(You can download this educational site to SurfOffline or similar software to keep a safe permanent offline copy, but note that at present there is periodic updating of the live version.)

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Albin , J. 1795. A new, correct, and much improved history of the Isle of Wight, from the earliest times of authentic information, to the present period.../ [John Albin]. 1795. Southampton University, Cope Collection,Cope 98.92 / 52112911 52114933 Open 52285338

Albin, J. 1818. A companion to the Isle of Wight: comprising the history of the island. By John Albin, 8th ed.
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Allen , L.G. and Gibbard, P.L. 1993. Pleistocene evolution of the Solent River of southern England. Quaternary Science Reviews, 12, 503-528.

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Anonymous . 1799. A companion in a tour round Southampton...and a tour of the Isle of Wight.

Anonymous. 1937. A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to the Isle of Wight: with Map of the Island, Plans of Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor, Cowes, Newport and Carisbrooke. 1937. 22nd ed.

Anonymous. 1855. The new Portsmouth, Southsea, Anglesey & Hayling Island guide: comprising a description of the Dockyard...: to which is added a complete handbook to the beauties of the Isle of Wight. 8th ed.

Anonymous. 1865. A Handbook for Travellers in Surrey, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. 2nd ed.

Anonymous. 1979. The Isle of Wight: a Guide for Teachers. In: Cope Collection, Southampton University Library, Cope q 98.32 /57365664 79021010
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Arkell , W.J. 1947. The Geology of the Country around Weymouth, Swanage, Corfe and Lulworth. Memoir of the Geological Survey Great Britain. 386pp. With Wright, C.W.and Melville, R.V. 2nd edition - 1952 with Addenda and Corrigenda. [This is not on the Isle of Wight but contains relevant information on the Studland Bay section related to that at Alum Bay. The Creechbarrow Beds overstepping unconformably southward onto Chalk are now known to be of Bartonian age and are therefore relevant to the interpretation of the late Middle Eocene of the Isle of Wight. There is other relevant material but this memoir, although useful, is now out-of-date and must be used in conjunction with later literature.]

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Armenteros, I., Daley, B. and Garcia, E. 1997. Lacustrine and palustrine facies in the Bembridge Limestone (late Eocene, Hampshire Basin) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 128, No. 1, February 1997 , pp. 111-132 (22). Publisher: Elsevier. By Ildefonso Armenteras, Brian Daley and E. Garcia. (Professor Ildefonso Armentaras is at the University of Salamanca. Professor Brian Daley is at the Univeristy of Portsmouth)
Abstract:
This paper considers the development and evolution of pedogenic structures within palustrine facies and their relationship with those of calcretes as exemplified by the Bembridge Limestone (BL) Formation (Upper Eocene) of the Isle of Wight. Within this formation, primary lacustrine facies (mainly biomicrites) have been modified by pedogenesis to varying degrees. Whilst such changes developed as part of an evolving continuum, three structures are recognised to represent evolving stages in this process: brecciated - nodular, clotted - peloidal and peloidal - ooidal structures. A fourth structure, laminar, is sometimes intercalated with the other three and in places is seen to replace them. They are particularly developed in the western outcrops of the formation which represent the palustrine fringes of the main lacustrine bodies. The structures are thought to represent the progressive differentiation of the peloidal and ooidal elements from the original lacustrine sediment and appear to be a response to alternations of wetting and drying of the soil under fluctuating climatic conditions. The vermiform fabric of the laminar structure is attributed to calcified root mats. The general depletion in the heavy O and C isotopes of palustrine facies with respect to the original lacustrine ones is interpreted as being the result of repeated dissolution - reprecipitation processes occurring during soil development. The palustrine facies of the BL correlates well with an intermediate condition between semi-arid and subhumid climates with extensive biological soil modification of freshwater carbonates.

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Aubry , M.P. 1986. Palaeogene calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy of northwestern Europe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 55, 267-334.
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Aylott, R. 1982. Isle of Wight: two views: a photographic record of the Island from 1880 to the present day. By Robert Aylott. 1982. Southampton University.
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Bale, B. 1984. Mineralogical and Geochemical Studies of Upper Eocene Sediments in the Hampshire Basin of Southern England. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Southampton University. 493 pp. plus 7 additional, unnumbered plates. By Rafiu Babatunde Adetunji Bale. Supervised by Dr Michael Cosgrove and Trevor Clayton. Financially supported by the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. April, 1984... Abstract: Sediments of the marine Barton Clay Formation, Barton Sand Formation, and the non-marine 'Lower Headon Beds' exposed along the coastal cliffs on mainland Hampshire and Isle of Wight have been investigated mineralogically and geochemically... Sandy-clays and quartz-sand predominate and are dominated by quartz, clays and microcline feldspar with small amounts of anatase, goethite, pyrite, albite, oligoclase, biogenic calcite, aragonite and organic-carbon. The clay assemblage comprises degraded illite, smectite, kaolinite, illite-smectite and traces of chlorite... Geochemically the sediments are silica-rich but poor in alkali and alkaline-earths. Their trace element contents shows strong associations with clays and feldspars; whilst substantial concentrations of As, Ce, Cr, Cu, I, Mn, Pb, Zn occur with plant remains and/or carbonates. In general the sediments show no significant facies-related compositional variation nor evidence for substantial diagenetic alteration... Support is provided for sediment derivation from Cretaceous sediments and infrabasinally-exposed Tertiary sediments on adjoining land areas in England and horst structures in the English Channel. Continuous low-scale tectonic movements and episodic eustatic sea-level fluctuations caused alternating periods of slow, clayey deposition and relatively shorter periods of rapid sandy sandy sedimentation... Palaeosols related to red-yellow podzols and hydromorphic swamps have been identified. These contain abundant authigenic kaolinite and goethite. Lepidocrocite, jarosite and gypsum occur in association with the hydromorphic palaeosols, although these are difficult to distinguish from Recent weathering products... Authigenesis of Fe- and Ca-rich phases was widespread. Freshwater limestones were formed, dominantly composed of micritic low-Mg calcites. Glauconitic -mica formed in the Barton Clay, predominantly within microfossil tests. Its time of formation appears to be substantially less than previously considered likely. Calcian-siderite ironstones and ferroan-calcite septarian concretions formed in early diagenesis at very shallow depths. The siderite shows between 1 and 10 mol% Ca2+ substitution. The substitution is facies related, and greatest in marine and 'brackish' sediments. Ferroan calcite occurs in association with glauconie within marine sediments only. It is believed to form rather than siderite as a result of the early depletion of iron-oxide during glauconitisation. The formation of these low-Mg carbonate phases is unusual at shallow depths, and is believed to result from the high influx of iron-oxide and dissolved CaCO3... The clay assemblage, the red-yellow podzol palaeosols and the authigenic phases, together, suggest the prevalence of a warm, humid, probably sub-tropical palaeoclimate with moderate-intense weathering and active erosion. [End of Abstract].
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Barber , K.E. 1987. Wessex and the Isle of Wight field guide: prepared to accompany the Annual Field Meeting held at Southampton and Cowes, 2125 April 1987; edited by K.E. Barber. 1987 (Dr. Keith Barber). Southampton University.
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Barton, M.E. 2007. Sleeping demons and terrified horses; determining the onset of instability. Page 475 et seq. In: Landslides and Climate Change: Challenges and Solutions. Proceedings of the International Conference on Landslides and Climate Change, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, UK, 21-24 May 2007. Edited by E . Mathie , R . McInnes , H . Fairbank , and J. Jakeways. Taylor and Francis 2007. Paper by Professor Max Barton, School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, Southampton University.
Abstract:
The paper draws attention to the problem of trying to predict the time when a slope, or quasi-stable landslide, progresses into full-scale instability. Rockfalls and large scale complex coastal landslides are highlighted as phenomena posing particular difficulties with a time-scale prediction. The consequences of long term sea level rise due to global warming for large scale coastal landslides mirrors a return to the conditions which will have existed during the later stages of the Flandrian transgression.

[Example extract:]
"Gore Cliff forms part of the back scarp to the Isle of Wight Undercliff landslides between Blackgang and Niton (Bromhead et al. 1991). It is the site of numerous spectacular rockfalls including the dramatic and famous fall in 1928 which destroyed a length of the A3055 coastal road. The scar of a rockslide which took place in 2001, critically loading the Undercliff, activating a mudslide and forming a new deep gully is illustrated in Fig.1. Gore Cliff is replete with numerous joint sets including stress relaxation joints parallel to the cliff face. Monitoring of a joint by Hutchinson et al. (1991) has shown seasonal movements. Periodic movements of the Undercliff landslide must relieve passive support at the base of the scarp and make rockfalls inevitable. Near the point of failure, the succession of minor falls, deformations and noises..." [continues]

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Beamish, D. and White, J.C. 2011a. A radiometric airborne geophysical survey of the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London. vol. 122 (2011), pp. 787-799. Available online as a PDF file of the British Geological Survey.
Abstract:
A high resolution airborne geophysical survey across the Isle of Wight and Lymington area conducted in 2008 provided the first modern radiometric survey across the geological formations that characterise much of southern England. The basic radiometric data are presented and it is evident that bedrock geology exerts a controlling influence on the broad response characteristics of the naturally occurring radioelements. A GIS-based geological classification of the data provides a quantitative assessment and reveals that a relatively high percentage of the variability of the data is explained by the Cretaceous bedrock geology but this is much reduced in the Palaeogene. The three traditional Chalk units (Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk depicted on the currently available Geological Map) provide the lowest and most distinct behaviour within the Cretaceous sequence. Mineral content within the Chalk appears to increase with increasing age. A new method of representing the baseline radiometric information from the survey in terms of the mean values of the geological classification is presented. The variation of radioelement geochemistry within individual formations is examined in two case studies from the Cretaceous Lower Greensand Group and the Palaeogene Hamstead Member (Bouldnor Formation). The Cretaceous sequences provide the higher levels of discrimination of localised variations in radioelement distributions. A more detailed case study examines the potential influences from the degree of water saturation in the soil and superficial deposits.

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Beamish, D. and White, J.C. 2011b. A geological and hydrogeological assessment of the electrical conductivity information from the HiRES airborne geophysical survey of the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122 (2011), pp. 800-808. Available online as a pdf file of the British Geological Survey.
A recent high resolution airborne geophysical survey across the Isle of Wight (IoW) and Lymington area has provided the first electromagnetic data across the relatively young geological formations characterising much of southern England. The multi-frequency data provide information on bulk electrical conductivity to depths of the order of 100 m. A GIS-based assessment of the electrical conductivity information in relation to bedrock geological classification has been conducted for the first time. The analysis uses over 104,000 measurements across onshore IoW and has established average and statistical properties as a function of bedrock geology. The average values are used to provide baseline maps of apparent electrical conductivity and the variation with depth (measured as a function of frequency). The average conductivity as a function of depth within the main aquifer units is summarised. The data indicate that the majority of the Palaeogene is characterised by values consistently in excess of 100 mS/m and with a surprisingly high degree of spatial heterogeneity. The youngest (Oligocene) Hamstead Member displays some strong edge effects and the largest localized values in conductivity. The central Upper Chalk is associated with the lowest observed conductivity values and mineral content and/or porosity appears to increase with increasing age. The large central outcrop of the Lower Greensand Group, Ferruginous Sand Formation provides persistently low (less than 30 mS/m) conductivity values which imply a relatively uniform distribution of clean sand content. Non-geological (e.g. environmental) responses are contained within the data set and examples of these in relation to a closed municipal landfill and an area of potential coastal saline intrusion are discussed. In the south, the Gault clay/mudstone of the Early Cretaceous appears as a distinctive conductive unit. Cross sectional modelling of the data has been undertaken across the aquifer units of the Southern Downs. The results indicate that the Gault Formation, acting as an aquitard, can be traced as a distinct unit under the more resistive Early Cretaceous Upper Greensand and Late Cretaceous Chalk formations. The conductivity modelling should therefore allow an estimation of the subsurface configuration of the aquifer and aquitard units.

