)   View Online

The southward dip of the Chalk of the Arun Gap enables one to ascertain in sequence the zones present, which are exposed chiefly in old quarries and sections on either bank of the river. The Chalk is quarried at Amberley and in the pit by the Black Rabbit Inn, near Arundel. The old quarries at Houghton and the Burpham River Cliff add to the picturesque scenery of this beauty spot of West Sussex.
The Geologists' Association visited the area during their Whitsuntide field meeting in May, 1929, when some of the zonal details were pointed out. Since that date additional evidence has been obtained, and the results of the zoning of the Chalk in the gap are given, in th e schedule below.
Palaeontological evidence has resulted in a number of corrections being made in previous zonal records. Attention is drawn to the abundance of foraminifera in the zone of Actinocamax quadratus.

Note on the Chalk of Felpham, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.223-224)   View Online

Note on the geomorphology of the Arun Gap: Weald Research Committee Report, No. 16, by A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.274-276)   View Online

The object of this note is to give an outline of the geomorphological features of the Arun Gap which has been zoned by Mr. C. T. A. Gaster, and to give a preliminary account of the work which the Weald Research Committee has in progress on the South Downs and the river gaps.

The Sandgate Beds of the Western Weald: Weald Research Committee Report, No. 17, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1933 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 44 issue 3, article, pp.270-311)   View Online

Our present knowledge of the Lower Greensand of the Weald is somewhat disconnected. The main facts conceming these beds are familiar; but owing to the absence of any general survey comparable with the special Memoirs of H.M. Geological Survey on the Jurassic and the Upper Cretaceous rocks, much remains to be done in the collection of local detail and also in the discussion of questions of correlation and other matters which need to be considered from a broad, regional point of view. In the well-known coast section between Hythe and Folkestone in Kent, the Lower Greensand has been divided into four main lithological units, the Folkestone Sands, the Sandgate Beds, the Hythe Beds, and the Atherfield Clay.

Studies in the geomorphology of the South Downs: Eastbourne to the Arun Gap, by A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1936 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 47 issue 2, article, pp.99-129)   View Online

The South Downs are the southern outcrop of the Chalk in the Wealden dome. They consist of a range of rounded hills rarely exceeding 700 ft. O.D. in height, and extend from Eastbourne to Petersfield, a distance of about 55 miles. Seen from any point such as Beachy Head or Seaford Head that affords an extensive view, the Downs present the appearance of a dissected peneplain which has been tilted to the south. So extreme is the dissection that little if any of the original peneplained surface remains, and most of the area is occupied by dry valleys whose interfluves have gently rounded crosssections. Most of the higher ground, especially that which tends to be flat, is covered with the well-known Clay-with-Flints. The northern face is an abrupt escarpment, which, except for the four river gaps and some wind gaps, is not breached, although the heads of the dry valleys often come close to it, as at Ratton and Willingdon, north of Eastbourne. The effect of the proximity of the dry valleys is usually to lower the escarpment slightly, but the amount is often surprisingly small, and the skyline as seen from the lower ground from the north is only gently undulating.

A section in Woolwich and Reading Beds, and in the '15-foot' raised beach at Worthing, Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., F.G.S., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 1, article, pp.48-51)   View Online

The Woolwich and Reading Beds of the Worthing district are about 100 feet thick and occupy a narrow belt extending along the Chichester Syncline between the Littlehampton Chalk Inlier and the main Chalk outcrop of the South Downs. They form an easterly extension of the Eocene Beds of the Hampshire Basin, and reach the sea at South Lancing. Farther east, outliers occur at Portslade, Brighton, Newhaven and Seaford.

The relation of the coombe rock to the 135-ft. raised beach at Slindon, Sussex, by Kenneth P. Oakley, B.Sc., F.G.S. and E. C. Curwen, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., F.S.A., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 4, article, pp.317-323)   View Online

The so-called 100-ft. Raised Beach of the Sussex coast comprises marine sands amI shingle resting at heights varying from 80 to 135 feet above O.D., and can be traced almost continuously between Chichester and Arundel. Various parts of it have been described by Prestwich (1859, 1892), Clement Reid (1892, 1903) and Osborne White (1924), but the most comprehensive account is that of Fowler (1932). The beach has generally been treated as an indivisible unit, but recently archaeological evidence has been brought forward (Calkin, 1935) to show that the deposits at 80-90 feet above O.D. at AIdingbourne Park are older than those at Slindon Park. which attain an altitude of 135 feet above O.D. There is consequently some justification for distinguishing a 90-ft. Beach and a 135-ft. Beach. Taken together, they appear to mark the period of rising baselevel which caused prolonged aggradation of the rivers in Southern England during Clactonian-Middle Acheulian times (i.e.. the "100 ft. Terrace aggradation").

The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex: Part I. West Central area - Arun Gap to Valley of the Adur, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 4, article, pp.356-373)   View Online

In this paper are recorded the results of a Survey of the Chalk of the portion of the Sussex Downs that extends from the Valley of the Adur to the Arun Gap, a distance of 13½ miles.This is intended to be the fIrst part of a comprehensive Survey of the Chalk of Sussex, between Eastbourne and the Hampshire boundary, a work on which the author has been engaged for many years. The area dealt with is included in the western portion of Sheet 318 (Brighton) and the eastern part of Sheet 317 (Chichester) of the Geological Survey. These sheets show in distinct colours the three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk, with lines indicating the position of the Melbourn Rock, and the Chalk Rock. In the present work more detailed results are indicated by the accompanying zonal map.

Notes of the Geology of the country around Haslemere and Midhurst, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S. and S. W. Wooldridge, D.Sc., F.G.S., published 1938 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 2, article, pp.135-147)   View Online

A traverse from Haslemere to Midhurst involves the crossing of nearly 1,000 feet of the Lower Cretaceous beds and reveals the structure and physiography of the Weald in somewhat unusual light. We have made observations on this area for some ten years, and on the occasion of the Field Meeting the opportunity was taken of co-ordinating these observations and presenting a brief connected account of the geology of the district as a whole.

The Littlehampton and Portsdown Chalk Inliers and their relation to the raised beaches of West Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., F.G.S., published 1938 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 2, article, pp.198-212)   View Online

The Coastal Plain of West Sussex is traversed from east to west by the Littlehampton and Portsdown Anticlines, each of which brings up a large inlier of Chalk. The Littlehampton Inlier extends approximately 17 miles in an east and west direction and is intersected by the coast between Worthing and Felpham. The Portsdown Inlier is nearly 20 miles long, and extends from south of Chichester to north-west of Fareham, in Hampshire.

A Zonal map of parts of the South Downs. I Eastbourne to the River Cuckmere, by A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1939 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 3, article, pp.261-262)   View Online

Some maps of the outcrops of the palaeontological zones of the Chalk of the South Downs are being prepared in order to facilitate the study of certain geomorphological problems. In the Adur-Arun district the outer escarpment consists of Chalk of the pilula zone, but the continuation of this escarpment eastward is uncertain. It is, therefore, proposed to map particularly this zone and the Marsupites zone below it both eastward and westward of the Adur-Arun district, and to ascertain how far the lithology which appears to produce the marked series of hills from Steep Down to Wepham Down continues to be associated with the pilula zone outside that district.

The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex. Part II. Eastern Area - Seaford to Cuckmere Valley and Eastbourne, with Zonal Map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1939 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 50 issue 4, article, pp.510-526)   View Online

This paper, which forms the second part of a comprehensive survey of the Chalk of Sussex, records the results of a survey of the Chalk extending from Seaford to the Cuckmere Valley and Eastbourne, a distance of 7 miles. The width of the outcrop from the escarpment on the north to the chalk cliffs on the coast being approximately five miles. The area dealt with is included in parts of Sheets 334 (Eastbourne) and 319 (Lewes) of the Geological Survey. The three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk shown on those sheets are replaced in the present work by detailed zonal results which are shown on the accompanying map.

Cold conditions and land forms in the South Downs. Weald Research Committee Communication No. 27#, by A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1940 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 51 issue 1, article, pp.63-71)   View Online

The effects of cold and other agents in fashioning the South Downs and other Chalk hills has been a subject of discussion since Clement Reid thought that the existing system of dry valleys was cut at a time when the Chalk was saturated with water and this was frozen, so that the rock was for the time being impermeable. The present writer has referred to the matter in a study of the geomorphology of the South Downs, but some aspects of the question require further elaboration.
The South Downs show three main types of land form and others that are transitional. These are the now dry dendritic valleys on the counterscarp, gullies, and the arm-chair form I have previously referred as a coombe. The use of this word has been rightly criticised, because coombe or combe is applied to many different land forms in the south of England. For the arm-chair form, the seat of which is often occupied by a mass of neve or by a lake, many countries have developed local names such as corrie (Scottish), cwm (Welsh), cirque (French), etc. Cirque is being restricted to the larger, often composite, mountain forms. There remain cwm and corrie, and for the moment I choose the latter as being easier for an Englishman to pronounce.

The geomorphology of the rivers of the Southern Weald: Weald Research Committee Communication No. 28, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S. and A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1940 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 51 issue 2, article, pp.115-150)   View Online

In a recent communication one of the authors dealt with the evidence of periods of 'still-stand' shown by the bevelled spurs of the South Downs. The present paper is an attempt to extend the investigation over a wider area and through a greater period of geological time. It is hoped that by combining the evidence of the Downland spurs with that of the drainage plan, longitudinal profiles and drift deposits of the rivers Cuckmere, Ouse, Adur and Rother-Arun and the raised beaches and infilled valleys of the Coastal Plain of Sussex, a clearer picture than hitherto available of the events of the later stages of geological time in the Southern Weald will be obtained.

A Wealden soil bed with Equisetites lyelli (Mantell), by P. Allen, B.Sc., published 1941 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 52 issue 4, article, pp.362-374)   View Online

This modern-looking horsetail was first described and figured by Mantell in 1833. Since then the only important contributions to our knowledge of the plant have been made by Seward [11, pp. 24-27]. Until recently Equisetites lyelli was known only from stem fragments whose relations to the whole plant were uncertain, and from apical buds and leaf sheathes from different-sized and differently-proportioned stems. In 1938 the author located near the base of the Wadhurst Clay in the Weald, an extensive fossil soil bed containing E. lyelli. The subterranean parts of the plants are there preserved as casts in their original position of growth, and the detached aerial portions of the erect stems occur as fragments in the 1-2 ft. of overlying sediment.
It has thus been possible to obtain for the first time a fairly complete idea of the main features of the plant as a whole. In this paper a description of these features is given and certain geological aspects of the new evidence are considered.

Wealden iron ore and the history of its industry: Weald Research Communication, No. 32, by G. S. Sweeting, D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1944 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 55 issue 1, article, pp.1-20)   View Online

In 1925 and 1930, the writer contributed two small papers to the Proceedings on the geology of various areas in East Sussex from which much iron ore had been extracted in earlier times. In the 1930 paper, some notes were added on "The Wealden Iron Ore," and attention is, therefore, directed to this communication, particularly for chemical analyses of the ore.
To picture South East England with its present quiet and beautiful surroundings as an area of noise and smoke-laden skies would be a difficult matter. Such, however, were the conditions which prevailed in Sussex, Kent and Surrey during Tudor days. Sussex and Kent had from very early times been important producers of iron, and they were destined to become for a time the seat of the largest iron trade in the British Isles.
Iron being the most plentiful and accessible of the metals, it follows that it would be naturally one of the first to be employed by an early race. Though we have no certain knowledge of the beginning of the iron ore industry in South East England, we know that in early times the iron ore in the Weald was of such importance as to be noticed by Caesar before the Christian era, and by Strabo in 20 A.D. The Romans extracted iron on a large scale as is seen by the size of their workings; in fact, during their occupation, there was much activity all over the Weald and iron became one of its chief exports. This is proved by the abundant heaps of iron slag found at Maresfield, Westfield, Seddlescombe, Crowhurst and Ashburnham in Sussex, and at Cowden and Tenterden in Kent.

The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex: Part III. Western Area. Arun Gap to the Hampshire Boundary, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1944 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 55 issue 3, article, pp.173-188)   View Online

This paper comprises the third part of an extensive survey of the Chalk of Sussex. It records the result of a survey of the Chalk in the area extending from the Arun Gap to the Hampshire boundary, a distance of 16½ miles. The width of the outcrop from the main escarpment on the north to the Coastal Plain on the south ranges from 4 to 7 miles.
The area dealt with is included in parts of Sheets 316 (Fareham) and 317 (Chichester) of the Geological Survey. The three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk shown on those Sheets are replaced in the present work by detailed zonal results as recorded on the accompanying Map (Pl. 9). Reference to the Survey Memoirs indicate that research on the Chalk of this part of the county has been scanty. This is probably due to the many large estates and tracts of woodland covering the Downs, and to the limited means of access in the past to this purely rural area.

Piltdown man: With special reference to the ape mandible and canine tooth, by Alvan T. Marston, L.D.S.Edin., F.G.S., F.R.A.I., published 1946 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 57 issue 1, pp. i-viii, article)   View Online

Notes on Wealden fossil soil-beds, by P. Allen, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1946 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 57 issue 4, article, pp.303-314)   View Online

The following appear to be the more significant of the new facts:

1. Both soil- and rootlet-beds are frequent in the strata examined. It follows that the basin of deposition must have been shallow during much of Lower Wealden time.
2. All but one of the soil-beds occur in transitional strata of very similar aspect. The upward change involved may be from dominantly arenaceous to dominantly argillaceous facies, or vice versa - which, appears to be irrelevant. Evidently, the conditions necessary for colonisation (by horsetails, at least) were strictly limited. The nature of the strata lead to the conclusion that colonisation was controlled by one or more of the following factors: depth of water, amount of movement of the water, size-distribution of the sedimentary particles, chemical nature of the sediment, rate of accumulation of the sediment. That other factors were sometimes limiting is shown by the occasional presence of similar transitional strata without horsetails.
3. Though the data are scanty, there are indications of a positive correlation between the lithological similarity of the soil-beds and the taxonomic similarity of the plants they contain.
4. The bulk of the recognisable plant-tissues are preserved as ferruginous substances. Carbonised and 'coalified' remains are unusual at all the horizons. Doubtless a phase of oxidising conditions formed part of the history of each.
5. Contemporaneous erosion was not normally severe. Where considerable, it was confined to the frontal (S.E.) margin of the delta-complex

