Purfleet Chalk Pits

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.4835, 0.2454

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Also within

Essex County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Declining (2) Destroyed (1) Favourable (3)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
TQ560783 — Unfavourable Declining 2.17 2013-03-27
TQ560785 — Destroyed 0.78 2005-04-14
TQ562784 — Favourable 3.44 2013-03-27
TQ564785 — Favourable 1.14 2013-03-27
TQ567785 — Favourable 0.98 2013-03-27
TQ569785 — Unfavourable Declining 1.32 2013-03-27

Climate exposure

This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.

Coastal

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.

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Quaternary · Rock Type: Chalk

Landscape processes: Coastal, Fluvial, Volcanic / Igneous

Description

Area, 10.73 ha. Description Mid Pleistocene sand and gravel deposits overlying Chalk are exposed in a series of disused quarries at Purfleet, Essex. The complex lithostratigraphical and biostratigraphical evidence contained at Purfleet clearly indicates the importance of this site in the scientific study of both the evolution of the Thames and Northern European interglacial sequences. General description At Purfleet Chalk Pit's, fluvially derived sands and gravels overlie Chalk. These sands and gravels are terrace deposits associated with the development of the River Thames. They are separated from the present day Thames by the Purfleet Anticline and now lie in the valley of the Mar Dyke. These Lower Thames deposits are extremely variable and include sands, gravels, chalk rich shelly facies and laminated beds, possibly of estuarine origin. Site investigations have yielded rich mammal, mollusc, pollen and ostracod records, which provide important evidence of both the environmental and fluvial conditions at the time of deposition. In addition to the palaeo environmental information contained within the terrace deposits, up to three separate palaeolithic archaeological horizons have also been recorded. This terrace sequence has been most recently attributed to the Middle Pleistocene Corbetts Tey Formation, although earlier work suggests that the deposits are older, placing them in the Boyn Hill Terrace Formation. Other Information This is a Geological Conservation Review site.

Plant communities

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea