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| Protected Sites |
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| Purfleet Chalk Pits SSSI |
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| Purfleet Chalk Pits SSSI, Essex, is important
for its sequence of Quaternary, or Ice Age, deposits which overlie
the chalk bedrock. The Quaternary sands and gravels, which were laid
down in an early course of the River Thames, are associated with both
fossil remains and archaeological evidence in the form of worked materials.
The Quaternary history of the River Thames is complex, but, on the
basis of the fossil assemblage and the position of the deposits within
the Thames terrace system, Purfleet has been correlated to Oxygen
Isotope Stage 9 (around 300,000 yrs BP). |
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| Purfleet Chalk Pits SSSI comprises a number
of old quarries which are either disused or currently subject to redevelopment
proposals. Development could potentially have had an adverse impact
on certain areas of the site, particularly where sand and gravel deposits
have been removed or obscured. However the opportunities for improved
site management afforded by development of the area have allowed both
an improvement in site condition and access. In addition geological
and archaeological research of newly exposed sequences through the
terrace deposits has improved our knowledge of the geological interest
and its contribution to our understanding of the evolution of the
River Thames. |
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Raising land levels in the quarry will
facilitate access to the brown Quaternary deposits at the top of the
face, overlying the white Cretaceous chalk, which is not designated
as part of the special interest of this site. |
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| Photo : Chris Gleed-Owen,
Natural England |
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