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Bird , E. 1997. The Shaping of the Isle of Wight: with an Excursion Guide.Paperback book. Ex Libris Press, Bradford on Avon. Geostudies, 1997. 175 pp. Paperback. ISBN 0 948578 83 1. (Price in 1998 - 7pounds,95p.) A very useful description and guide to the geomorphology of the Isle of Wight, with photographs and maps. By Eric Bird.
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Black Rock Oil and Gas PLC . 2004. Site preparation for Sandhills 2 well site has commenced. [Brief notes on the website:] Black Rock Oil and Gas Plc (the "Company") today [7 December 2004] announces that site preparation began yesterday at the Sandhills 2 well (PEDL 113) on the Isle of Wight. The Company has a 5 percent free carry in this project. The Sandhills 2 well location is expected to be drill-ready by January 2005 and is required to enable the drilling of the well. This well is one of 5 projects that the Company has an interest in near the Isle of Wight (PEDL 098 - 5 percent; PEDL 099 - 5 percent; PEDL 113 - 5 percent; PEDL 151 - 2.5 percent; PEDL 152 - 5 percent). [no further information here on this topic. The following website gives the same limited information:] Rigzone Com , your gateway to the oil and gas industry.    
There is further information on location in the following:
IW Tests for Black Gold Begin. By Suzanne Pert. The first test for oil on the Island for a decade has got under way in woodland between Shalfleet and Yarmouth. Behind the venture is Northern Petroleum who, with partners, aim to drill for black gold in the Porchfield area and will soon be submitting a planning application to sink a trial borehole in a drilling area known as Sandhills 2. The company also intends to make a second application for a borehole in a separate area of the West Wight. But there were some gaps in the seismic information and it was felt that new techniques would provide more vital information before planning applications were submitted. Two huge seismic vibrators were brought to the Island - one to be used as a back-up - and surveys were carried out under guidance from the company's chief geophysicist, Jerry Field, on Forestry Commission land at Bouldnor Copse. The information obtained from the 16-ton, four-wheel articulated vehicles will be sent to a process centre and it will take about a month before a picture emerges of the seismic section surveyed. That data will be interpreted by Mr Field. He said the last seismic survey was carried out on the Island in 1992 by Brabant and prior to that British Gas, Sun Oil and Clyde Petroleum had all acquired their own data... [continues, with photograph].    
[For estimates of reserves see the following:]    
Drilling for Black Gold. by Echo Reporter. 2003. Some extracts only: "Humble Porchfield could become the Island's answer to Dallas after a major oil company announced it will investigate drilling for crude oil beneath the small rural village. Northern Petroleum plc, which has a 40 per cent interest in the licence covering the area, has told its shareholders that there could be almost ten million barrels of oil beneath agricultural land around the village in a field known as the Sandhills-1 oilfield. The company is preparing a planning application asking the Isle of Wight Council for permission to sink a borehole. ..Northern Petroleum said the cost of the exploratory well is likely to be between 600,000 pounds and 1m pounds. The company has told shareholders the Sandhills project was capable of transforming the perceived value of the company. It says: "It has been independently evaluated at 9.8 million barrels of 'probable' oil reserves." This would make it bigger in terms of reserves than Humbly Grove in Hampshire, which is nearing the end of its productive life and has netted about eight million barrels. The exact site of the borehole has not been identified, but it is likely to be close to a previous test well on land to the west of Whitehouse Road, at Youngwoods Farm. "We are very certain the oil is in the ground, more than 90 per cent certain, but the issue is can we get it to the surface at a rate of production which is economic?" said Mr Musgrove..." [continues].
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Blondeau, A. and Pomerol, C. 1964. Contribution a l'etude sedimentologique de l'Eocene du Kent et du Hampshire. Mem. Bur. Rech. Geol. Min., 28, 579-584.

Blondeau, A. and Pomerol, C. 1968. Contribution to the sedimentological study of the Palaeogene of England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 79, 441-456.
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Blows, W.T. 1978. Reptiles on the Rocks. Isle of Wight Museums Publication Number 2, First Edition 1978. Published by the Isle of Wight County Council. 60pp., paperback booklet. By William T. Blows.

Blows, W.T. 1995. The early Cretaceous Brachiosaurid dinosaurs Ornithopsis and Eucamerotus from the Isle of Wight, England. Palaeontology, vol. 38, Part 1, 1995, pp. 187-197. [Wealden dinosaurs]
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Booth, K.A. and Brayson, J. 2011. Geology, landscape and human interactions: examples from the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London,, vol. 122 (2011), pp. 938-948. By Kathryn Booth and Joanna Brayson. Both authors are from the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK.
Abstract:
The British Geological Survey has recently re-mapped the Isle of Wight at a scale of 1:10,000. This has added to a wealth of geological research already published. Within this paper, we highlight the importance of geology to the heritage of the Isle of Wight and its impacts on everyday life. There is a growing cultural awareness of the variety of landscapes and resources, the geology that underpins them, and the need to manage and understand them in a sensitive and sustainable way. 'Geodiversity', which collectively embraces these themes, is defined as "the natural range (diversity) of geological (rocks, minerals, fossils), geomorphological (land form, processes) and soil features" (Gray, 2004). This paper will focus on the geomorphological features; that is, the link between geology, the landscape it influences, and the human interactions with it. Examples from the Isle of Wight of the influences of geology on landscape include the landslides at Ventnor; geotourism at The Needles, Alum Bay and various dinosaur sites; and the artificial landscapes resulting from resource extraction. The geological issues and examples that we have used are some of the most applicable to everyday life, and therefore ones that many people will be able to relate to, such as geohazards (e.g. landslides), water supply, economic value (e.g. quarrying) and tourism. The paper is aimed at the non-specialist and students but also may provide a contextual element to professionals.
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Brannon, G. 1843 (probably other editions of 1844, 1848, 1849, etc). Brannon's Picture of the Isle of Wight; Or The Expeditious Traveller's Index to Its Prominent Beauties and Objects of Interest. Compiled Especially with Reference to Those Numerous Visitors Who Can Spare but Two or Three Days to Make the Tour of the Island. Printed and Published by George Brannon, Wootton, Isle of Wight, 1843.
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Bridgland , D.R. 2001. The Pleistocene evolution and palaeolithic occupation of the Solent River. Pp. 15-25 in: Wenban-Smith, F.F. and Horsfield, R.T. 2001. Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Solent River, Proceedings of the Lithic Studies Society day meeting held at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton on Saturday 15th January, 2000. Lithic Studies Society Occasional Paper No. 7 (2001). Published by the Lithic Studies Society, c/o British Museum (Quaternary Section), Franks House, 38-46 Orsman Road, London, N1 5QJ. ISBN 0-9513246-3-2, ISSN 0950-9208. 111 pp., paperback. Abstract: The Solent River, its valley now beneath the seaway between the Isle of Wight and the English mainland, was an important agent of drainage in the Hampshire Basin throughout the Pleistocene. During this time it left an extensive staircase of north-bank terraces, now forming the hinterland to the south coast, with comparable terraces extending up the more important tributary rivers. Many of the terraces dating from the Middle Pleistocene contain Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, although these are absent from the older terraces, which pre-date human occupation, and from the lowest terraces and valley-floor gravels, which signifies the disappearance of humans from Britain prior to the last interglacial. Only the last two lnterglacials are directly represented within the sedimentological sequences of the Solent and its tributaries, so it is necessary to turn to other evidence to assess the ages of the higher terraces. Palaeolithic archaeology, perhaps surprisingly, provides a number of age indications. The first appearance of artefacts is thought likely to be around 600,000 years ago; then twisted ovates are prevalent in assemblages from OIS 11, suggesting that the Old Milton Gravel incorporates material of that age; finally Levallois technique appears in the Taddiford Farm Gravel, which by analogy with the Thames is therefore thought to date from around the OIS 9/8 transition. The Solent has more Middle Pleistocene terraces than other UK rivers, perhaps because rejuvenation has taken place twice during each climatic cycle. The age indications from the archaeological data enable some attempt at modelling the formation of these terraces in response to both climate change and background uplift, although the results remain speculative. [This paper has good, new maps of the Solent River system.]
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Bristow, H.W. 1862. The Geology of the Isle of Wight. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales, pp. xix + 138.

Bristow, H.W., Reid, C. and Strahan, A. 1889. The Geology of the Isle of Wight (2nd Edition). Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales, pp. xiv + 349.
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Bristow, R., Mortimore, R. and Wood, C. 1997. Lithostratigraphy for mapping the Chalk of southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, 108, Pt 4, 293-315.
Abstract: Recent British Geological Survey (BGS) mapping in Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent has shown that the Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk formations of the Chalk Group, can be subdivided into mappable units of member status. The members are recognizable by their lithology and topographic expression, and can be followed readily across open country. Some members have distinctive wireline log signatures. These members will be shown on future BGS maps. In the above areas, the Lower Chalk (Formation), with its traditional boundaries, is retained and divided into two members, a lower, West Melbury Marly Chalk, comprising, in part, the Glauconitic Marl, most of the Chalk Marl up to and including the Tenuis Limestone; and a higher, Zig Zag Chalk, comprising the top of the Chalk Marl, the Grey Chalk and the Plenus Marls. These members can be readily traced from Dorset and Wiltshire into Sussex and Kent. In the Chilterns, the Glauconitic Marl (s.s.) forms a third, basal, mappable member to the Lower Chalk. The Middle Chalk (Formation) consists of two members: the redefined Holywell Nodular Chalk, comprising the Melbourn Rock and overlying Mytiloides shell-detrital chalks; and the New Pit Chalk, a massively bedded chalk with conspicuous marl seams. The traditional concept defining the base of the Upper Chalk (Formation) at the entry of common flint is too variable and unreliable for mapping. Instead, the base of the Upper Chalk is coincident with a revised base to the Lewes Nodular Chalk, defined by the entry of hard nodular chalk in basinal successions, by the base of the Chalk Rock in condensed marginal successions and the base of the Spurious Chalk Rock in south Dorset and the Isle of Wight. The Upper Chalk is subdivided into a basic framework of 8 members. The coarse-grained, rough Lewes Nodular Chalk is succeeded by very fine- grained, smooth chalks, marl-free except at the base, with conspicuous bands of large flints, the Seaford Chalk. The overlying Newhaven Chalk is characterized by firm, marly chalk with numerous marl seams and regular, but fewer, bands of flint. The marl seams locally thin or disappear over tectonic highs. In central Dorset, the base of Newhaven Chalk cannot be mapped, leaving an undivided Seaford and Newhaven Chalk, later renamed Blandford Chalk; the latter name is herein discontinued. In pai ts of east Kent (Thanet), the Seaford Chalk is overlain by very soft, nearly flint-free chalk, the Margate Chalk. The bases of the Tarrant Chalk and Spetisbury Chalk are defined by the crests: of prominent scarp features Ft1 and Ft2 in central Dorset. The origin of the features, due to lack of exposure of the feature-forming beds, remains uncertain. These members comprise uniform, firm, white, flinty chalk?; and collectively e.g. where not mapped separately, constitute the Culver Chalk of the existing classification. The lower limit of the Portsdown Chalk, with numerous marl seams, is taken at a pronounced negative feature break in central Dorset (base of Ft3 scarp), that approximates to the base of the member as originally defined. The terminal member in Dorset and the Isle of Wight (Studland Chalk), comprising soft, white, marl- free chalk with very large flints, is mapped with the Portsdown Chalk as it is not readily separable from the latter unit.

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British Geological Survey (BGS) . (once Institute of Geological Sciences). Geological Map, 1:250,000 Series, (with offshore data), Wight, Sheet 50 degrees N - 02 degrees W.

British Geological Survey. Geological Map. Isle of Wight. England and Wales Special Sheet. Solid and Drift Edition. Sheets 344, 345, part of 330 and 331. Original geological survey on one-inch scale by H.W. Bristow and W.T. Aveline. Geological information published in 1856. Resurveyed by Clement Reid and Aubrey Strahan, and resurvey published 1888. Mainland resurved by Clement Reid, published 1893. New Edition 1926 - reprinted - 1947, reprinted with minor emendations - 1962, landslides inserted and minor revisions made before it was reconstituted from the one-inch map to 1:50,000 Series, 1976. (The 1976 map does not differ greatly from earlier maps).
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British Museum (Natural History) . 1975. British Caenozoic Fossils. Fifth Edition. 132 pp, 44 plates, with bibliography. Editions: First Edition - 1960; Second Edition - 1963; Third Edition - 1968; Fourth Edition - 1971; Fifth Edition - 1975. [Many Isle of Wight species of Tertiary fossils are shown. This is excellent for identification of the common species.]
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Bromhead, E.N., Chandler, M.P. and Hutchinson, J.N. 1991. The recent history and geotechnics of landslides at Gore Cliff, Isle of Wight. In: International Conference on Slope Stability Engineering - Developments and Applications. Thomas Telford, London, pp. 189-195. See particularly the detailed map of the landslides of Blackgang and Gore Cliff. A modified version of this map can be seen as Fig. 19 on page 74 of Insole et al., 1998 (The Isle of Wight, GA Guide). [Note that the Conference Report is very expensive - about 190 pounds]
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Bromley, R.G. and Gale, A.S. 1982. The lithostratigraphy of the English Chalk Rock. Cretaceous Research, 3, 273-306.
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Brunet, M., Franzen, J.L., Godinot, M., Hooker, J.J., Legendre, S., Schmidt-Kittler, N. and Vianey-Liaud, M. (Coordinators) 1987. European reference levels and correlation tables. Munchner Geowissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen (A), 10, 13-31. [Not seen. Referred to by Edwards and Daley, 1997, p. 36. Brunet et al. related the Totland Bay Member of the Headon Hill Formation to their Reference-Level MP17.]
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Brydone, R.M. 1914. The zone of Offaster pilula in the south English Chalk. Part II, Isle of Wight. Geological Magazine, vol. 51, pp. 405-411.