Surface problems in the search for oil in Sussex, by J. W. Reeves, M.Sc., published 1948 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 59 issue 4, article, pp.234-269) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4700]   View Online

A search for oil resolves itself ultimately into a geological survey, but one where the controlling factor is of commercial rather than academic interest. This gives to it a difference, not so much of method or design, but rather of emphasis. The predominant concern of the oil geologist is a successfully producing oil well, the drilling of which is noted by his Company in 'cost per foot.' It is upon results in drilling that he will be judged and his value assessed. He tends to think, therefore, in three dimensions rather than in two, and measurements, in structure and thickness, assume a greater significance than is usual. His search is for facts, rather than opinions, and for detailed measurements on which he can base reasonably accurate forecasts. The drawing of sections enters largely into his scheme of things, for they will be the principal aid to the drilling department. From them he tries to indicate the presence of water, oil or gas shows, the occurrence of soft beds which may cause caving and, more particularly, the position of beds hard enough and thick enough to 'carry strings of casing.' Generally it is on such matters that his advice will be needed and consequently it is on them that his mind is directed in the field, although, naturally, he will find much of academic interest.

The denudation chronology of the dip-slope of the South Downs, by B. W. Sparks, B.A., published 1949 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 60 issue 3, article, pp.165-215)   View Online

Although much is already known of the denudation chronology of the South Downs, detailed surveying of the dip-slope reveals the existence of a number of closely-spaced marine platforms, which are intermediate in age between the early Pliocene bench (650-550 feet O.D.) and the Goodwood raised beach (130-80 feet O.D.). A careful examination of the distribution of the platform fragments shows that in certain situations they must be of sub-aerial origin and related to the development of streams in the area. Thus, the river Adur is shown to have migrated eastwards since the early Pliocene, and it is suggested from certain evidence that the Ouse once reached the sea via the mouth of the Cuckmere, its present outlet being of comparatively recent origin. The major longitudinal valleys of the South Downs, i.e., the upper Lavant and the Lewes Winterbourne were clearly in existence by the 475-foot stage, which is the first clearly-defined stillstand in the regression of the sea from the early Pliocene level. The discontinuous secondary escarpment is examined in some detail and it is suggested that it was originally formed by the action of scarp-foot subsequent streams, which were later disrupted. Certain convergent dry valley patterns can be demonstrated to coincide in position with embayments of the shorelines discussed and are thus readily explicable. Finally the debated question of the origin of dry valleys is reviewed and it is concluded that there are no real objections to the hypothesis that they are former river valleys, which have been abandoned as the level of the water-table in the Chalk fell.
A detailed summary of the evidence for each platform is included as an appendix.

A note on a section of Coombe Rock and Brickearth at Angmering-on-sea, Sussex, by B. W. Sparks, B.A., published 1949 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 60 issue 4, article, pp.288-293)   View Online

A temporary cliff-section in the superficial deposits of the Sussex Coastal Plain revealed some new details of the lithological composition of these beds, in particular of the gravels which lie between the Coombe Rock proper and the Brickearth. A small fauna of freshwater mollusca was obtained from lenticular beds of chalky silt lying within the gravels and evidence of human occupation from the Brickearth. On the basis of the lithology of the beds and the contained organic remains an attempt has been made to deduce the geographical conditions obtaining during their deposition.

Some features in the structure and geomorphology of the country around Fernhurst, Sussex, by S. W. Wooldridge, D.Sc., F.R.G.S., published 1950 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 61 issue 3, article, pp.165-190)   View Online

The paper describes the structure of a part of the Western Weald. The work is based on 6-inch mapping of the base of the Hythe Beds and of a distinctive group of red clays some 400 feet from the top of that formation. It renders clear the character of the folding in this part of the Weald and throws light on the superficial "mass-movements", simulating faulting, which have affected the escarpment of the Hythe Beds. These movements are regarded as related to the widespread rubble drift occurring on hill-tops at about 300 feet on the low ground of the Weald Clay. An early Pleistocene age is tentatively ascribed to them.

The junction of the Gault and Lower Greensand in East Sussex and at Folkestone, Kent: Weald Research Committee Report No. 42, by R. Casey, F.G.S., published 1950 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 61 issue 4, article, pp.268-298)   View Online

Gault and Lower Greensand are parts of an essentially continuous and conformable series; their line of demarcation is often arbitrary and has no fixed time-relationship. In the Lewes-Eastbourne district of Sussex, for example, the basement-beds of the Gault are the age-equivalents of almost the whole of the Folkestone Beds of the Lower Greensand as developed at Folkestone, the nodosocostatum, tardefurcata, and mammillatum zones of the Albian all being represented in 3-4 feet of glauconitic sandy clay with phosphatic nodules. The presence of the nodosocostatum zone is here indicated by the jacobi fauna, the first authentic record of its occurrence in England since its discovery at Folkestone in 1939. Conversely, the sands which underlie the Gault in this part of Sussex are regarded as an expanded version of the bottom few inches of the Folkestone Beds at Folkestone and are compared with the sands below the nodule-bed with H. jacobi at Wissant, in the Bas Boulonnais.
The diachronous base of the Gault in East Sussex, previously thought to indicate transgressive overlap, may now be ascribed to the progressive assumption by the top beds of the Lower Greensand of the Gault facies as they extend towards the coast, thereby partly accounting for the rapid south-easterly thinning of the Lower Greensand in East Sussex. This hypothesis is advanced as the explanation for the apparent disappearance of the Folkestone Beds under Eastbourne.
Condensed and incomplete faunal successions are demonstrated in both areas and the significance of phosphatic nodule-beds in unravelling the relations of Gault and Lower Greensand is discussed. Some modifications of current views on the faunal sequence in the Folkestone Beds and basal Gault at Folkestone are introduced. The Lower Albian ammonite Hypacanthoplites is illustrated for the first time from a British occurrence.

The Stratigraphy of the chalk of Sussex: Part IV. East central area - between the valley of the Adur and Seaford, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1951 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 62 issue 1, article, pp.31-64)   View Online

The paper records the results of a zonal survey of the Chalk in the area between the valley of the Adur and Seaford. It reveals some new and interesting facts relating to the geological structure of the area. For instance, the previously described anticline of Kingston near Lewes is found to comprise three folds, i.e. (a) Kingston Anticline, (b) Hollinghury Anticline, and (c) Beddingham Anticline. The Kingston Anticline is limited to the area between Mount Caburn and Newmarket Plantation. Faulting is associated with these folds. The Beddingham Anticline extends eastward beyond the district. Other folding, both synclinal and anticlinal, with faulting, are also described. The form of the outstanding valley, known as the Coombe, East of Lewes, is explained. The results are supported by considerable field evidence.

