Fognam Chalk Quarry
51°31′01″N 1°34′30″W / 51.517°N 1.575°W / 51.517; -1.575
Fognam Chalk Quarry is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Upper Lambourn in Berkshire.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3] It is in the North Wessex Downs.[4]
The site is private land with no public access.
Geology
The Chalk Rock was deposited about 80-90 Million years ago, the quarry marks the junction between the Middle and Upper Chalk. The formation can be traced from Hertfordshire to Dorset, but the chalk of Berkshire is only about half the thickness seen in other locations as it is thought that it was deposited over an area of relatively higher ground (the Berkshire-Chiltern Shelf, part of the London Platform) and therefore in shallower seas. This makes correlation with other formations difficult, due to the absence of certain marker beds, although dating from fossils in the quarry, particularly Middle and Upper Turonian ammonites associated with inoceramid bivalve assemblages has been attempted.[5][6]
History
The chalk from this quarry was used locally to build houses.[4]
Fauna
The site has the following Fauna:[7]
Mammals
- Highland cattle
Invertebrates
- Small blue
Flora
The site has the following Flora:[7]
- kidney vetch
- birdsfoot trefoil
- Lady's bedstraw
- cowslip
- mignonette
- rough hawkbit
- glaucous sedge
- common spotted orchid
- salad burnet
- greater knapweed
- yellow rattle
- fairy flax
- hoary plantain
- field scabious
References
- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Fognam Chalk Quarry". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Map of Fognam Chalk Quarry". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Fognam Quarry (Cenomanian, Turonian, Senonian, Maastrichtian)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Chalk Links in the North Wessex Downs" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "FGS field trip to Berkshire, Sunday 11 May 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ "SITE NAME: FOGNAM CHALK QUARRY" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ a b "Condition of SSSI Units for Site Fognam Chalk Quarry SSSI". Natural england. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- v
- t
- e
- Aldermaston Gravel Pits
- Ashridge Wood
- Avery's Pightle
- Bisham Woods
- Blackwater Valley
- Bowdown and Chamberhouse Woods
- Boxford Water Meadows
- Bray Meadows
- Bray Pennyroyal Field
- Briff Lane Meadows
- Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths
- Catmore and Winterly Copses
- Chawridge Bourne
- Cleeve Hill
- Cock Marsh
- Combe Wood and Linkenholt Hanging
- Coombe Wood, Frilsham
- Croker's Hole
- Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods
- Easton Farm Meadow
- Enborne Copse
- Englemere Pond
- Freeman's Marsh
- Great Thrift Wood
- Greenham and Crookham Commons
- Heath Lake
- Hog's Hole
- Holies Down
- Inkpen and Walbury Hills
- Inkpen Common
- Inkpen Crocus Field
- Irish Hill Copse
- Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain
- Kennet Valley Alderwoods
- King's Copse
- Lardon Chase
- Lodge Wood and Sandford Mill
- Longmoor Bog
- Old Copse, Beenham
- Park Farm Down
- Redhill Wood
- River Kennet
- River Lambourn
- Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths
- Seven Barrows
- Snelsmore Common
- Stanford End Mill and River Loddon
- Streatley Warren
- Sulham and Tidmarsh Woods and Meadows
- Swinley Park and Brick Pits
- Thatcham Reed Beds
- Wasing Wood Ponds
- Wellington College Bog
- West Woodhay Down
- West's Meadow, Aldermaston
- Westfield Farm Chalk Bank
- White Shute
- Windsor Forest and Great Park
- Woolhampton Reed Bed
- Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits
- Wraysbury No 1 Gravel Pit
- Wykery Copse