Brydone, R.M. 1918. The thickness of the zone of Belemnitella mucronata in the Isle of Wight. Geological Magazine, vol. 55, 350-354.
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Bujak , J.P. 1976. An evolutionary series of Late Eocene dinoflagellate cysts from southern England. Marine Micropalaeontology, 1, 101-117.
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Burnett , A.D. and Fookes, P.G. 1974. A regional engineering study of the London Clay in the London and Hampshire Basins. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 7, 257-295.
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Buurman, P. 1980. Palaeosols in the Reading Beds (Paleocene) of Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, U.K. Sedimentology, vol. 27, pp. 593-606. By Dr. Peter Buurman.
Abstract: Fossil soils occur in the Reading Beds of Alum Bay. All soils have hydromorphic characteristics, caused either by groundwater or stagnating pluvial water; some have illuviation of clay. The combination of bioturbation (striated burrows) and iron segregation may indicate that the Reading Beds in Alum Bay are of fluviomarine origin. The soils were formed in a warm climate with a marked dry season. They indicate a landscape with minor variations in surface level. The Reading Beds have clay mineral assemblages that are partly inherited and partly changed by soil formation. Some soil horizons might be used for stratigraphic correlation.
By Dr. Peter Buurman, Department of Soil Science and Geology, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. (can be seen in a webpage).
[Discussion of gley and pseudogley soils in the Reading Beds of Alum Bay (also mentions that at Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight there is also a bed similar to the pseudogley bed of Alum Bay). Clay mineralogy (at Alum Bay) includes distribution of kaolinite, mica (illite), smectite and chlorite. Mostly kaolinite and mica occur for some way above the Chalk. There is no indication of residual smectite immediately above the Chalk. Smectite, in addition to other clays minerals, appears significant about 10m up. There is a smectite peak at about 18m followed by a notable kaolinite peak at 19m near the middle of the formation (given here as 40m). Micromorphology includes discussion of argillans, ferrans and pseudomorphs after pyrite. The paper is illustrated with thin-section photomicrographs. ]
[Additional extract on: "Hydromorphic Soils" etc]
"Features of such "wet" or "hydromorphic" soils in the Reading Reds [Reading Formation] were recognised and studied by the author in 1972 and 1973. The nature of these fossil soils and their use for stratigraphic correlation within the beds are discussed in this paper.
Hydromorphic Soils [Gley Soils and Pseudogley Soils].
In sediments where the groundwater table is close to the surface, subsoils are permanently saturated and topsoils can be periodically submerged, depending on the extent of season fluctuation. Soils that develop in this way are Gley Soils. When the sediments are further above the groundwater table, soils will develop under the influence of percolating rainwater. Whenever such soils have or develop impervious layers, water may stagnate on top of such a layer during part of the year. If the stagnation of water has a distinct effect on the development of the soil such soils are called Pseudogley Soils (Argill Stagnogley Soil: Avery 1963; Pseudogley, Soil lessive a pseudogley: Duchaufour, 1970; Pseudogley: Muckenhausen, 1975).
Gley soils (Fig. 1E) normally feature a grey reduced subsurface horizon (CG) below the lowest groundwater table, that may have oxidised iron compounds along cracks and root holes. Above the lowest groundwater table, alternating reduction and oxidation cause the segregation of iron and manganese compounds that are found as mottles and concretions (Cg horizon). Between the mottles the colour is mostly grey or yellowish; the transition to the reduced horizon can be sharp or gradual. ....." continues

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Cantwell, A. 1987. Facing the Old Enemy: the Victorian Defences of the Isle of Wight. Anthony Cantwell. [Southampton University, Cope Collection, c 98.45 / Cope]

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Casey, R. 1961. The stratigraphical palaeontology of the Lower Greensand. Palaeontology, Vol. 3, Part 4, 1961. Pp. 487-621. Plates 77-84. By Raymond Casey.
Abstract: The Lower Greensand in Britain comprises up to 800 feet [244m.] of sediment laid down in a great variety of near-shore environments stretching from the Isle of Wight northward to the border of Yorkshire. The fauna is dominantly molluscan, of neritic, littoral, and estuarine facies, with local abundances of brachiopods, polyzoa or sponges. Despite losses from subsequent leaching, it is unexpectedly rich; the ammonite sequence is known in unrivalled detail and affords a basis for division of the Aptian and Lower Albian Stages of the Lower Cretaceous into nine zones and twenty-four subzones. The whole fauna and flora of the Lower Greensand (microzoa excepted) is listed with up-to-date names in the new zones and application of the zonal scheme in the field is demonstrated in a detailed description of the stratigraphy and life-succession region by region. Revised correlations of the various local subdivisions of the Lower Greensand are set out in diagrams and tables. The depositional history of the formation is reviewed, bringing out new information which has resulted from use of a refined ammonite chronology. New taxa described in the systematic section are: Gastropods, 1 genus, 2 species; Lamellibranchs [bivalves], 1 family, 8 genera, 20 species; Ammonites, 3 genera, 14 species; Brachiopod, 1 genus, 1 species; Polyzoa, 1 species; Problematica, 2 genera, 1 species. Many species are recorded from the Lower Greensand for the first time. Genera new to the British Cretaceous are the lamellibranchs [bivalves] Disparilia, Senis, Cuneocorbula, Eomiodon, and Protodonax, the ammonite Megatyloceras, and the boring polyzoan Graysonia. Eomiodon and Protodomax occur in the Aptian of the Middle East but have not been recorded previously from the Cretaceous of Europe.

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Chandler, M.E.J. 1961. Flora of the Lower Headon Beds of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. By Marjorie E.J. Chandler. [Southampton University, Cope Collection,Cope 55 / 57100539 61037342]

Chandler, M.E.J. 1963. Revision of the Oligocene floras of the Isle of Wight. [By Marjorie E.J. Chandler. 1963. Southampton University, Cope Collection,Cope 98.55 / 57116996 65040117]

Chandler, M.E.J. 1964. The Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England, IV, A Summary and Survey of Findings in the Light of Recent Botanical Observations, British Museum (Natural History), London, 151 pp.

Chandler. [For Headon Beds flora see also Reid and Chandler.]
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Chatwin, C.P. 1960. British Regional Geology: The Hampshire Basin and Adjoining Areas (3rd Edition). Memoirs of the Geological Survey U.K., pp.iv + 99. [See new edition, revised by Melville and Freshney, 1982 ].
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Clark, A. K. 1985. Investigation of the Lower Greensand aquifer on the Isle of Wight: and particularly the components of its water balance for input to a regional groundwater model. By Alan Kendall Clark. [Southampton Hartley Library microfilm /40042006]
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Clarke , J. 1826. The Delineater, or, A Picturesque, Historical and Topographical Description of the Isle of Wight. By James Clarke. [ 7th ed. Southampton University, Cope Collection,Cope 98.035 1826/ 52289804]

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Colenutt, G.W. 1890. The fossil chelonians of the Oligocene strata of the Isle of Wight. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, vol. 1, pt.4, 57-63. Example extract:
   "As might be imagined from the indestructible nature of the skeleton, the remains of turtles are by no means uncommon in a fossil state, some of the best preserved specimens being found in our Oligocene clays and marls. The turtles range back as far as the Jurassic series, but they do not appear to have approached their zenith until the Tertiary age, while at the present time the living members of this order range over more extended areas and consist of more species than in any previous period.
   In the Oligocene beds of the Isle of Wight we find the remains of three chelonians. The most common is Trionyx incrassatus, a form nearly related to the recent Trionyx or mud turtle of North America. The fragments of the carapace and thoracic plates of this species are often met with in most of the Oligocene clays, and they may be at once identified by the peculiar granulated outside surface. The Trionycidae were singular in having a carapace which did not cover the whole of the back, but which formed a large oval plate, around which the leathery skin of the animal projected. The ends of the ribs protruded from the sides of the carapace in the manner shown in Fig. I. The plastron was not attached along its sides to the carapace, as was the case in the Emydidae and from its edge projected several bony spikes, the use of which is obscure. In addition to the plastron there were several dermal plates on the under side of the body, and apparently unattached to the internal skeleton. One of these plates is shown in Fig. 2.
    Almost as common as those of Trionyx are the remains of Emys, a being which inhabited in great numbers the shallow lagoons and tidal rivers of this epoch. Unlike the Trionyx the external parts of the skeleton are quite smooth, and when the animal was alive were coated with a horny shell, the fine furrows by which the shell was attached being usually well shown. The range of this species seems even more extensive than the Trionyx, and we find its remains in nearly all the beds, from the Hamstead down to the limestones of the Lower Headon. There is a third species of chelonian, the remains of which are comparatively rare, and the outer surface of whose carapace is furrowed in lines, much after the manner of the larger species of recent land tortoises. This is apparently a species of Platemys (?) but the means of identification of this species are limited, for so far as I know the chelonidre of these beds have never been studied in an exhaustive manner. I have met with the remains of this species in several localities, but chiefly in the Osborne beds of King's Quay and in the Bembridge marls of Thorness Bay.
   All along the north shore of the Island plenty of fragments of plates of Emys and Trionyx may be found among the shingle on the beach, having been washed out of the clays of the Hamstead, Bembridge, and Osborne series, which crop out in the cliffs. The bones may often be found embedded in situ in the clay strata, more especially along Hamstead cliff and in Thorness Bay. On the shore at the base of Hamstead cliff the clays are very prolific in organic remains ; and this bit of coast is of great interest, inasmuch as it is almost the only locality where anything like a workable section of the Hamstead beds can be examined. Here we can begin at the" black band" and work our way up through the various beds of the series. There are very few other places in the Island where we can get at these clays at all, except at Hamstead itself; in the brick pit at Ashlake, near Wootton Bridge, however, we find the black band well exposed, and from it plenty of the characteristic shells may be obtained; also at Alverstone brickyard some portion of the Hamstead beds may be seen. Just below the coastguard's hut, on the top of the cliff above Sticelet Ledge, at the north east corner of Thorness Bay, the black band is also exposed, but only extends for a short distance. With these few exceptions the Hamstead beds are difficult of access, though Mr. Clement Reid, in the course of the recent geological survey of the Island, has demonstrated their existence over a very large part of the northern half of our area-a fact previously unknown. From the Osborne beds on the shore below Chapelcorner Copse, near King's Quay, I have obtained many very interesting turtle remains, among the more noticeable being a fine cervical vertebra of a large Trionyx; this bone shows admirably the peculiar arrangement of hinges or jointing, enabling the creature to swiftly withdraw its neck. From this place I have also obtained a perfect rib of Trionyx, and also nearly the whole of the half of one of the thoracic plates, showing the peculiar bony points or spikes projecting at the end of the plate. Many fragments of carapace and a few imperfect limb bones were also found here. The remains of all three species of chelonians have been found in these beds, which is easily accounted for, as the Osborne clays were more or less estuarine in their origin; animals of various and diverse habits would therefore naturally come within the area of deposit.
    The Bembridge beds, however, are the most prolific in yielding turtle remains, and Thorness Bay is one of the best localities for examining the strata. The clays on the shore below Burnt Wood are peculiarly rich in fossils, and from this place I have been fortunate in obtaining a number of most interesting specimens..."[continues].

Colenutt, G.W. 1891. Notes on the geology of the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, vol. 2, pt.1, 20-32. Extract: "When viewed from the waters of the Solent: the north-east coast of the Island (that is the district bordering on the sea between East Cowes on the west and St. Helen's old church on the east) appears to offer few attractions to the geologist in the way of cliffs or shore sections, the coast-line being fairly regular, trending in a sweep south-eastwards from Old Castle Point, and, with the exceptions of the creek at King's Quay and Wootton Creek, having no important breaks in the shore line. The land appears to slope regularly down towards the shore, and woods and pastures come right down to the beach for nearly the whole distance. Several streams, fed by springs lying inland or carrying off the rainfall from the higher lands, find their way down to the Solent, and the result of their action, extending over a great lapse of time, is seen in the succession of gently sweeping valleys regularly succeeding each other and running back from the coast. The streams are of little importance in themselves, but as factors in the causes which have produced the configuration of this part of the Island, their influence cannot be overlooked. The soft gravel beds and the underlying Oligocene clays and marls have proved an easy prey to the denudinginfluences of these small brooks. The strata of which this part of the Island is formed are not such as we should expect to find constituting important cliffs, for, when saturated with water in the winter time, many of the clays and marls have a tendency to "settle" or slide down in a body towards the beach, and the only parts of this coast-line where we find anything in the nature of real cliffs are near Old Castle Point, to the east of Sea View, and in Priory Bay, but even here the great mud streams and the vast amount of soft sliding talus precludes the geologist from access to most of the sections. On account of the wasting- nature of the strata, and from the fact that for the greater part of the distance private residences abut on the shore, sea walls have been built to stop the inroads of the sea, and the geologist is again shut out from the possibility of examining many workable coast sections. From these several facts very little attention appears to have been given to this piece of shore line by geologists, and the result of personal observations extending over a number of years may possibly be of interest, the more so as, guided by the information contained in this paper; some of the less known and rarer of the org-anic remains occurring in our Oligocene clays may be sought for and not improbably found by those interested in such matters. It is not intended to give an exhaustive account of the geology of the north-east coast, but the aim of this paper is merely to point out the best localities for fossils, and to give some idea of the different strata cropping out along the shore. Nor will the usual and more correct custom of treating of the strata in geological order be adopted; but the shore sections will be described in the order in which they come, commencing at East Cowes and working our way along to St. Helen's Church. We shall find as the result of our investigations that three of the groups of Oligocene beds crop out along this bit of shore - the Headon, Osborne, and Bembridge beds - and at several unlikely looking places interesting examinations can be made of the various strata. It is essential when starting on a geological ramble along this coast to take careful note of the tide, and to arrange our arrival at the starting point at about half ebb; and this precaution it may be remarked applies equally to most of the coasts of the Island, as at many places it is quite impossible to get along the shore except when the tide is out. Along the distriCt we have selected to examine, many of the sections proposed to be visited are not in the broken ground bordering on the beach, but among the shingle itself and out on the shore towards low water mark..."[continues in similar style but with reports of fossils such as molluscs and fish, and with discussion of localities such as Wootton Creek, Players' Copse, Chapelcross Copse, Ryde House, Sea View, Priory Bay, St. Helen's Church, Appley Towers, Kings Quay, Woodside House, Norris Castle, Old Castle Point etc. Only one stratigraphical table which is regarding Wootton Creek and a fish bed.]