Equisetites lyelli (Mantell) at a new horizon in the Wadhurst Clay, near Pembury, Kent, by Maurice Lock, B.Sc., A.R.S.M., published 1953 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 64 issue 1, article, pp.31-32)   View Online

Fish otoliths from the London Clay of Bognor Regis, Sussex, by F. C. Stinton, published 1956 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 67 issue 1-2, article, pp.15-31)   View Online

The paper consists of systematic descriptions of otoliths from the London Clay of Bognor Regis. Seven new species are recorded and certain earlier inaccurate determinations corrected.

The pleistocene deposits of Penfold's Pit, Slindon, Sussex, and their chronology, by J. B. Dalrymple, published 1957 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 68 issue 4, article, pp.294-303)   View Online

The deposits from sections at Penfold's Pit, Slindon, are described both macro- and micromorphologically. Fossil soil horizons are identified and deductions made as to their primary origin. Finally the relative and absolute chronology of the Pleistocene deposits is inferred.

Geology of the Central Weald: The Hastings Beds, by Percival Allen, published 1958 (Geologists' Association Guide no. 24, Geologist's Association)

Subdivision of the Weald Clay in Sussex, by J. W. Reeves, published 1958 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 69 issue 1, article, pp.1-16)   View Online

The monotonous nature and paucity of good exposures have discouraged attempts at subdivision of the Weald Clay in Sussex for more than a century. Using the oldest and youngest of a series of red clay bands occurring throughout the area as Index Horizons, the formation has been divided into three Groups. These are Group I, buff grey, Group II, red, and Group III, yellow. The detailed mapping of the Index Horizons and other beds has produced definite figures for thicknesses of the strata, and shown a very large increase in thickness as the formation is traced to the west and north-west from Eastbourne to Horsham. The Groups are lithological and have not yet been placed in any palaeontological zoning.

Some sedimentary structures from a Weald Clay Sandstone at Warnham Brickworks, Horsham, Sussex, by J. E. Prentice, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 2, article, pp.171-185)   View Online

Sedimentary structures in a sandstone in the Weald Clay are described. They are groove casts, possibly formed by plant fragments being moved by water, air-heave structures, scour structures, load casts, syndepositional faults and folds, trace fossils and ripple structures. From their study it is concluded that the sandstone was deposited by the sudden inrush of sediment-laden water; and a comparison is suggested with the crevasse sands of modern deltas.

A short note on the origin of the Devil's Dyke, near Brighton, by R. J. Small, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 2, article, pp.187-192)   View Online

It is suggested that the Devil's Dyke has arisen through the capture and rejuvenation of a dip-slope valley by a scarp-foot spring and associated stream. Certain features of the Dyke suggest later modification by periglacial processes. The general rarity of escarpment valleys similar to the Devil's Dyke is attributed to the absence from many Chalk crestlines of recession-cots allowing easy penetration of the scarp face by pirate springs.

The London Clay of Bognor Regis, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 3, article, pp.245-271)   View Online

Bognor Regis has long been noted for fossils of the London Clay, yet the literature devoted to it is scanty. Its geographical position gives it importance in the regional study of this deposit, and it is one of the few localities where the whole thickness of London Clay strata can be studied in sequence. A low angle of dip, and a strike oblique to the coastline, produce a wide field of research in the foreshore outcrop. A number of palaeontological horizons have been established, and the sequence of micro-faunas has been investigated for the first time. A distinct group of horizons, characterised by a largely terrestrial assemblage, has been recognised. This group has yielded a large new flora and a new vertebrate fauna. The first known fossil insect fauna of the London Clay, discovered in 1936, is now recorded.

Some sections in the Lower Gault of the Weald, by H. G. Owen, published 1963 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 74 issue 1, article, pp.35-53)   View Online

Sections in the dentatus Zone of the Lower Gault in the Weald are described. The presence of the eodentatus Subzone at the Coney Hill sand-pit, Barrow Green, is recorded and a comparison is made with deposits of this Subzone exposed at the Shere By-Pass and at Folkestone. The benettianus Subzone exposed at Shere and in the Sevenoaks Brick Works are described and correlated with other known or possible occurrences in the Weald. The expansion of deposits of the dentatus-spathi Subzone in the northern Weald when traced westwards from Folkestone is demonstrated. In Kent and east Surrey the deposits are greatly condensed. In west Surrey the degree of condensation becomes less, and in east Hampshire the dentatus-spathi Subzone is little condensed and forms the bulk of the Lower Gault. In the Selborne area it appears that the transgression during the cristatum and basal orbignyi Subzones has removed all Lower Gault sediments above the dentatus-spathi Subzone. In Sussex there is evidence of an easterly condensation within deposits of this Subzone, and the presence of a nodule bed, comparable to the dentatus nodule bed at Folkestone, is recorded in the English Channel off Beachy Head.

Iron ore workings in the Weald Clay of the Western Weald, by B. C. Worssam, published 1964 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 75 issue 4, article, pp.529-546)   View Online

The location and extent of a belt of old workings for clay ironstone on the outcrop of the Weald Clay of parts of western Surrey and Sussex are described, and related to the stratigraphy and geological structure. Historical evidence for iron-working in the western part of the Weald is referred to. For the first time an estimate is made of the total production of ore from a worked ironstone bed in the Weald Clay. It is concluded that exhaustion of iron ore supplies was a factor in the decline of the iron industry in the western part of the Weald.

The low-level Pleistocene marine sands and gravels of the West Sussex Coastal Plain, by J. M. Hodgson, published 1964 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 75 issue 4, article, pp.547-561)   View Online

The nature, origin and relationships of low-level Pleistocene marine sands and gravel, together with a map of their distribution compiled during a soil survey of the West Sussex Coastal Plain, are described and discussed.
There has been considerable solution of the underlying wave-cut platform where it cuts across the Chalk. This solution, which post-dates the beach, gives a variation in platform height independent of its original slope.
The wave-cut platform rises from about six feet O.D. to at least eighteen and a half feet O.D., and probably several feet higher, and the deposits, which are widespread and continuous except over the Chalk, rise to an observed maximum of forty-seven feet O.D. There is no evidence for the separate existence of more than one deposit within these altitudinal limits. The beach is considered to be the westward continuation of the similar beach at Black Rock, Brighton.

Geology of the Weald, by J. F. Kirkaldy, published 1967 in Geologists' Association Guide (no. 29, article)

Subdivision of the Weald Clay in North Sussex, in Surrey and Kent, by J. W. Reeves, published 1968 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 79 issue 4, article, pp.457-476)   View Online

The subdivision of the Weald Clay into three Groups, using the oldest and newest of a succession of red clay bands, so effective in Sussex, is only possible in the extreme west of this northern part of the Weald: in an area lying roughly between the Victoria-Brighton and the Lewes-Croydon railway lines and in Kent over some eighteen square miles, of which Headcorn is approximately the centre.
Over the whole of some fifty square miles of the outcrop to the north of Tunbridge Wells, red clays appear to be completely absent, although the other normal beds of the formation occur. Elsewhere parts of the three Groups have been traced. Red clays are occasionally recorded in the exploratory borings for the Kent Coalfield. The majority of these occur in the Hastings Beds. They form useful index horizons in attempted correlation.
The thickness of the Weald Clay decreases as it is traced eastward across the area, gradually at first and then more rapidly over the last few square miles. That a decrease is taking place to the north is shown from records of borings.

Geology of the Haywards Heath district, by E. R. Michaels, published 1968 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 79 issue 4, article, pp.525-548)   View Online

Detailed mapping of the Haywards Heath district has resulted in revision of previously published maps. The use of well records together with the new mapping has led to the conclusion that the clay outcropping in the valley of the Ouse north of Cuckfield, is not Weald Clay but a lenticular clay in the Lower Tunbridge Wells Sand. An unconformity at the base of the Weald Clay resulting in a westerly onlap of the Weald Clay over the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand is described.
Facies maps for intervals in the Tunbridge Wells Sand are presented. The areal facies distribution, together with analyses of the vertical succession of facies, confirm the conclusion that the sediments of the Tunbridge Wells Sand are the deposits of a shallow lake-shore. Re-working of the sands through several stages of deposition during Wealden times is suggested.

A fish fauna from the Lower Tertiary Marine Bed, Clapham Common, West Sussex, by N. Edwards and F. C. Stinton, published 1971 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 82 issue 4, article, pp.449-453)   View Online

The Lower Tertiary succession at Clapham Common, West Sussex, is described, and a fossil assemblage comprising chiefly marine fishes is listed. The age of the fossiliferous marine bed is discussed, with reference to the fossil assemblage and the stratigraphical situation. The bed, which overlies Reading Beds (Sparnacian) variegated clays, may be either Sparnacian (Woolwich Beds) or Ypresian (London Clay) in age.

Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, and the sedimentology of Wealden clay ironstone, by B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 1, article, pp.37-55) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5347]   View Online

The distribution of old workings, or 'minepits', for clay ironstone in an area between Horsham and Crawley is shown on geological sketch-maps. The geological structure of the area is described in outline. The old workings, except for those in two anomalous patches, are restricted to two argillaceous units in the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand and to an ironstone horizon some 2 m. below the Horsham Stone in the Weald Clay. Slags from two bloomery sites are described. The amount of ore dug from the minepits is estimated to correspond roughly to the requirements of local blast furnaces, of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century date. Depletion of iron ore reserves is suggested as a factor deciding against resumption of the iron industry in the area after the Civil War.
Bringing into consideration evidence from the whole Wealden area, the origin of clay ironstone is discussed in relation to the environment of deposition of the Wealden Beds. Non-spherulitic ironstone occurs at five main Wealden horizons. In the Weald Clay, ironstone development appears to be related to cycles of sedimentation.

Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, by P. J. Ovenden and B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 2, article, pp.237-238)   View Online

A fish fauna from the Lower Tertiary Marine Bed, Clapham Common, West Sussex, by H. J. Gamble, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 3, article, pp.361-363)   View Online

William Topley and 'The Geology of the Weald', by J. F. Kirkaldy, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.372-388)   View Online

This article was written to commemorate the centenary of the publication of William Topley's well-known memoir The Geology of the Weald. The progress of the primary geological survey of the Weald is traced from its beginning, in the autumn of 1855, to the publication, in December 1868, of the last of the Old Series sheets covering the area. Biographical details are given of the ten members of the Geological Survey who shared the field work. F. Drew mapped by far the greatest area, the other major contributors being C. Le Neve Foster, C. Gould, H.W. Bristow, W. Boyd Dawkins and W. Topley. Owing to death, promotions and resignations, the task of writing the memoir devolved on Topley, who by then had been transferred to Northumberland. Despite this handicap, Topley produced a masterly memoir, notable especially for the breadth of his treatment of so many aspects of Wealden geology. The value of the memoir is assessed against the background of the previous work on the area. During the following century, the Institute of Geological Sciences has been resurveying the Weald, publishing New Series maps and sheet memoirs. The Weald Research Committee and many other geologists have also been active in the area. The advances in our knowledge of the Weald made during the post-Topley period are summarised.

Wealden of the Weald: a new model, by P. Allen, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.389-437)   View Online

An alternative to the deltaic model is presented. The Weald is seen as a subsiding graben-basin, with 'Macaraibo' sedimentary features, spasmodically open to the sea and margined by active horsts.
Channel-facies are commoner in the Wealden sand and clay formations than previously suspected. The 'normal' environment was a variable-salinity coastal mudplain with lagoons and sandy water-courses loosely connected north-westwards with the East Anglian Sea. Channel patterns fluctuated across the low ? high sinuosity transition. Periodically, increased riverflow transformed parts of the basin into sandy braidplains, culminating sometimes in coalescent alluvial fans. These interruptions were brief and generated by marginal upfaulting of surrounding blocks combined with attendant climatic changes. Large expanses of alluvial plain were bare of trees and bushes, but supported rich growths of herbaceous pteridophytes where deposition and erosion became inactive temporarily. Herds of dinosaur travelled freely across the basin and maintained themselves in it. The climate was warm, with marked wet and dry seasons and, possibly, diurnal rhythms in precipitation. Its general trend was towards 'amelioration', as though Britain was leaving the Purbeck semiarid zone and moving across the warm temperate belt.
Following mid-Purbeck earth movements and the final Cinder Bed transgression, the London-Kent horsts dominated Hastings times, being the main suppliers of arenaceous sediment and controlling water-salinity by acting as imperfect barriers against further inroads by the northern sea. On two occasions (Ashdown and Lower Tunbridge Wells formations) the channel-networks merged to build up a single braidplain spanning the basin. Bedload from Wessex and the Isle of Wight stopped short at the Hampshire-Sussex border, though some Norman sand may have reached south-east Sussex. During Weald Clay times the London and Kent blocks ceased to be important sources of sediment, the former letting in the muddy 'Snettisham' Sea voluminously. Several of the brackish-marine inundations sprinkled East Anglian sand across the north-west Weald, mixing it with 'London' gravel gathered up in passing. But most of the sand, now sparse, was generated by jolts in distant Cornubia and Armorica, rejuvenating the rivers and causing the Wessex alluvia to probe the western Weald. After their Horsham première the movements weakened, the younger sands reaching less far eastwards and becoming more restricted to their channel systems. Least affected by tectonic and marine influences were the eastern parts of the basin. The regional palaeoslope in the Anglo-French area seems to have tilted northeast, away from the ruptured continental margin, preluding increased spreading rates in the mid-Cretaceous Atlantic.
There is no room in the new model for large-scale classical deltaic processes or for the traditional derivation of the immature 'western' detritus from Hercynian granites (or any other granites). The model removes some previous difficulties, e.g. the small sizes of the London catchments, the rapidity of many sedimentological changes and the paradox that both marine and fluviatile invasions appear to come from the same general direction.
In the field, the well-known 'Rocks' (massive sandstone members) become the merged multistorey networks of braided channel-fills formed during climactic phases of uplift and river-rejuvenation on the basin margins.

