Muswell Hill
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP640152 | — | Favourable | 0.21 | 2024-03-19 |
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Cretaceous, Jurassic
Description
Description Problematic sandstones and sandy ironstones of Wealden facies and underlying Jurassic occur here. Their precise age and depositional environments are uncertain. The detritus is predominantly northern appreciable plagioclase, garnet, kyanite staurolite, sphene, epidote, etc; low tourmaline, recycled from the Portland Beds and contemporaneously weathered less K and plagioclase feldspars, glauconite, garnet, sphene, etc; higher kaolinite; palaeosol. The site has considerable potential for research in end Jurassic early Cretaceous dating, sedimentation and palaeogeography. Work on three nearby British Geological Survey (BGS) boreholes suggests that the sandstones are earliest Cretaceous in age mid Purbeck, sensu Dorset and deposited in non marine environments from evidence of spores, ostracods, kaolinite 'signal';? palaeosol and absence of detritus from Cornubia.