Colenutt, G.W. 1893. The Bembridge Limestone ("Binstead Stone") of the Isle of Wight. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, vol. 2, pt. 2, 167-180. Extract: "In one of the picturesque valleys which run back from the north-east coast of the Island, and straggling along the side of the high road which crosses the valley, lies the village of Binstead, now little better than a suburb of the town of Ryde, and much modernised by the unattractive addition of staring red brick cottages with slated roofs, replacing quaint old grey stone buildings, sometimes tiled, but more often thatched. The village no longer knows the old industry which during many centuries, and up till quite recent times, made this district famous throughout the south of England as the place from whence the finest local building stone was obtained. In one of the picturesque valleys which run back from the north-east coast of the Island, and straggling along the side of the high road which crosses the valley, lies the I village of Binstead, now little better than a suburb of the town of Ryde, and much modernised by the unattractive addition of staring red brick cottages with slated roofs, replacing quaint old grey stone buildings, sometimes tiled, but more often thatched. The village no longer knows the old industry which during many centuries, aDd up till quite recent times, made this district famous throughout the south of England as the place from whence the finest local build: ing stone was obtained.    
Modern improvements in brick-making have almost abolished the use of Binstead stone as a building material, and the closing of other quarries of the celebrated Isle of Wight Limestone, besides those at Binstead, suggests the desirability of placing on record some account of the Limestone and its uses, and of the places from whence it has been obtained. The subject too is interesting in a double sense, for, apart from the extreme importance of the Bembridge Limestone as a geological formation of an almost unique nature (occurring nowhere in the United Kingdom except in the Isle of Wight), the constant recurrence of the stone throughout the county of Hampshire in the structures of Churches and other old buildings suggests historical investigations of considerable local value. Although, Binstead was always the most important of the places whence the Limestone was obtained, and the past history of the village and of Quarr might of itself form the subject of much interesting research ..."[continues, with discussion on various fossils of the Bembridge Limestone such as Palaeotherium and whether it had a proboscis like the living tapir, why there were no turtles in the lake, and with discussion on use of Bembridge Limestone (Binstead Stone) in various old buildings. The Romans inscribed a block of Bembridge Limestone at Bitterne to the goddess Ancasta. Bishop William of Wykeham at Winchester bought the rights to hewing stone at Quarr. Exposures on the Solent shores are mentioned. Interesting general reading!]

Colenutt, G.W. 1896. The Plateau and Valley Gravels of the Isle of Wight. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, 3, 143-153.

Colenutt, G.W. 1938. Fifty years of Island coast erosion. Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society, 3, 50-57.

Collins, G. 1693. Chart of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. By Captain Greenville Collins, appointed in 1862 to survey the coasts of Great Britain. [This does not contain geological information but is useful in showing the original coastline of the Solent and Isle of Wight prior to much reclamation and development. There are differences from the modern coastline on the north coast of the West Solent, in the area of Lee-on-the-Solent, in the eastern harbours and at Brading on the Isle of Wight. Obviously it must be used with caution in case of errors. The author of this work, Captain Greenville Collins, was a Royal Navy officer who was later promoted to Commander and became Hydrographer to the King. In 1681 Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty, appointed Captain Collins to survey the coasts of the British Isles which took about eight years. The result was that in 1693 'Great Britain's Coasting Pilot' was published. In spite of some inaccuracies, Collins' charts proved of great value and were re-issued more than twenty times without revision. With regard to the Solent and Isle of Wight chart, of interest here, there were various editions and reprints. A later edition was published in 1753, and a slightly reduced facsimile was produced in 1965 and a small version in 1967. Copies may be obtainable from antique map dealers.]
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Collinson, M.E. 1992. Vegetational and floristic changes around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary in Western and Central Europe. pp.437-450, section No. 22, by Margaret E. Collinson, in the book: Prothero, D.R. (Donald R.) and Berggren W.A (William A.) 1922, Eocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton University Press. See also the paper by Hooker on fossil mammals in the same book.
Abstract:
Northwest Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) and the Weisselster Basin (Germany) yield macrofloral evidence of late Eocene and early Oligocene forest vegetation. This changes from dominantly evergreen subtropical (late Eocene) to mixed evergreen and deciduous with a warm but seasonal climate (early Oligocene). Unfortunately, more precise dating of this transition is not possible. Palynological evidence from these areas and also from Belgium, the Paris Basin (France) and southern England indicates that the transition is marked by incoming of temperate elements; loss of tropical and subtropical elements and an increase in conifer pollen. These changes occur below MP21 mammal level. In the absence of radiometric dates and with limited biological correlation the Eocene/Oligocene boundary cannot be precisely located in any of the areas considered. Southern England and the Paris Basin have the best stratigraphical control and a major peturbation in pollen floras (sudden increase in proportion of temperate forms) in the Paris Basin may be a reflection of the cooling event observed in the marine realm. The marsh and swamp floras in southern England clross the boundary unchangeda and only minor changes are observed in pollen floras at one level, possibly coeval with the event in the Paris Basin. In the context of the extensive sequence of Paleogene macrofloras in southern England the changes described here at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary in Europe are seen as the culmination of floristic change, resulting from a cooling climate, which began in the early late Eocene. Palynological evidence from southern England, the Paris Basin and the Massif Armoricain supports this conclusion. Understanding the extent to which any sharp peturbation near the boundary influenced future floral development must await improved stratigraphic resolution and further studies outside the Paris Basin.

Collinson , M.E., Fowler, K. and Boulter, M.E. 1981. Floristic changes indicate a cooling climate in the Eocene of southern England. Nature, London, 291, 315-317.

Collinson, M.E. and Hooker, J.J. 2000. Gnaw marks on Eocene seeds: evidence for early rodent behaviour. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 157, 127-149. Abstract: Gnawed holes in fossil seeds of the freshwater aquatic floating plant Stratiotes, [related to the modern "Water Soldier"] collected from the Solent Group of Late Eocene (Priabonian) age at two localities in the Hampshire Basin, UK, are recognised as the oldest direct evidence of seed predation by rodents. The type of gnawing is similar to that made by Wood Mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, today and a more reliable means of differentiating the resultant pattern from those of other gnawing types is described. By using the size relationship between modern gnaw marks and the rodent incisors that made them, isolated fossil incisors from the same strata at sites near to those where the seeds were found are matched closely to the fossil gnaw marks. By comparison with incisors in situ in jaws from the Continental European Palaeogene, and by eliminating other contenders amongst the known Solent Group rodent fauna, it is concluded that the fossil Stratiotes seeds were predated by the extinct glirids Glamys priscus and Glamys devoogdi. Different patterns of gnaw marks associated with different hole sizes are interpreted as different stages in the opening of the seeds and as demonstrating learning behaviour on the part of the predators. Similarity of fossil astragali (ankle bones) from the Solent Group, identified as Glamys devoogdi, to the recent glirid Eliomys quercinus suggests a scansorial rather than arboreal locomotor mode for the former, in keeping with a ground-level foraging strategy as indicated by the habitat of the Stratiotes plant. The direct evidence of feeding from the fossil seeds and the clear link to the specific predators are an important indication of ancient dietary adaptation independent of that deduced from tooth morphology. It supports the change in dominant frugivorous feeding type amongst European rodents from soft fruit-eating pseudoparamyine paramyids and pseudosciurids in the Middle Eocene to hard seed-eating glirids in the Late Eocene, coincident with the global climatic deterioration shown by oxygen isotopes. One new ichnogenus with one new ichnospecies is erected for one type of gnawing in fossil seeds: Glirotremmorpha entectus gen. et sp. nov., from the English Late Eocene. [The seeds are from the Bembridge Limestone Formation of Gurnard Point, Isle of Wight and from the Totland Bay Member of the Headon Hill Formation of Hordle Cliff. The Isle of Wight specimens show the features more clearly. The paper has good SEM pictures.]
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Cooper , J. 1976. British Tertiary stratigraphical and rock terms formal and informal, additional to Curry, 1958, Lexique Stratigraphique International; with stratigraphical table. Tertiary Research Group, Special Paper No. 1.
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Cope, J.C.W. 2006. Upper Cretaceous palaeogeography of the British Isles and adjacent areas. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 117, 129-143. By Professor John Cope, Department of Geology. National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CFIO 3NP. UK.
Abstract: The Upper Cretaceous sub-Period saw the deposition of the Chalk over much of the British Isles region, with progressively inundated land areas. By the Late Maastrichtian land areas were at their minimum and a thick Chalk sequence accumulated over the region. In the Early Palaeocene uplift in the Irish Sea interrupted deposition, but in many areas marly chalk deposition resumed. Mid-Palaeocene uplift led to dramatic erosion of this cover so that in most places all the Danian, Maastrichtian and, in some places, Campanian and even Santonian Chalk were removed before deposition of Late Palaeocene sediments; this widespread and pervasive erosional event has masked the true extent of Maastrichtian deposition. In areas outside the Palaeocene basins erosion of the Chalk continued, rapidly exposing underlying rocks. [A key paper on Chalk palaeogeography with a very good reference list of Chalk publications.]
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Costa , L.I. and Downie, C. 1976. The distribution of the dinoflagellate Wetzeliella in the Palaeogene of NorthWestern Europe. Palaeontology, 19,591614. Curry, D. (1966). Problems of correlation in the Anglo-Paris-Belgium Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 77, 437-467.
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Crane, P.R. and Plint, G. 1979. Calcified angiosperm roots from the Upper Eocene of southern England. Annals of Botany, 44, 107-122.

Crane, M.D. and Quayle, J. 1986. Two hexapod crabs of the genus Goniocypoda Woodward ( Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Hampshire Basin. Tertiary Research, 7,101-105.
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Curry, D. 1937. The English Bartonian nummulites. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 48, 229-246. By Dennis Curry.

Curry, D. [Dennis Curry]. 1942. The Eocene Succession at Afton Brickyard, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists's Association, vol. 53, part 2, pp. 88-101. Received 26 March, 1941 [i.e. during the Second World War]. By Dennis Curry, M.A., F.G.S [also co-owner, with brothers, of Curry's well-known stores, and in later years he was made a professor.]
This paper describes a most interesting series of strata exposed in a brickyard, which has been opened up extensively. The brickyard is situated immediately to the south of the main road from Freshwater to Newport, and opens into it sixty yards east of milestone 9 from Newport. It is cut into Eocene beds, which are vertical [as at Alum Bay] striking approximately east and west. The beds exposed have the Lower Barton Beds at the top, and include a thickness of nearly 500 feet of strata of which a practically continuous section is visible. This section, which thus includes approximately one third of the Eocene strata of the Isle of Wight, is of great interest, not only considered alone, but also from the sharp difference it shows from the nearest compatible sections, situated several miles away on either side of it.
The aspect of the brickyard itself is a somewhat unfamiliar one. The beds mainly worked are a series of dark grey-green glauconitic clays above, and yellow, white and red sands near the middle of the section. These two are dug and piled in heaps to be mixed to provide the raw material for the brickmaking. Other beds in the section, apparently useless for this purpose, have been left almost untouched, and the section thus presents a series of embayments separated by the vertical partitions of more useless strata. The upper marine clays are most in demand, and as a result their portion has been excavated ssome six feet deeper than the rest, and becomes a pond in winter. To the south of the yard, valuable stratigraphic data are provided by a series of trial trenches dug by the proprietors of the brickyard, and extending across the strike.
[The paper continues with much stratigraphical detail and extensive lists of fossil contents. It is a good and thorough paper.]

Curry, D. 1954. Field Meeting at Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight. Sunday 31st May 1953. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 65 (1954-5), pp. 182-184. A field trip led by Dennis Curry (one of the owners of Curry's stores, a great Tertiary amateur geologist and subsequently a professor).
Extracts: "... The party assembled on the cliff-top, where the Director described in outline the geological structure of the Isle of Wight and its relation to the rest of the Hampshire Basin. He pointed out that the cliff-section, stretching from Culver Cliff to Bembridge, was probably the finest and most complete single section of the Lower Tertiary beds in Europe, including, as it did, almost the whole of the Eocene and an appreciable part of the Oligocene [boundaries have changed since this paper was written], with few gaps in the succession. ...."
"The Bramshaw horizon (Fisher's Bed XVII) was seen to be crammed with Nummulites variolarius, which is so common that hand specimens of the clay often appear gritty with its plump little tests; and once more, collecting bags appeared to good purpose. After traverse of a short unfossiliferous section, the Nummulites prestwichianus Sand which by definition marks the base of the Barton Beds, was found and a few feet higher up, immediately south of the cliff steps, N. rectus Curry was seen."