The structure of the Weald - a review, by R. D. Lake, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.549-557)   View Online

Regional analyses of the structure of sedimentary basins distinguish structures reflecting basement structures from later tensional phase structures within the basin-fill. The effects of overburden-thickness and stratal competence are also considered. In the Weald, discrete structural zones are identified in the strata beneath the Weald Clay which can be related to inferred basement structures, which, in turn, have counterparts in France. Borehole evidence suggests that the Mesozoic structures were initiated at the basement-fill interface rather than forming direct continuations of Palaeozoic structures.

The economic geology of the Weald, by D. E. Highley, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.559-569)   View Online

The major proportion of the minerals of economic importance in the Weald is consumed by the construction industry. These minerals include sand and gravel for aggregate, clay for brick manufacture, chalk for cement, limestone (ragstone) for roadstone, and gypsum for plaster, plasterboard and cement manufacture. In addition the Weald is a major source of silica sand, used in glass-making and for foundry purposes, and also of fuller's earth. The geological distribution of these minerals is described, together with an account of their quality, present exploitation and industrial usage.

The soils of the Weald, by S. G. McRae and C. P. Burnham, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.593-610)   View Online

The soils of the Weald are determined largely by the nature of the underlying solid geology and the widespread distribution of superficial drift. Thirteen soil associations have been recognised and a map and extended legend are presented. For each association a general account of the soils is given, together with a discussion of the practical utilisation of the soils. Pedological problems worthy of future study are presented.

Aspects of the geomorphology of the sandstone cliffs of the central Weald: Report of an excursion to West Hoathly and Groombridge Saturday, 5 October 1974, by D. A. Robinson and R. B. G. Williams, published 1976 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 87 issue 1, article, pp.93-99)   View Online

Aspects of the geomorphology of the sandstone cliffs of the central Weald: Report of an excursion to West Hoathly and Groombridge Saturday, 5 October 1974

The Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) of Bracklesham Bay and Selsey, Sussex, by D. Curry, A. D. King, C. King and F. C. Stinton, published 1977 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 88 issue 4, article, pp.243-254)   View Online

The lithostratigraphy of the Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) of Bracklesham Bay and Selsey on the English South Coast is redescribed and maps of the foreshore exposures are given. The Bracklesham Beds, based on the type section at Whitecliff Bay (I.O.W.) are redefined as a Group comprising four divisions. A correlation between Bracklesham Bay and Whitecliff Bay is presented

The geology and hydrogeology of the Lower Greensand of the Sompting Borehole, West Sussex, by B. Young and R. A. Monkhouse, published 1980 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 91 issue 4, article, pp.307-313)   View Online

The Sompting Borehole provided the first cored sequences of Lower Greensand sediments beneath the South Downs. The lithologies present closely resemble those at outcrop to the north but the succession is markedly thinner due to the contemporary influence of a westerly extension of the Paris-Plage ridge structure. Hydrogeological studies show that the Lower Greensand here is a potential aquifer. Radiocarbon determinations reveal a surprisingly young age for the groundwater and a significant tritium content indicates the presence of appreciable quantities of recent water.

The Aptian Lower Greensand fuller's earth beds of Bognor Common, West Sussex, by B. Young and D. J. Morgan, published 1981 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 92 issue 1, article, pp.33-37)   View Online

Exposures of fuller's earth may be contemporaneous with the deposits at Redhill, Maidstone, Woburn, Baulking, Fernham and Clophill. The fuller's earths are considered to be the product of redistribution of wind-borne ash in a shallow marine environment.

Loess in the Weald, by P. J. Burrin, published 1981 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 92 issue 2, article, pp.87-92)   View Online

An investigation into the floodplain and valley fill sediments of the Rivers Ouse and Cuckmere in the southern Weald has shown that the alluvium consists predominantly of silt-sized material. These would normally be interpreted as fluvial sediments produced by the erosion of local rocks. The homogeneity and general characteristics of these deposits are more satisfactorily explained as loessal-derived sediments. This finding provides some insight into the formerly more widespread deposition of loess in the Weald.

Aluminite and other aluminium minerals from Newhaven, Sussex: the first occurrence of Nordstrandite in Great Britain, by R. D. Wilmot and B. Young, published 1985 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 96 issue 1, article, pp.47-52)   View Online

The aluminous minerals aluminite, basaluminite, gibbsite, bayerite and nordstrandite together with poorly crystalline alumino-silicates occur in collapsed Tertiary sediments filling solution pipes in the Upper Chalk at Newhaven, Sussex. They appear to have formed by the reaction between acid groundwater and the Tertiary clays and the Chalk. Similar occurrences elsewhere on the Sussex coast are described.

The Gault Clay-Folkestone Beds junction in West Sussex, Southeast England, by I. D. Anderson, published 1986 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 97 issue 1, article, pp.45-58)   View Online

The Iron Grit, a limonitic sandstone developed at the base of the Gault between Midhurst and Washington, is suggested to be a primary deposit which accumulated in lagoonal conditions on the flanks of the newly emergent Portsdown Swell. The underlying Folkestone Beds have a coarsening-upwards profile combined with upward decrease in amplitude of cross-bedding and pass upwards into parallel laminated sands directly beneath the Iron Grit, a sequence interpreted as representing a beachface profile. The Iron Grit represents a drop in sustained depositional energy and removal from the beachface environment. SEM studies of quartz grain surface texture demonstrate an increase in impact textures upwards in the Folkestone Beds, but a decrease in the Iron Grit. Heavy mineral suites of the Folkestone Beds are characteristic for the Weald, but the suite in the Iron Grit is deficient in kyanite. The wide variety of mineral species confined to the Iron Grit illustrates protection from intrastratal solution by early cementation. The iron is suggested to have originated from weathering on the emergent land area. The Portsdown Swell uplift is related to a mid-Leymeriella tardefurcata phase of regional tectonism.

Stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous white chalk of Sussex, by R. N. Mortimore, published 1986 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 97 issue 2, article, pp.97-139)   View Online

The Middle/Upper Chalk boundary has been removed from the geological maps in the current survey of the Chalk of Sussex by the British Geological Survey leaving an undifferentiated Middle-Upper Chalk. In place of this undivided sequence, six new Members are introduced using Rowe's (1900-1908) term 'White Chalk' for the Formation with stratotypes nominated in the thickest sequences along the Sussex coast between Beachy Head and Brighton and around Lewes.

1. The Ranscombe Chalk Member extends from the base of the Melbourn Rock, through a succession 70-100 m thick, to the top of a massively bedded sequence containing conspicuous marl seams that occurs within the Terebratulina lata Zone, terminating with the Glynde Marl. The basal marker is taken as the Foyle Marl at Eastbourne (boundary stratotype), and Gun Gardens Beachy Head is nominated as the holostratotype.
2. The Ranscombe Chalk is succeeded by a sequence containing regular seams of nodular chalks and the first regular seams of flint. This sequence of nodular chalks with flints is named the Lewes Chalk Member and persists for some 80 m at Lewes, terminated by the upper of the Shoreham Marls at the traditional boundary between the Micraster cortestudinarium and Micraster coranquinum Zones. The basal marker is the Glynde Marl 1 in Caburn Pit, Lewes, boundary stratotype. Caburn Pit, South Street to Southerham Cliffs Lewes, and Beachy Head are nominated as holostratotype sections.
3. Overlying the Shoreham Marls is a thick (60-80 m) sequence of soft, flint bearing, relatively featureless chalks containing seven conspicuous semi-tabular courses of flint; the Seaford Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Shoreham Marl 2 at Seaford Head, the boundary and holostratotype section.
4. Flint bearing chalks with marl seams return in the crinoid and Offaster pilula Zones and characterise the 60-80 m thick Newhaven Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Buckle Marl 1 at Seaford Head, boundary stratotype and holostratotype section.
5. Marl seams cease to be a significant lithology in the Gonioteuthis quadrata Zone where the chalk is generally very soft and featureless but contains several conspicuous courses of flint. This part of the succession is named the Culver Chalk Member and is between 60-100 m thick. The basal marker is the upper Castle Hill Marl at Seaford Head (boundary stratotype) and the only reasonably accessible, complete section through this chalk at Whitecliff Isle of Wight, is nominated as the holostratotype section.
6. Marl seams return in the uppermost part of the G. quadrata Zone and persist into the lower part of the Belemnitella mucronata Zone. These beds are found in the highest chalk on the Isle of Wight, Portsdown and the Sussex coast east of Bognor Regis and form the Portsdown Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Portsdown Marl at the Farlington British Gas Store and Whitecliff (boundary and holostratotype sections).

These six members are divided into groups of beds within which numerous lithological marker horizons are identified. Conspicuous marl seams are chosen as the key markers dividing the members and beds and these seams can be recognised on geophysical borehole logs as well as in the field. The relationship of this stratigraphy to geophysical borehole logs, to the key fossil marker bands and to Upper Cretaceous Stage boundaries is shown.

The stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Lower Greensand of the Hoes Farm Borehole, near Petworth, Sussex, by C. R. Bristow, A. A. Morter and I. P. Wilkinson, published 1987 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 98 issue 3, article, pp.217-227)   View Online

The Hoes Farm Borehole provides a cored sequence through the Atherfield Clay, Hythe Beds and the lowest part (Fittleworth Beds) of the Sandgate Beds. Macrofaunas and ostracods have been collected from many levels and, for the first time, the Ostracoda from the English Aptian have been examined over an extended sequence with good macropalaeontological control. A 0.7 m seam of fuller's earth, recorded near the base of the Hythe Beds, yielded an ostracod fauna of bowerbanki Zone age. A new stratal unit, the Hoes Farm Member, mainly of deshayesi Zone age, has been defined at the base of the Hythe Beds.

Holocene evolution of the gravel coastline of East Sussex, by S. Jennings and C. Smyth, published 1990 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 101 issue 3, article, pp.213-224)   View Online

The East Sussex coastline has been a sedimentary sink during the Holocene. Therefore, variations in the type and quantity of sediment transported within the coastal system may have been the principal factors determining stratigraphie sequences. The variations in sediment supply have found a morphological expression in periodic prograding and retrograding of coastal barriers. An examination of the origin and development of the present gravel barrier beaches indicates that much of the beach sediment probably has its origin in the Pleistocene, while during the Holocene, variations in the littoral drift system and associated changes in geomorphic processes, especially between reflective and dissipative domains, have exerted a major control upon coastal evolution in East Sussex.

Phosphatic concretions in the Wealden of South-East England, by Kevin Taylor, published 1991 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 102 issue 1, article, pp.67-70)   View Online

Phosphatic concretions are reported from several locations in the Wealden sediments of South-east England. The occurrence of such concretions in the Wealden sediments has not previously been recognised and in some cases in the past they may have been mistaken for siderite concretions. The predominant mineral in these concretions, as determined by X-ray diffraction analysis, is francolite, a hydroxy-carbonate apatite. Both primary concretions from the Weald Clay and reworked examples in the Hastings Beds have been recognised.

Dinosaur footprints in the Wealden at Fairlight, East Sussex, by A. S. Parkes, published 1993 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 104 issue 1, article, pp.15-21)   View Online

Dinosaur footprints were found in coastal exposures of the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) Ashdown Beds at Fairlight, near Hastings, East Sussex during 1991-92. A total of 23 footprints were recorded of which 19 were attributed to iguanodonts and four to theropods. Four short (one- and two-'step') trackways were included, representing both dinosaur groups. Assessments of dinosaur speed and type of gait have been determined from the trackway data.

Fossil dragonflies in Horsham Museum, by E. A. Jarzembowski, published 1994 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 105 issue 1, article, pp.71-75)   View Online

The family Petaluridae (Odonata: Anisoptera) is reported for the first time in the English Wealden from a new insect locality (Rudgwick Brickworks) and two new species, Libellulium zdrzaleki and Libellulium standingae spp. nov., are described.

The stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeontology of the Lower Weald Clay (Hauterivian) at Keymer Tileworks, West Sussex, southern England, by Elizabeth Cook and Andrew J. Cook, published 1996 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 107 issue 3, article, pp.231-239)   View Online

The stratigraphy of the Weald Clay of Sussex in the region of Burgess Hill is summarized. The Hauterivian/Barremian boundary, using ostracod evidence in the Ripe borehole, appears to lie at the top of a red clay bed just below BGS Bed 3c2. Detailed sections of the sediments exposed in Keymer Tileworks clay pit are given. BGS Bed 3a is exposed at the top of the pit, indicating that the sediments below belong to the Lower Weald Clay and are late Hauterivian in age. The pit has yielded a diverse non-marine fossil fauna and flora consisting of insects, dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, bony fish, crustaceans, molluscs, ferns, conifers and a new herbaceous, aquatic or marsh-dwelling plant. The insects include the first Wealden records of the family Sciaridae (fungus gnats) and of the superfamily Coccoidea (scale insects). The sediments exposed and their fossil content indicate changes from terrestrial conditions through fluvial, culminating in a lacustrine environment.

Coleoptera from the upper peat bed at Horton Clay Pit, Small Dole, near Upper Beeding, West Sussex, by G. Russell Coope and John A. Cooper, published 2000 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 111 issue 3, article, pp.247-252)   View Online

In 1913 a series of beetle fossils were recovered from a peaty bed in the overburden of a clay pit near Small Dole, Upper Beeding in West Sussex. These remains were preserved in the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, though no attempt was made to identify them. This paper presents the results of a recent study of these fossils. Altogether, 38 taxa of Coleoptera have been recognized, enabling a detailed picture to be built up of the local environment, namely of a rather sour pool in largely open heathland with a sparse growth of coniferous trees. Mutual Climatic Range analysis of the coleopteran assemblage shows that, although mean July temperatures were only a degree cooler than those of the present day, mean January temperatures were about 6°C cooler than today. It is likely that these deposits date from the Brørup Interstadial near to the start of the last (Devensian, Weichselian) Glaciation.

