Elmstead Pit
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TQ423706 | — | Favourable | 0.05 | 2024-03-19 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Paleogene · Rock Type: Flint
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Area, 0.05 ha. 0.13 ac. Description Elmstead Pit provides a nationally important exposure of the Oldhaven Blackheath Beds through a section containing an unusually rich fossil fauna. A wide range of geological features are present providing information on the changing disposition of land and sea in the Greater London area during Eocene times. The site covers a 6 metre high pit face cut into a series of Blackheath Beds consisting of fine quartz sands and an abundance of flint pebbles. These beds accumulated as sub tidal bars in an estuarine environment during Eocene times approximately 50 million years ago. They are particularly noted for very large scale 'cross bedding' with angles of dip of up to 25 degrees. The sediments are bound by a heavy calcite cement which has preserved an unusually abundant and diverse fossil fauna. Pit's at Elmstead have yielded a substantial part of the known molluscan fauna from the Blackheath Beds and a number of sharks teeth and fish scales have also been recovered. The site is now the only exposure in this locality of these highly fossiliferous beds.