Curry, D. 1958. Palaeogene. Lexique Stratigraphique International, Europe, 3aXII, 3-82.

Curry, D. 1965. The Palaeogene Beds of south-east England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, 76 (2), 151-174.

Curry, D. 1966. Problems of correlation in the Anglo Paris Belgium Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London,77, 437-467.

Curry, D., Adams, C.G., Boulter, M.C., Dilley, F.C., Eames, F.E., Funnel, B.M. and Wells, M.K. A correlation of Tertiary rocks in the British Isles. Geological Society, London, Special Report No. 12, 72pp. Abstract: This paper discusses the correlation of the Tertiary sequences of the British Isle and surroundings seas and relates them to the some important Tertiary successions of Continental Europe. In a total of five correlation tables the sections considered are related to internationally recognised biozonal schemes, to the standard chronostratigraphical scale and to a numerical time-scale. The paper includes sections on methodology and on problems of Tertiary chronostratigraphic nomenclature.

Curry, D., Daley, B., Edwards, N., Middlemiss, F.A., Stinton, F.C. and Wright, C.W. 1972. The Isle of Wight. Geologists' Association Guides No. 25 (3rd edition), pp 27.

Curry, D. Gulinck, M. and Pomerol, C. 1969. Le Paleocene et l'Eocene dans les Bassins de Paris, de Belgique et d'Angleterre. Mem. Bur. Rech. Geol. Min., 69, 361-369.

Curry, D., Hodson, F. and West, I.M. 1968. The Eocene succession in the Fawley Transmission Tunnel. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London,79, 179-206.

Curry, D., King, A.D., King, C. and Stinton, F.C. 1977. The Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) of Bracklesham Bay and Selsey, Sussex. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 88, 243-254.

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Daley, Brian, of Portsmouth University, well-known specialist on the Tertiary of the Isle of Wight and the Hampshire Basin.

Daley , B. 1972. Some problems concerning the early Tertiary climate of southern Britain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Amsterdam, 11, 177-190

Daley, B. 1972. Macroinvertebrate assemblages from the Bembridge Marls (Oligocene) of the Isle of Wight, England, and their environmental significance. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 11, 11-32.

Daley, B. 1999. Palaeogene sections in the Isle of Wight: a revision of their description and significance in the light of research undertaken over recent decades. Tertiary Research, 19 (1+2), pp. 1-69, 30 text-figs. Leiden, March, 1999. [This is a key work on the Isle of Wight Palaeogene!]
Abstract: Despite containing some of the most stratigraphically extensive Palaeogene sections in western Europe and being the subject of extensive research since the early nineteenth century, no comprehensive account of the Palaeogene of the Isle of Wight has been published since Osborne White's Geological Survey Memoir in 1921. The last three decades in particular have witnessed a renewal of interest in and a reiteration of the importance of the Isle of Wight sites in our understanding of the early Tertiary. This paper attempts to bring together the work of many specialists into an integrated whole. A short history of geological investigation is followed by a description and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of each of the major Palaeogene sections: Whitecliff Bay; Alum Bay; Headon Hill; Colwell Bay; Bouldnor and Hamstead Cliffs and Foreshore; Thorness Bay and Gurnard; and Prospect Quarry.

Daley, B., Edwards, N. and Armenteros, I. 2000. The Upper Eocene Bembridge Limestone Formation, Hampshire Basin, England. By Brian Daley, Nicholas Edwards and Ildefonso Armenteros. Chapter 13, p. 369-377, including diagrams. In: Book: E.H. Gierlowski and K.R. Kelts, editors, Lake Basins through Space and Time. A.A.P.G. (American Association of Petroleum Geologists), Studies in Geology, vol. 46. Edited by Elizabeth Gierlowski and Kordesh K.R. Kelts. AAPG, 2000. ISSN 0271-8510. 648pp.

Daley, B., Edwards, N. and Insole, A.N. 1979. Lithostratigraphical nomenclature of the English Palaeogene succession. Geological Magazine, 116, 65-66.

Daley, B. and Insole, A. 1984 (reprinted 1987). Geologists' Association Guide: No. 25, The Isle of Wight. 36 p.
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Davies , A.M. 1934-5. Tertiary Faunas. Thomas Murby, London. Vol. 1 (1935), 406 pp., Vol. 2 (1934), 252 pp.

Davies, A.M. 1975. Tertiary Faunas, Vol. 2: The Sequence of Tertiary Faunas. (Revised by F.E. Eames and R.J.G. Savage.) George Allen and Unwin, London, 447 pp.

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Davies, Mark, 1994. Problems Associated with Mass Movements. A Case Study of Blackgang, Isle of Wight. Environmental Science, Southampton University, ES 3.01 Undergraduate Research Project, May 1994. 55pp. with many photographs, maps and diagrams; a good project report. (Supervised by Ian West).

Abstract:
Blackgang stands in the south western corner of the Isle of Wight. The area has a history of land movement which continues up to the present day. Legend has it that in 1539, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the monk at St. Catherines Oratory on the hills above Blackgang was so unhappy that he laid a curse on the parish of Chale. This condemned the parish to fall into the sea and it is reported to read as follows:

I curse the hill and I curse the strand
I curse the ground whereon I stand
Flower nor fruit this earth shall bear
and all shall be dark and waste and bare,
But a poisonous stream shall run to the sea
bitter to taste and bloody to see
and the earth shall crumble and crumble away
and crumble on to Judgement Day.

(Anon c.16th Century)
(from Blackgang exhibition, plate 3)

[The reference to a bitter stream of bloody appearance describes a chalybeate spring resulting from oxidation of pyrite; sulphate ions in solution account for the bitterness, while ferric humic colloids provide the red colour. Such springs are common in the pyritic Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight.]

Today, the coastline of the parish continues to crumble into the sea. When it began is not clear but the coast has been unstable for a number of centuries. The geological formation is such that movement is likely to occur at indefinate intervals for the foreseeable future.

In January 1994, after a period of exceptionally heavy rains, this coast further subsided and moved, claiming with it yet more property and land. This dynamic process and unstable geological formation will continue to promote excitement and interest for many years to come. [end of abstract]

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Davison M., Currie, I. and Ogley, B. 1993. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Weather Book. Froglets Publications and Frosted Earth, Froglets Publications Ltd., Brasted Chart, Westerham, Kent, TN16 1LY. Paperback, 168pp. By Mark Davison, Ian Currie and Bob Ogley. With numerous monochrome photographs, many of them old and of historic interest.
"Everybody is fascinated by the ever-changing moods of the weather and the patterns of the sky. Our climate is a perpetual talking point, particularly in the days of great floods and freezes, tempests and tornadoes, droughts, hailstones and heatwaves. In recent years, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have experienced all these variations. The sheer intensity of rain has turned quiet rivers into raging torrents, a clash of air masses has led to a spectacular snowstorm, global warming has been blamed for the longest drought in history, tidal waves, 20 feet high, have pounded the coast, a jet aeroplane has aquaplaned onto a motorway and opposing air streams have twice brought hurricane-force winds to change the face of the landscape. There has been more - much more - and in this unique pictorial record of the weather in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, we have the evidence."
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De Jonghe , A., Hart, M.B., Grimes, S.T., Mitlehner, A.G., Price, G.D and Smart, C.W. 2011. Middle Eocene diatoms from Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, England: stratigraphy and preservation. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Volume 122, Issue 3, June 2011, pp. 472-483.
Abstract
The description of a newly discovered diatom flora from the Bracklesham Group (Eocene) sediments exposed in Whitecliff Bay (Isle of Wight, UK) is extended and the palaeogeographical implications discussed. The diatom assemblage, which includes Aulacodiscus singiliewskyanus, A. subexcavatus, Brightwellia hyperborea, Coscinodiscus morsianus, Fenestrella antiqua, Stellarima microtrias, Stephanopyxis turris, ?Thalassiosiropsis wittiana, Trinacria regina and Triceratium spp., is described from the foreshore exposures rather than the badly weathered succession exposed in the cliffs. The flora, which is preserved as pyrite steinkerns, is both diverse and abundant. Only centric diatoms have been recorded and this indicates an open marine environment. The large foraminiferid Nummulites laevigatus is also present in these glauconitic silts and sands. The distribution of these two groups of microfossils, and the associated macrofauna, is used to propose a sequence stratigraphical interpretation for this part of the Eocene succession. The Marsh farm Formation, hitherto regarded as estuarine or non-marine, is shown to be of open marine origin by the presence of marine diatom species.
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Denizot , G. 1968. Bartonien, Ludien et Tongrien. Mem. Bur. Rech. Geol. Min., 58, 532-552.

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Eaton, G.L. 1971. The use of microplankton in resolving stratigraphical problems in the Eocene of the Isle of Wight, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 127, 281-282.
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EC LIFE Preparatory Action Programme: 1998-2001? Coastal Change, Climate and Instability. Isle of Wight Council, UK. (Research programme in progress, not as yet a completed report). The Project "Coastal Change, Climate and Instability" submitted by the Isle of Wight Council and partners, forms one of a number of " Preparatory Action" projects approved by the European Commission as of the LIFE Environment Programme within DG XI. This three year international project (currently in its second year, in 1999) brings together acknowledged experts in the fields of coastal, geotechnical and archaeological studies to undertake research on three linked elements in the fields of coastal change and climate change. The three elements of the project (summarised here) are as follows: 1. Using archaeological evidence to predict the nature, scale and pace of coastal change; 2. Relationship between rainfall, groundwater, erosion and ground movements to develop a more reliable methodology for landslide forcasting and risk assessment in developed coastal and mountainous areas; 3. To develop risk assessment advice and a code of practice for decision makers and other groups concerned with urban landslide areas. Overall, the aim of the project is to examine how predicted climate change may affect unstable coastal and mountainous areas and to assist in preparing for such changes. ---- A geotechnical part of this project is based in areas of coastal instability on the Isle of Wight (the Ventnor Undercliff and Afton Down), at Lyme Regis in Dorset (urban part?) , Barton-on-Sea in Hampshire, Overstrand in Norfolk, and Scarborough, Robin Hood's Bay and Runswick Bay in North Yorkshire. This study is through the Isle of Wight Council - Centre for the Coastal Environment and their consultants High-Point Rendel. ---- For further information contact: Robin G. McInnes, I.O.W. Coastal Manager, Jenny Jakeways - Project Officer, Isle of Wight Centre for the Coastal Environment, Directorate of Development, County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD, Tel. 01983-823702, Email - life2@iwight.gov.uk or rgmcinnes@iwight.gov.uk
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Edwards , N. 1967. Oligocene Studies in Hampshire Basin. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Reading University, UK.

Edwards, N. 1971. Stratigraphy and correlation of the Headon, Osborne, Bembridge and Hempstead Beds (Palaeogene), Hampshire Basin a bibliography (1814-1970). Journal of the Society Bibliography, Natural History, 6, 50-60.

Edwards, N. and Freshney, E.C. 1987. Lithostratigraphical classification of the Hampshire Basin Palaeogene deposits (Reading to Headon Formations). Tertiary Research, 8, 43-73.
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Englefield , Sir H. C. 1816. A Description of the Principal Picturesque Beauties, Antiquities and Geological Phaenomena, of the Isle of Wight. With additional observations on the strata of the Island, and their continuation in the adjacent parts of Dorsetshire, by Thomas Webster, Esq. Payne and Foss, 88 Pall-Mall, London. [Classic book with excellent engravings. Example from Webster's section - "Swanwich, June 16th. Dear Sir, I shall now proceed to described what I have observed in Dorsetshire, in pursuance of your request, that I would examine the chalk at Handfast point, which; being in a line with that of the Isle of Wight, appeared like a continuation of the same strata. -- For this purpose, I hired a small cutter at Yarmouth; and having sailed past the Needles, we directed our course westward towards the chalk cliffs of Dorsetshire, which were distinctly visible." -- continues ]
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Etheridge, R. 1883. Address of the President of Section C - Geology. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 52nd Meeting at Southampton in August, 1882. Transactions of Section C, pp. 502-529. By Robert Etheridge, F.R.S.L. and E., F.G.S., Assistant Keeper of the Geological and Palaeontological Department of the Natural History Museum (British Museum), London.[Consideration of the Eocene and Oligocene strata of Selsey, Bracklesham Bay, the Isle of Wight, Bournemouth, Hengistbury Head etc. The Brockenhurst Bed of the New Forest (Whitley Ridge railway cutting) and the Isle of Wight is discussed. Much of the information is from previous works such as Fisher, and Forbes but additional details are given. Edwards' fossil collection and correlation of Hampshire Basin strata with German and Paris Basin successions are other topics in this paper.]
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Evans, C. 1873. Geology of the neighbourhood of Portsmouth and Ryde. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 2, 61-76, 149-174.

