Purfleet Chalk Pits

Last updated

Purfleet Chalk Pits
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Purfleet Chalk Pits 3.JPG
Location Essex
Grid reference TQ560784
TQ563785
TQ566785
TQ 569 786
InterestGeological
Area10.7 hectares
Notification 1986
Location map Magic Map

Purfleet Chalk Pits is a 10.7-hectare (26-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Purfleet in Essex. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site. [3]

The chalk pits expose sands and gravels which are associated with the ancient course of the River Thames. They have yielded varied animal, mollusc and plants remains which throw light on the environmental and fluvial conditions at the time when they were deposited. [1] The site is over 280,000 years old, and laid down when this section of the Thames was flowing westwards. There also broken flints in several layers, showing occupation by early humans at several different periods. [4] MIS9, between about 335,000 and 280,000 years ago, is often informally called the Purfleet interglacial, and the mammalian assemblage on the site is the type for the Purfleet Mammalian assemblage zone. [5]

The site consists of Greenlands Quarry, Bluelands Quarry, Botany Pit and Esso Pit. Most of it has been filled in and is covered by a housing estate. A section of Greenlands Quarry has been created for research, but this is closed to the public. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanscombe Heritage Park</span> Archaeological site in England

Swanscombe Skull Site or Swanscombe Heritage Park is a 3.9 hectares geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Swanscombe in north-west Kent, England. It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites and a National Nature Reserve. The park lies in a former gravel quarry, Barnfield Pit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seale Chalk Pit</span>

Seale Chalk Pit is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Guildford in Surrey. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and part of the Seale Chalk Pit and Meadow 3-hectare (7.4-acre) private nature reserve, which is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.

Harefield Pit is a 1.8-hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It occupies much of a partially filled-in chalk quarry. It has two entries in the Geological Conservation Review database.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moor Mill Quarry, West</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hertfordshire

Moor Mill Quarry, West is a 0.16-hectare (0.40-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in How Wood in Hertfordshire. The local planning authority is St Albans City and District Council. It was notified in 1992 as representing the former Moor Mill Quarry SSSI, which was lost to landfill operations. It is listed by the Geological Conservation Review.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensworth Chalk Pit</span> 131.3 hectare geological site of Special Scientific Interest

Kensworth Chalk Quarry is a 131.3-hectare (324-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Kensworth in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Lodge Pit</span>

South Lodge Pit is a 0.5-hectare (1.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Taplow in Buckinghamshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall's Quarry</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in Essex, England

Hall's Quarry is a 0.8-hectare (2.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Ugley Green in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Globe Pit</span>

Globe Pit is a 0.4-hectare (0.99-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Little Thurrock in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardleigh Gravel Pit</span> Site in Essex, UK

Ardleigh Gravel Pit is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Ardleigh in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wivenhoe Gravel Pit</span>

Wivenhoe Gravel Pit is a 2.1-hectare (5.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Wivenhoe in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Osyth Pit</span> 0.1-hectare geological site in Essex

St Osyth Pit is a 0.1-hectare (0.25-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of St Osyth in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lofts Farm Pit</span> Geological site in Essex, England

Lofts Farm Pit is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Heybridge, a suburb of Maldon in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldsands Road Pit</span>

Goldsands Road Pit is a 1.3-hectare (3.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Southminster in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newney Green Pit</span>

Newney Green Pit is a 0.07-hectare (0.17-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Writtle in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lion Pit</span>

Lion Pit is a 2.5-hectare (6.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Grays in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and part of the Chafford Gorges Nature Park, which is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrington Chalk Pit</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest near Barrington in Cambridgeshire

Barrington Chalk Pit is a 97.1-hectare (240-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Barrington in Cambridgeshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinnor Chalk Pit</span>

Chinnor Chalk Pit is a 20.4-hectare (50-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

References

  1. 1 2 "Purfleet Chalk Pits citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Map of Purfleet Chalk Pits". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Purfleet: Bluelands, Greenlands, Esso and Botany Pits". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Purfleet Chalk Pits SSSI, Thurrock District, TQ569786, Site of Special Scientific Interest". Essex Field Club. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Pettit, Paul; White, Mark (2012). The British Palaeolithic: Human Societies at the Edge of the Pleistocene World. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 106. ISBN   978-0-415-67455-3.

51°28′59″N0°15′00″E / 51.483°N 0.25°E / 51.483; 0.25

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.