A definitive allosauroid (Dinosauria; Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of East Sussex, by Darren Naish, published 2003 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 114 issue 4, article, pp.319-326)   View Online

A partial proximal tibia (estimated total length of tibia 550 mm) from a large theropod was discovered in the Samuel Beckles collection of Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, East Sussex. It was probably collected from the Hastings Group of the Wealden Supergroup. Derived character states show that it can be referred to the Allosauroidea but it is more robust than are the tibiae of Neovenator salerii, the only well-known Wealden allosauroid, and the two differ in the morphology of the fibular crest, cnemial crest and proximal articular condyles. The Hastings specimen, therefore, probably belongs to another Wealden allosauroid, possibly Becklespinax altispinax (a taxon based on dorsal vertebrae). Large theropod material from the Hastings Group has been reported before but generally lacks characters that allow it to be identified beyond Tetanurae.

The Piltdown Skull Site: the rise and fall of Britain's first geological National Nature Reserve and its place in the history of nature conservation, by Colin Prosser, published 2009 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 120 issue 1, article, pp.79-88)   View Online

The Piltdown hoax is one of the best known cases of scientific forgery in the world and has been the subject of hundreds of papers, books, articles, press reports and web-pages. Whilst the story of the hoax has secured a place in history, the pioneering role played by the site of the Piltdown 'finds', the Piltdown Skull Site, in the early days of British nature conservation has been forgotten. This paper describes how the Piltdown Skull Site in East Sussex, England, a site now known to be of little or no scientific importance, almost became Britain's first National Nature Reserve (NNR), and how, in 1952, it did become Britain's first geological NNR. It describes how the newly formed Nature Conservancy (NC) and the British Museum (Natural History) (BM(NH)) worked together at Piltdown to undertake innovative site management that played a part in exposing the hoax and describes what happened to the NNR as the details of the forgery emerged. Although the NC was clearly embarrassed by the NNR once the hoax was revealed, it is argued here that there was little to be ashamed of and much to be commended.

The non-marine Lower Cretaceous Wealden strata of southern England, by Jonathan D. Radley and Percival Allen, published 2012 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 123 issue 2, article, pp.235-244)   View Online

The non-marine Lower Cretaceous Wealden strata of the Wessex-Weald Basin (southern England) are introduced, with reference to the depositional model developed by Professor Percival Allen FRS (Allen, 1975). To demonstrate this model and the development of Wealden palaeoenvironments through time, Wealden sites have been selected for the Geological Conservation Review programme. Site selection rationale is briefly outlined.

The Wealden (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin, southern England, by Jonathan D. Radley and Percival Allen, published 2012 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 123 issue 2, article, pp.245-318)   View Online

The Wealden strata (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin outcrop in the Weald district of south-east England; the Wealden type-area. The succession is made up of the mixed alluvial-lacustrine-lagoonal Hastings Beds Group below and the predominantly lacustrine-lagoonal Weald Clay Group above. Deposition was strongly influenced by tectonism amongst surrounding massifs, and the warm to hot, periodically wet Wealden climate. Geological Conservation Review sites within the Weald district are dominated by inland sites, but also include extensive coastal cliff and foreshore exposures near Hastings, East Sussex. The Wealden strata have been documented and interpreted since the earliest days of geological enquiry in Great Britain. Collectively, the selected sites demonstrate the key elements of a depositional model for the Wealden of the Weald, developed and published by Professor Percival Allen FRS (1917-2008) in these Proceedings (Allen, 1975). The sites are documented and interpreted, with special reference to research history, chronostratigraphy, structural context, palaeoenvironments, palaeobiology and palaeoclimatology. New directions for research are proposed, as applicable.

First Valanginian Polacanthus foxii (Dinosauria, Ankylosauria) from England, from the Lower Cretaceous of Bexhill, Sussex, by William T. Blows and Kerri Honeysett, published 2014 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 125 issue 2, article, pp.233-251)   View Online

A new partial skeleton of the armoured ornithischian dinosaur Polacanthus found in the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Valanginian stage) of Bexhill, Sussex is the oldest recorded occurrence of this taxon. Previous discoveries suggested that at least two armoured ornithischians occur in the Wealden succession: Polacanthus, which was mostly restricted to the Barremian, and Hylaeosaurus, which was recorded as present only in the Valanginian. The new discovery extends the stratigraphic range of Polacanthus into the Valanginian. Although these two taxa appear to be closely similar anatomically, their osteology now suggests they are not synonymous. The new specimen includes the first known jugal as well as a comparatively rare polacanthid plate/spine (splate) which probably comes from the shoulder (pectoral) area of these animals.

A field guide to Charles Dawson's discredited sites implicated in the Piltdown hoax, by Stephen K. Donovan, published 2015 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 126 issue 4-5, article, pp.599-607)   View Online

Charles Dawson, FSA, FGS (1864-1916), was discoverer and presumed forger of Piltdown Man and the less well-known Barcombe Mills Man in East Sussex. Although the fossils were either fakes or salted from elsewhere, Dawson's geology was accurate apart from his over-estimate of the height of the Piltdown terrace above the River Ouse, leading to it being correlated with the 100 ft (30 m) terrace of the River Thames. This was corrected by Francis Hereward Edmunds, MA, FGS (1893-1960), who recognised it as a 50 ft terrace, but this determination was largely ignored until the detection of the forgery in 1953. Subsequently, Piltdown has been the subject of palaeoanthropological speculation ad nauseum - essentially, who dunnit? - but the historical interest taken in the geology has been minimal. A field guide to Dawson's false hominin sites follows the valley of the River Ouse and its terraces. The so-called Piltdown Man II site near Sheffield Park was probably at Netherhall Farm. The type locality of Piltdown Man, Eoanthropus dawsoni, is marked by a memorial stone, but is on private property. The third site, on a hill above Barcombe Mills railway station (closed) and erroneously called Piltdown Man III in the literature, is a younger terrace and produced remains not considered to be E. dawsoni. The total length of the walk is about 16.4 km on flat to gently undulating topography in a Quaternary landscape carved by the River Ouse.

Historic building stones and their distribution in the churches and chapels of West Sussex, England, by David A. Bone, published April 2016 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 127 issue 1, article, pp.53-77)   View Online

A survey of the historic building stones used in the construction of 258 West Sussex churches and chapels has used a simple, replicable methodology for recording the relative abundance of building stones. The results, from buildings spanning the 10th to 20th centuries (Saxon to Victorian), have been analysed to produce distribution maps for 32 of the 42 significantly different stone types in common usage, including minor but geologically interesting forms. These building stones come from a range of geological and geographical sources, including imported material from the Isle of Wight, Dorset and France. It is shown that the distribution and abundance of the different building stones reflects the local geology, landscape character and changes through time as a result of improvements in supply and modes of transport. The inappropriate choice of stone is easily recognised. This study demonstrates the importance of geological resources in creating a heritage of 'local distinctiveness'. The declining availability of the historic materials makes it increasingly important to respect and conserve existing building stones in order to protect the individuality of the churches. The methodology applied in this study contributes to the understanding and selection of appropriate stone for conservation and repair works.