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Evans, D.J., Kirby, G.A. and Hulbert. 2011. New insights into the structure and evolution of the Isle of Wight Monocline. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London. vol. 122, (2011), pp. 764-780.By D.J. Evans, Kirby, G.A. Hulbert, A.G. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG. (Evans - corresponding author (dje@bgs.ac.uk))
Available free, online as an pdf of the British Geological Survey. Find by searching online.
Abstract:
High quality seismic reflection data acquired during hydrocarbon exploration activities provide evidence for the subsurface structure and evolution of one of England's most well known structures at outcrop: the Isle of Wight Monocline. It is generally seen as a major northerly verging monoclinal structure linked to the Purbeck Monocline to the west. The Isle of Wight Monocline is the result of the interplay between two east-west trending, southerly dipping and overlapping down-to-the-south major syndepositional normal faults that were active during Triassic and Jurassic times: the Needles and Sandown faults. The area between the two faults tips forms an easterly-dipping relay ramp, down which sequences of all ages thicken. Both of these major normal faults were inverted during Cenozoic (Miocene: Alpine) compressional events, folding the overlying post-rift sequences of early Cretaceous to early Cenozoic (Palaeogene) age. Interpretation of the seismic reflection data suggest that a previously unknown high-angle, down-to-the-north reverse fault cuts the northern limb of both anticlines forming the composite monocline and was likely to come to crop in the steeply-dipping Chalk and/or the drift-covered Cenozoic sequences. Its identification marked a period of discussions and testing of the model by detailed field mapping. The existence and location of such a fault was proved through an iterative process with the result that a reverse fault zone is now mapped along the northern limb of the northern Sandown Anticline section of the Monocline. The main reverse faults on the Brighstone and Sandown anticlines result in circa 550 m of displacement at top Chalk level. It is thought that a series of smaller footwall short-cut faults affect the Cenozoic strata to the north of the main reverse fault, producing upfaulted sections of flatter-lying Cenozoic strata. Reverse displacements and the severity of folding on the inverted faults decreases on each fault segment in a complementary fashion in the area of the relay ramp as one fault takes up the movement at the expense of the other. The swing in strike of the Chalk in the area of shallowly dipping strata between Calbourne and Garstons is a result of deformation of the post-rift sequences across the relay ramp established between the overlapping fault tips of the Needles and Sandown faults and the interaction of the folds developed at the tips of the reverse aults.

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Everard , C.E. 1954. The Solent River: a geomorphological study. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 20, 41-58. [Origin of Pleistocene river gravels in the cliffs at Barton etc. Solent River terraces.]

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Falcon, N.L. and Kent, P.E. 1960. Geological Results of Petroleum Exploration in Britain 1945-1957. Geological Society of London, Memoir No. 2, 56pp + foldout diagrams. By Norman Leslie Falcon, M.A. F.R.S., Chief Geologist, The British Petroleum Company Limited, and Percy Edward Kent, D.Sc., Ph.D., Geological Advisor, BP Exploration (Canada). London, 4th August, 1960.
See page 8 for some information on the drilling of the Arreton No.1 Borehole down into Inferior Oolite at 5161 feet (1573 metres). The hole was dry, but by modern standards it should, ideally, have gone deeper, down into the Sherwood Sandstone.

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Farrant, A.R., Hopson, P.M., Lee, J.R., Riding, J.B. and Hubbard, N.L.B. 2011. Quaternary fluvial and mass-movement processes at St. George's Down, Newport, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122, (2011), pp. 888-905. By Andrew R. Farrant, Peter M. Hopson, Jonathon R. Lee, James B. Riding and Richard N.L.B. Hubbard. All except Hubbard at British Geological Survey, Nottingham.
Abstract:
Recent geological mapping on the Isle of Wight by the British Geological Survey has shown the 'Plateau Gravel' to be a mixture of fluvial, solifluction, pedogenic and marine deposits ranging from pre-Anglian to Holocene age. As part of the resurvey of the island, several new exposures of the ‘Plateau Gravel’ between Newport and Downend were examined. A working gravel pit on St George's Down, near Newport, revealed a succession of flint gravels with an inter-bedded sequence of laminated silts. An upper in situ succession of pre-Anglian fluvial gravels caps the plateau, but a second, probably younger suite of gravel-rich sediments is exposed in a quarry on a topographically lower spur. These overlie in situ Clay-with-flints resting on Upper Cretaceous Chalk. These lower sediments are well exposed and display a complex stratigraphy. They consist predominantly of flint gravel, but include a dipping succession of laminated silts and palaeosols preserved in a hollow or small channel feature, intercalated between two distinct soliflucted cold-stage gravel sheets. Palynological and pedological evidence analysis suggests that these laminated silts and sands were deposited under a temperate climate but with frequent episodes of disruption caused by mass-movement and possibly freeze–thaw. The age of these laminated sediments are not known with any certainty but are likely to date to a temperate interval within the Late Pleistocene. The top of the laminated unit is cut by a heavily cryoturbated horizon presumed to be of Devensian age.

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Fenn, R.W.D. 2008. Bardon Vectis - an outline of the history of quarrying and brick making on the Isle of Wight until 1939 (Part 1). 22pp, with more than 100 footnotes. An historic account but with aspects and notes of geological interest.
Available as a pdf download, online (search).
aboutus-history-isle-wight-bardonvectis.pdf
[Example extract from the beginning:]
"Writing his Topographical Dictionary of England, in 18331 when the science of geology was still in its infancy, Samuel Lewis describes the geological complexity of the Isle of Wight: The numerous strata of various kinds and formations, and exhibiting great diversity of position, of which the Isle of Wight consists, form a remarkably rich field of study for the geologist. At Alum-bay, at the north-western extremity of the island, is found a vein of white sand, in great demand for the glass-works of Bristol and Liverpool, as also for others situated on the western coasts of England and Scotland, and in Ireland. Eastward of this, along the northern foot of the downs, grist or quarry stone, of a yellowish grey colour, and very porous texture, is found in detached masses, and used for building. A strong liver-coloured building. stone, rising in cubical masses, encrusted with a brownish kind of ochre; and enclosing specimens of rich iron-stone, occurs on the southern side of the island: a rough calcaceous freestone is frequently found in the marl pits, in loose detached pieces. Eastward of Staple's heath, and northward of Arreton downs, a close grey limestone is raised, the beds of which are separated from each other by small layers of marine shells, cemented together by alum, that substance being well known to pervade the western parts of the island. Freestone is sometimes found under marl in the northern districts of it: a plum-pudding stone exists in large quantities near Sandown fort, and is much used for paving and flooring. Potters' clay occurs in great variety, in different parts of the county; and ochres of divers colours in the Isle of Wight. Pevsner notes both the geological interest and the suitability of the island's limestone for building: On the Isle of Wight there is some good limestone such as those of Binstead, west of Ryde, and Quarr, near by, It can be seen both in local buildings, and further afield, but still in Hampshire, in Winchester cathedral. It is interesting and unusual among limestones in containing a rich assemblage of fossilized freshwater organisms. Most, in fact virtually all, other British limestones are of marine origin. The Roman historian Suetonius recounts the conquest of the Isle of Wight by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43, .hence the appropriateness of the Company name Bardon Vectis, Vectis Insula being the Roman name for the island. It is, too, with the Romans that the history of the systematic quarrying of stone and the manufacture of bricks and tiles on the Isle of Wight begins. Carisbrooke Castle is generally thought of having been built at various periods between the 12th and the 16th centuries, with further substantial additions being made in the 19th century .The remains, however, of a masonry wall have been traced pre-dating the castle's Norman work, leading to the suggestion, and it is no more than a suggestion, it is of Roman origin. The authenticity, however, of the ruins of the Roman villa partially excavated in the grounds of Carisbrooke vicarage in 1859 is indisputable. ....... "[continues]
"Note 3. White, op.cit., p.398, considered the this 'white shining sand' to be one of the Island's two natural curiosities, the other one being copperas stones, 'gathered in heaps on the south shore, and occasionally sent to London etc. for the purpose of producing the several species of vitriol. Copperas stone, the former name of iron pyrites or Marcasite, and was used 'in in the arts or medicinally'." ... [notes continue]

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Fiennes, C. (Celia). 1685-c.1712. The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes, 1685-c1712. Edited by Christopher Morris. MacDonald and Co., London and Sydney; Web and Bower, Exeter, England. Published in Great Britain in 1982. 248pp. ISBN 3456-08631-3. See also the 1888 edition of this work and the Cresset Press editions of Celia Fiennes, 1947 and 1949. The 1947 edition and the 1982 edition referred to here have the benefit of the editing by Christopher Morris. Celia Fiennes is from the manor house of Newton Toney, near Salisbury, and travelled around the country on horseback and wrote very informative descriptions of England at that time. Her original work was probably rather difficult to read because of problems of spelling and punctuation. The editing has made it easy and clear. As Dr. G.M. Trevelyan, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge stated, the edited version provides a correct text, an explanation of many obscurities both as to place names and other matters, and excellent explanatory notes. With the regard to the Dorset coast, Celia Fiennes discusses Brownsea Island, Kimmeridge oil shale, Swanage, Seacombe etc. There is also much on English spa wells, mineral waters, jet deposits, salt production at Lymington, a visit to the Isle of Wight etc.
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Fiest-Castel , M. 1977. Evolution of the charophyte floras in the Upper Eocene and Lower Oligocene of the Isle of Wight. Palaeontology, 20, 143-157.
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Fisher , O. 1962. On the Bracklesham Beds of the Isle of Wight basin. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 18, 65-94. [Classic work on the Bracklesham Group by the Reverend Osmund Fisher].

Fisher, O. 1882. On the strata of Colwell Bay, Headon Hill and Hordwell Cliff. Geological Magazine (Series 2, Decade 2), 9, 138-140.
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Forbes, E. 1856. (posthumously edited by Godwin Austen) On the Tertiary Fluvio-Marine Formation of the Isle of Wight. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and of the Museum of Practical Geology. Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. London. Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 162pp & 10 Plates, some folding and hand-coloured. By Professor Edward Forbes, F.R.S. etc. [This pioneering work is the basis for later memoirs on the Isle of Wight. "The following description of the tertiary strata of the Isle of Wight is chiefly from the pen of the late Professor Edward Forbes, who made an important addition to our knowledge of these deposits, by showing that the beds at Hempstead, near Yarmouth, constitute the highest member of the Hampshire Basin. He also first detected the existance of the fossiliferous strata near Osborne, which, filling a vacuum in British geology, have proved to be the equivalents of certain deposits in the Paris basin. -- My eminent friend was, alas! taken away from us just after he had completed his observations, leaving an outline-sketch only, which he alone could have rapidly filled up, but which required considerable additonal labour when other minds were brought to the task -- Fortunately his admirers have so zealously combined on this occasion, as to bring out his MSS. on the Isle of Wight in a creditable manner. -- At the head of these friends stands Mr. Robt. Godwin-Austen, who combining the powers of a skilful geologist with his duties as an executor of the deceased, has acted as the principal editor of the work...." Extract of Notice by Roderick I. Murchison, Geological Survey Office, 1st October, 1856.]
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Fowler, K., Edwards, N. and Brett, D.W. 1973. In situ coniferous (Taxodiaceous) tree remains in the Upper Eocene of southern England. Palaeontology, 16, 205-217. Abstract: Coniferous tree stumps and roots attributable on evidence of wood anatomy to the form-genus Glyptostroboxylon Conwentz occur in Upper Bartonian (Upper Eocene) strata at two localities in the Hampshire Basin, southern England. They are the first trees found in growth position in the English Lower Tertiary. Evidence that they grew in a flooded or waterlogged habitat is given by the mode of fossilization and characteristics of the associated flora. The fossil wood morphology and wood anatomy resembles that of certain living Taxodiaceae, especially Glyptostrobus and Taxodium, themselves inhabitants of waterlogged and flooded terrain. Taxodium type pollen occurs with the roots, but associated foliage and cones are attributable to Sequoia couttsiae Heer. These taxodiaceous macrofossil remains may represent a single species with the characters of more than one living genus. Similar instances are known from Tertiary deposits elsewhere.

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SIR
- On two different occasions inquiries have been made in the pages of the 'Geologist,' as to the period at which the Isle of Wight was torn from the mainland and entrusted to the rude guardianship of the ocean. The subject is an interesting one, especially in its geological aspects; and as I have given some attention to it, I will attempt to reply to the inquiries of your Lymington correspondent.

I am not aware that there is the least particle of historical evidence that gives countenance to the famous passage in Diodorus Siculus that has been interpreted by various writers as proving that, when he lived, the channel of the Solent was fordable at low water. As the particular island of which Diodorus is speaking, was one from which the miners of Cornwall were in the habit of exporting their minerals, and there is a small isle (St. Michael's) on their own coast, to which such minerals could easily have been conveyed, and which, in its connection with the mainland, answers pretty closely to the historian's remarks; and further, as I know of no argument worth listening to why the miners of Cornwall should have transported their tin to the Isle of Wight for exportation, - on all these several grounds, I think one may safely conclude that neither Diodorus, nor any other writer of note, has left any evidencv whatsoever about the fordableness of the Solent, within historical times.

The severance of this island from the mainland, it appears to me, was effected under very unusual circumstances, and at a very distant period. The present channel of the Solent, being pretty nearly equally deep and equally broad throughout its entire length of twelve or fourteen miles, proves at once that it was not formed in the usual way of island-severing channels, that is, by gradual encroachments of the sea on the two opposite sides of a narrow neck of land. If so formed, the middle part of tbe channel would naturally have been both narrower and shallower than the two mouths that first admitted the tide towards it; but this is not the case. Nor are there any important indestructible obstructing rocks on either side of the channel that could account for this peculiar formation. It is to be accounted for, therefore, not by the excavations of a gradually approaching sea, but, as I shall hereafter have to attempt to show, by its being originally the trunk or outlet of a very considerable river.

