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| Protected Sites |
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| Kilmersdon Road Quarry SSSI, Somerset |
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| Kilmersdon Road Quarry SSSI, Somerset,
is important in understanding the early Jurassic geography of this
part of western England. The quarry contains fossiliferous limestones
and clays of the Lower Lias of the Lower Jurassic Period, which started
about 208 million years ago. The marine fossil faunas, particularly
the ammonites, indicate that the 6 metres of rock succession exposed
represents a period of about 18 million years. In contrast, further
north in the Avon Valley, the same time-span is represented by 70
metres of rock. Comparison of the two successions reveals gaps in
the succession of fossil faunas at Kilmersdon, where the sea was shallower.
Either parts of the Lower Lias were never deposited at Kilmersden
or they were eroded away before the succeeding sediments were deposited.
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| The quarry is long disused and the exposures
have been obscured by talus and vegetation, exacerbated by extensive,
irresponsible fossil collecting which led to the undermining of faces
and fences. The main quarry face has now been restored through the Face
Lift Programme and the full succession can once again be seen. A rock
store for fossil collecting has been built from the talus in order to
draw fossil collecting pressures away from the faces. |
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A section at Kilmersdon Road Quarry SSSI,
Somerset, after vegetation clearance works under the
Face Lift Programme. |
| Photo: Dave Evans, Natural England. |
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