Again, at the western mouth of the Solent, there is almost an immeasurable accumulation of rolled flints, with which are mingled a sufficient sprinkling of fragmental fossill shells of various genera and species to show us from whence, the whole mass was originally transported This accumulation forms a sort of natural breakwater, two miles in length, one hundred yards in breadth, and many feet in thickness, extending between the mainland at Milford and a point beyond midchannel, where Hurst Castle was erected three centuries ago. Where the castle stands, this bank of fiints becomes expanded so as to cover a circular space of fully twenty acres. Now all this enormous accumulation of flints, together with another one probably much larger on the island side of the main channel, and lying under the sea, in front of Alum Bay and the Needles, are formed of drift and broken fossils from the Barton beds ; the fossils themselves plainly pointing to the formation whence the whole mass was derived. It would add too much to the length of my paper, to account for this vast lodgment of drift around the mouth of the Solent; neither is this needful as respects the objects of my remarks: only I would have my readers to understand that it depends upon the flow of tide through the channel of the Solent. And when it is remembered that the annual supply of drift along the Barton cliffs is comparatively small, it will then be seen that it must have required a period reaching far back in time to gather together the vast accumulations referred to above, and consequently they may be regarded in themselves as visible and lasting memorials of the very great antiquity of the separation of the Isle of Wight from the mainland.

Nay, I will venture to hazard an opinion, even though I stand without geological authorities to support me, that will place the date of the formation of the Solent Sea still further back in the dimness of the past; an opinion to which both the peculiarities of the channel itself above referred to, and the geological formation of the surrounding country,-bear very strong testimony. Whoever as a geologist examines the vertical strata of the chalk at the Needles, nay, and throughout the whole length of the Isle of Wight, and the strata of the same rock in exactly the same unusual, position on the bold white cliff on the Dorsetshire coast some twenty miles westward of the Needles, will not doubt but that the two promontories were once united, forming a rocky. neck of land from Dorset to the Needles. This chain of chalk might, or might not, be so cleft in twain as to, allow the rivers of Dorset and Wilts. to find a passage through them to the main ocean. My opinion, however, is that they had no such outlet, but that, at that far distant period, the entire drainage of more than two counties; embracing the rivers that join the sea at Poole and Christchurch, flowed through what is now called Christchurch Bay, down the Solent, and joined the sea at Spithead.

According to this theory, the Solent was at that time an estuary somewhat like the Southampton Water, having but one opening to the British Channel; but of so much more importance than the latter as it was fed by a vastIy greater flow of fresh water; and it further supposes that the bed of the Solent was scooped out originally by a river, which from the extent of its drainage one may guess to have been little inferior to, the Thames or the Humber. And this opinion acquires countenance from the circumstance that it accounts, in a most satisfactory way, for the equality of depth and breadth in the Solent Sea. Of course, according to this view, this sea would lose its original condition as an estuary at the time when the British Channel had so far made a breach through the chain of rocks connecting the Isle of Wight with Dorsetshire as to give an opening into itself for the Dorsetshire rivers, somewhere opposite to the town of Christchurch. From that time forth the Solent would become what it is at present; losing its character as an estuary, and assuming that of a long narrow sea. And at the same period, of course, the Isle of Wight would part with its peninsular character, and be severed from the mainland, but at a point far apart from that at which the severance is usually supposed to have taken place. The distant period at which such changes took place it would be hopeless to guess at, amid the dimness of the data on which calculations could be founded. It could not be less, however, than many thousands of years, seeing that since that time, the British Channel has not only made a broad breach of twenty miles through a chain of slowly yielding rocks, but has also pushed its way gradually across the broad extent of the Poole and Christchurch Bays.

In conclusion, I would observe, that if your correspondent at Lymington simply put his question about the separation of the Isle of Wight as an archaeological inquiry, I fear he will consider my answer to it as somewhat dreamy. But I am confident, if he and others who may honour me with a careful perusal of my observations, are tolerably acquainted with the geology of the neighbourhood, and have had their minds disciplined for realizing the operations of nature on a large scale and through lengthened periods of time, they will perceive in this paper opinions indicative of more than novelty, having, as I believe, very important geological facts to uphold them.

Yours, etc.,

W. Fox.
Brixton, Isle of Wight, Nov 8, 1862.

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GALE

Professor Andrew Gale,
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth.
Well-known author of many publications on Chalk stratigraphy, Eocene of the Isle of Wight etc.

Gale , A.S. 1977. Petrology and environmental significance of glaucony in the Eocene Succession of Whitecliff Bay, Hampshire Basin, UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 154, 897-913.

Gale, A.S. 1989. A Milankovitch scale for Cenomanian time. Terra Nova, 1, 420-425.

Gale, A.S. 1995. Cyclostratigraphy and correlation of the Cenomanian Stage in Western Europe. In: Orbital Forcing Timescales and Cyclostratigraphy (edited by M.R. House and A.S. Gale) pp. 177-97. Geological Society Special Publication, no. 85.
Abstract:
Basinal successions of Cenomanian age in Western Europe are dominated by pelagic and hemipelagic sediments, and display conspicuous primary bedding cyclicity (couplets) which is attributed to climatically-controlled variations in carbonate productivity. Within single basins individual rhythmic couplets are widely identifiable and enable basin-wide decimetre-scale correlation. A high resolution ammonite biostratigraphy (aided by inoceramid bivalves) is used to correlate successions in separate basins, and allows a comparison of couplet numbers to be made. Couplet numbers are similar across Western Europe, in spite of an order of magnitude thickness variation, and the carbonate: clay ratios of beds and groups of beds are persistent and diagnostic of particular levels. Additionally, beds with distinctive ichnofabrics (e.g. abundant dark Chondrites) are regionally extensive in the basins of northern Europe. It has proved possible to construct a composite cyclostratigraphy for the Cenomanian, graduated by 212 precession units (mode at 21 ka), which indicate a duration for the stage of 4.45 Ma. Corroboration of this cyclochronology comes from radiometric dating; the Middle Cenomanian basal A. rhotomagense Zone to the Upper Cenomanian basal N. juddii Zone contain 107 precession couplets in Western Europe, giving a duration 2.24 Ma. The equivalent biostratigraphic interval in the Western Interior Basin of the USA recently yielded Ar-Ar dates of 2.2 Ma from sanidines in bentonites The dominance of the precession cycle in the mid-Cretaceous is in keeping with results from climate sensitivity modelling.

Gale, A.S. 1996. Turonian correlation and sequence stratigraphy of the Chalk in southern England. In: S. P. Hesselbo and D. N. Parkinson, Editors, Sequence stratigraphy in British Geology. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 103 (1996), pp. 177-195.

Gale, A.S. 1998. Petrography and diagenesis of the Thames Group, Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 109, 99-113.

Gale, A.S. 1998. in:
Insole, A., Daley, B. and Gale, A. 1998. The Isle of Wight. Geologists' Association Guide No. 60. 132pp. By Allan Insole, Brian Daley and Andy Gale. ISBN 0-900717-54-8. The Geologists' Association, London. Printed by Dinkyprint.

Gale, A.S. 2008. Manuscript notes and section details for Scratchell's Bay and Alum Bay. (Referred to in Hopson et al. 2011).

Gale, A.S., Huggett, J.M., Palike, H., Laurie, E., Hailwood, E.A. and Hardenbol, J. 2006. Correlation of Eocene - Oligocene marine and continental records: orbital cyclicity, magnetostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy of the Solent Group, Isle of Wight, UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 163, 401-415.

The magnetostratigraphy, clay mineralogy, cyclostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy of the estuarine and continental Solent Group (Isle of Wight, Hampshire Basin, UK), which is of Late Eocene - Early Oligocene age, were investigated. A new magnetostratigraphy for the Solent Group is correlated to the chronostratigraphic standard using limited biostratigraphical data, and it is concluded that the base of the Oligocene falls close to the base of the Bembridge Limestone Formation. A long time-series of clay mineral XRD data was generated, which shows striking variation in illitic clay abundance. Illite is interpreted to have formed in gley palaeosols through repeated wetting and drying in response to high seasonality. High illitic clay values are tuned to c. 400 ka eccentricity maxima to develop an age model. In addition to a very strong c. 400 ka signal in the data, spectral analysis of the clay data also confirms the influence of short eccentricity (c. 100 ka) and obliquity (c. 40 ka) cycles. The succession displays seven conspicuous 10-20 m thick sequences, which represent transitions from transgressive estuarine environments through highstand floodplains to freshwater lakes. The sequences correspond exactly to the long eccentricity (c. 400 ka) cycles. A sea-level curve is derived using the amount of incision as a minimum measure of eustatic fall, but there is no evidence of a major eustatic drop of 30-90 m corresponding to the early Oligocene glaciation of Antarctica. It is likely that incision was suppressed by rapid rates of subsidence.

See also discussion of this paper by: Hooker, J., Collinson, M., Grimes, S., Sille, N. and Mattey, D. 2007. Discussion on the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in the UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 164, 2007, pp; 685-688.
Jerry Hooker, Margaret Collinson, Stephen Grimes, Nick Sille & David Mattey write: Recognition of the EoceneOligocene boundary in the Hampshire Basin, UK, has been debated since naming of the Oligocene Epoch in 1854. Previously, this was because the boundary itself had not been stabilized and because the strata concerned are largely nonmarine. A Global Boundary Stratotype and Stratigraphic Point (GSSP) was established at Massignano, Italy, in 1993 in marine strata. Recognition of the boundary on extinction of the planktonic foraminiferan family Hantkeninidae made boundary identification difficult in the continental realm. Correlation to marginal marine and non-marine strata is nevertheless possible via magnetostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic studies and, importantly, biostratigraphically via dinocyst zones at Massignano (Brinkhuis and Biffi, 1993; Brinkhuis and Visscher, 1995). Therefore, recent publication of the magnetostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and orbital cyclicity of much of the Hampshire Basin Solent Group (Gale et al., 2006) is welcomed and substantially increases the number of correlation tools available in this area. Such cyclical phenomena, however, rely on absolute dating or biostratigraphy for calibration. No radiometric dates exist for the Solent Group, so biostratigraphy remains the best means of dating the succession.

Gale, A.S., Jeffery, P.A., Huggett, J.M. and Connolly, P. 1999. Eocene inversion history of the Sandown Pericline, Isle of Wight, southern England. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 156, 327-339. Abstract: Study of the composition and distribution of derived lithoclasts and fossil suites collected from the Selsey, Barton and Becton Formations in Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight has enabled a detailed reconstruction of Mid-Late Eocene uplift of 500 metres plus on the northern limb of the Sandown Pericline. The stratigraphical distribution of clasts and fossils derived from older formations demonstrates the erosion of progressively older Eocene, Palaeocene and Cretaceous sediments during growth of the structure. The presence of delicate reworked fossils and clasts, together with limited palaeocurrent data support very local derivation from the south. The preservational state of the derived materials is used to identify the diverse processes of erosion and transport. Two phases of uplift (Lutetian, Bartonian), separated by a period of quiescence and peneplanation have been identified; rates of Eocene uplift of about 100 m per million years are postulated to have taken place. Keywords: Eocene, structural inversion, southern England, derived fossils. Authors: A.S. Gale, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Greenwich, Kent; P.A. Jeffery, Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London, J.M. Huggett, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Greenwich; P. Connolly, Department of Geology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London.

Gale, A.S., Jenkyns, H.C., Kennedy, W.J. and Corfield, R.M. 1993. Chemostratigraphy versus biostratigraphy: data from around the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 150, pp. 29-32, 3 figs.

Gale, A.S., Surlyk, F. and Anderskouv, K. 2013. Channelling versus inversion: origin of condensed Upper Cretaceous chalks, eastern Isle of Wight, UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 170, pp. 281-290.
Abstract: Evidence from regional stratigraphical patterns in Santonian-Campanian chalk is used to infer the presence of a very broad channel system (5 km across) with a depth of at least 50m, running NNW-SSE across the eastern Isle of Wight; only the western part of the channel wall and fill is exposed. Within this channel were smaller erosional structures (less than 10 m deep) that truncate originally horizontal bedding, are floored by hardgrounds, and locally have a basal fill of granular phosphorite. The entire channel system was progressively infilled by chalk, as demonstrated by the expanded succession of the lower Campanian Culver Chalk Formation. The beds of the channel fill are cut by small step faults, resulting from gravitational collapse. Complete burial had taken place by the base of the upper Campanian Portsdown Chalk Formation, which is of even thickness across the region. The structures are interpreted with reference to high-resolution seismic profiles through chalk channel systems described from the German sector of the North Sea, and the Santonian-Campanian of the eastern Paris Basin, and were formed by persistent bottom currents. Previous interpretations of the condensed Santonian-Campanian chalks in the eastern Isle of Wight, involving penecontemporaneous tectonic inversion of the underlying basement structure, are rejected.

Gale, A.S., Young, J.R., Shackleton, N.J., Crowhurst, S.J. and Wray, D.S. 1999. Orbital tuning of Cenomanian Marly Chalk Successions, towards a Milankovitch Time Scale for the Late Cretaceous. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, A (1999), 357, pp. 1815-1829.
Outcrops of Cenomanian marly chalks in the Crimea (Ukraine) and SE England (UK), 2600 km apart, display conspicuous decimetre–scale rhythmicity and can be correlated by using 12 biostratigraphical events. Closely spaced samples from the two sections were used to generate long time–series of digitally captured grey–scale reflectance data. Spectral analysis of these data demonstrates that if the rhythmicity is assumed to be driven by precession (bedding cycles; mode at 20 ka), it is seen to be modulated by the short eccentricity cycle (100 ka bundles). The latter signal is expressed in the sediments by the occurrence of dark marls at precession minima occurring at eccentricity maxima. Although identified in the spectra, tilt (38 ka) and the long eccentricity cycle (400 ka) are not strongly expressed. Comparison of age modelled, unfiltered grey–scale data between the two sections reveals strikingly similar patterns, and enables the identification of a 80 ka hiatus in the UK chalks.
[This paper is not on the subject of the Isle of Wight or of Dorset or Devon, but is very relevant to any study of the Cenomanian of those regions.]

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Gardner , J.S. 1876. On the Eocene floras of the Hampshire Basin. Conferences held in connection with the special loan collection of scientific apparatus at South Kensington Museum. Section Physical Geography, Geology, etc. 412.

Gardner, J.S. 1879a. On the British Eocenes and their deposition. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London6, 83-106.

Gardner, J.S. 1879b. Description and correlation of the Bournemouth Beds. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London 35, 209-228.

Gardner, J.S. 1979c. British Eocene Flora, Part 1. Palaeontographical Society.

Gardner, J.S. 1880. On the Alum Bay flora. Nature, London, 21, p. 588.

Gardner, J.S. 1882. A chapter in the history of the Coniferae. Nature, London, 25, 228-229.

Gardner, J.S. 1885. On the land mollusca of the Eocene. Geological Magazine, Decade 3, vol. 2, 241-251.

Gardner, J.S. 1888. On the correlation of the Gres de Belleu with the Lower Bagshot. Geological Magazine, Decade 3, vol. 5, 188-189.

Gardner, J.S., Keeping, H. and Monckton, W.H. 1888. The upper Eocene, comprising the Barton and Upper Bagshot formations. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 44, 578-635. [a substantial paper with much detail]
Extract from p. 599. "The Alum Bay Section (Fig. 7). The section at Alum Bay is but 6 miles from Barton, and being through lofty cliffs with vertical bedding is extremely easy to measure and understand. Mesurements taken by Prof. Prestwich were published in his "Memoir on the Isle of Wight Tertiaries" in 1846, the entire series forming the 29th and 30th beds of his section, with a thickness of 380 feet, inclusive of 100 feet of siliceous sand. In 1857 he separated the formation into three not very well characterised beds as group a, and made the overlying siliceous sands his division b. Mr. Bristow with Mr. Gibbs, measured it again, the results published in the Survey Memoirs of 1856 and 1862 showing a total thickness of 300 feet, exclusive of the siliceous sands. We think that this is a little overestimated and that the measurement of 380 feet is nearly correct. Mr. Fisher, in 1856, reduced the thickness shown by Prestwich by 43 feet, placing the beds below the Nummulites elegans, var Prestwichiana , in [p. 600 now] the Bracklesham Series. We make the section (fig. 7) to be as follows [a log of 386 feet of the Barton and Bracklesham strata follows. The description of strata at Alum Bay continues on to p. 601, and is followed by discussion of Whitecliff Bay] [a cliff section diagram of the strata at Alum Bay is given as Fig. 7 on p. 599; a cliff section of Whitecliff Bay is shown as Fig. 8 on p. 603.]

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Geomorphological Services Ltd. 1989. Coastal landslip potential assessment: Isle of Wight Undercliff, Ventnor: report on the study of landsliding in and around Luccombe village. By Geomorphological Services Ltd., for the Department of the Environment. 1989.
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Gilkes , R.J. 1966. The Clay Mineralogy of the Tertiary Sediments of the Hampshire Basin. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Geology Department, University of Southampton, UK.

Gilkes, R.J. 1968. Clay mineral provinces in the Tertiary sediments of the Hampshire Basin. Clay Minerals, 7, 351-361. By Robert J. Gilkes, Department of Geology, Southampton University [there is also a Ph.D. Thesis on this topic]. Abstract: An X-ray diffraction study of over 600 specimens has shown that Tertiary sediments of the Hampshire Basin are divided into two clay mineral provinces. The western province is characterised by kaolin from the West Country granites whilst the highly montmorillonitic sediments of the eastern province were partially derived from the dissolution of Chalk by tropical weathering.
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Godwin-Austen, R. 1856. (Editor of posthumous memoir). Forbes, E. 1856. On the Tertiary Fluvio-Marine Formation of the Isle of Wight. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and the of Museum of Practical Geology. Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Her Majesty's Treasury. London; Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office; Published by Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 162pp., many figures and 10 plates.
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Halcrow Group Limited . 2000. Cowes to Gurnard, Coastal Slope Stability, Ground Behaviour Assessment. Halcrow Group Limited, August, 2000. Report for Isle of Wight Council, Newport. 41 pp. plus references, tables and figures. £40. Prepared by R. Moore, E.M. Lee, and D. Brunsden.
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Harland , W.B., Cox, A.V., Llewellyn, P.G., Pickton, C.A.G., Smith, A.G. and Walters, R. 1982. A Geologic Time Scale. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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Haskins , C.W. 1968-1971. Tertiary Ostracoda from the Isle of Wight and Barton, Hampshire, England. Parts 1-7. Revue de Micropaleontologie, 10, 250-260; 11, 3-12, 161-175; 12, 149-170; 13, 13-29, 207-221; 14, 147-156.
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Helsby, R. 2004. Provenance and Sedimentation of a Bartonian Pebble-Bed and Associated Strata in Alum Bay, Isle of Wight. Undergraduate research project, unpublished, Southampton University, Geology, 51pp. plus diagrams and appendix data. By Dr. Rachel Helsby. Marine Data Manager at Partrac.
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Hemans , J. 1985. A water balance study for the central Chalk / Upper Greensand aquifer on the Isle of Wight.
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Hinton, D.A. and Insole, A.N. 1988. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight: Ordnance Survey Historical Guides. George Phillip, Ordnance Survey. 159pp. ISBN 0-540-01137-1. Hardcover. [This guide is useful for the topographical history of the coast of the Solent and the Isle of Wight and inland areas such as the New Forest. Maps from the first series of the nineteenth century Ordnance Survey, covering the whole of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are compared with modern Ordnance Survey Landranger series of maps. There is explanatory text and old photographs. The value of this in terms of geology and geomorphology is that it shows the coast has changed with development, silting-up or erosion. The Solent shores (e.g. map 47 - Lymington) are very different with many salterns and salt works. The extent of erosion at Barton and Hordle cliff (map 46 - Milton) can be seen. There are photographs of Ventnor in 1890 and old Blackgang Road, Niton in about 1895.]

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Historic England, 2017. Strategic Stone Study; Hampshire, Including the New Forest National Park, Part of the South Downs National Park, and the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. Published May 2017. 29pp, including - further reading (a short reference list). Available free online as a pdf file: Hampshire_Building_Stone_Atlas.pdf. Published by Geckoella, the British Geological Survey and the South Downs National Park. Hampshire Strategic Stone Study 1. A short, concise account, but with many good, clear photographs of stones used in buildings (does not show petrographic photographs).
[Includes: Hythe Sandstone (Lower Greensand); Sandgate Formation (Bargate Stone or Bargate Sandstone); Folkstone Formation (Carstone, Iron Sandstone, Forest Stone, Clinker); Selborne Group, Upper Greensand Formation (Malmstone, Malm Rock, Bluestone, Blue Rag, Firestone); Upper Cretaceous, Chalk Group, White Chalk Subgroup, Quarry Flint ('Fresh' Flint); Chalk ('Clunch'), Newhaven Chalk Formation (Hambledon Chalk), Sarsen Stones (Greywethers, Bridestone); Reading Formation Sandstone and Ironstone, Thames Group - Harwich Formation Basement Bed, London Clay Cementstone (septaria), Quaternary Flint, Beach Pebble Flint, Ferricrete (Heath Stone, Iron Pan, Ironstone Conglomerates, Ferrells, Tufa, Travertine, Caen Stone, Bath Stone, Chilmark Stone, Portland Stone, Purbeck Stone, Purbeck Stone-slate, Horsham Stone Slate, Ventnor Stone, Green Ventnor Stone, Mixon Stone (with Fasciolites = Miolina), Nettlestone Sandstone (Solent Group, Netley Abbey, Porchester Castle, Tithe Barn), Quarr Stone, Bembridge Limestone.]

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Hodson, F. and Shelford, P.H. 1964. Geology. In: Monkhouse, F.J. 1964. A Survey of Southampton and its Region. 1536 pp. British Association for the Advancement of Science, Southampton.
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Holyoak , D.T. and Preece, R.C. 1983. Evidence of a high Middle Pleistocene sea-level from estuarine deposits at Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 94, 231-244.
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Holmes , N.A. and Bishop, G.M. 1980. Survey of the littoral zone of the coast of Great Britain. no. 5: Report on the sediment shores of Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
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Hooke , J. 1998. Coastal Defence and Earth Science Conservation. The Geological Society of London, Burlington House, London. 270 pp. ISBN 1-897799-96-9. Edited by Janet Hooke, Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. [From publisher's blurb: "Tremendous changes in attitude, policy and practice in relation to coastal defences have taken place in Britain over the last 10 years but considerable conflicts between the interests of coastal protection and those of conservation remain. This book examines the needs of both and then explores methods and strategies which may be used to achieve a compromise or produce sustainable decisions. Coastal Defence and Earth Science Conservation has contributions from engineers and conservationists and is principally written by practitioners within the field. The intended audience are professionals, such as engineers and planners involved in coastal and shoreline management, and conservationists in both national and local agencies".

Hooke, J. 1998. Issues and strategies in relation to geological and geomorphological conservation and defence of the coast. Pp. 1-9 in: Hooke, J. 1998. Coastal Defence and Earth Science Conservation. The Geological Society of London, Burlington House, London. 270 pp. ISBN 1-897799-96-9.
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Hooker, J.J. 1977. The Creechbarrow limestone - its biota and correlation. Tertiary Research, 1, 139-145. [Not on the Isle of Wight but on strata of the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. It is relevant to the Barton Group of the Isle of Wight because it established a Bartonian age for the non-marine Creechbarrow Limestone. Relevant to Eocene folding, deformation, uplift etc. See also the work of Plint. ]

Hooker, J.J. 1987. Mammalian faunal events in the English Hampshire Basin (late Eocene - early Oligocene) and their application to European biostratigraphy. Munchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen (A), 10, 109-116.

Hooker, J.J. 1992. British mammalian paleocommunities across the Eocene-Oligocene transition and their environmental implications. Pp. 494-515, In: Prothero, D.R. and Berggren, W.A. (eds.) Eocene-Oligocene Climatic Change and Biotic Evolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. [KEY PAPER FOR BARTON CORRELATION CREECHBARROW- BARTON - WHITECLIFF BAY- SEE FIG. 25.1.]. See also Collinson, M.E. 1992 in the same book.
Abstract:
Faunal turnovers, changes in species numbers and in ecological diversity in the southern English mammal faunas from the late middle Eocene to early Oligocene are used to interpret environmental changes at this important time. Integration with similar ecological information from the Franco-Swiss Province demonstrates latitudinal differences in mammalian habitats early on, with forests in the north, more open but mosaic habitats in the south. Both areas became dominantly more open and uniform from the latest Eocene onwards.
Extrapolation from continental mammalian zonations to the standard marine scale via the few available points of facies interdigitation in Europe allows more precise calibration than hitherto of one of mammalian dispersal events and of community changes. The latter especially can be linked with cooling climate as indicated by the marine oxygen isotope record. The 'Grande Coupure' the major late Palaeogene mammalian faunal turnover event in Europe, took place in the early Oligocene.

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Hooker, J., Collinson, M., Grimes, S., Sille, N. and Mattey, D. 2007. Discussion on the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in the UK. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 164, 2007, pp; 685-688.
Recognition of the EoceneOligocene boundary in the Hampshire Basin, UK, has been debated since naming of the Oligocene Epoch in 1854. Previously, this was because the boundary itself had not been stabilized and because the strata concerned are largely nonmarine. A Global Boundary Stratotype and Stratigraphic Point (GSSP) was established at Massignano, Italy, in 1993 in marine strata. Recognition of the boundary on extinction of the planktonic foraminiferan family Hantkeninidae made boundary identification difficult in the continental realm. Correlation to marginal marine and non-marine strata is nevertheless possible via magnetostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic studies and, importantly, biostratigraphically via dinocyst zones at Massignano (Brinkhuis & Biffi 1993; Brinkhuis & Visscher 1995). Therefore, recent publication of the magnetostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and orbital cyclicity of much of the Hampshire Basin Solent Group (Gale et al. 2006) is welcomed and substantially increases the number of correlation tools available in this area. Such cyclical phenomena, however, rely on absolute dating or biostratigraphy for calibration. No radiometric dates exist for the Solent Group, so biostratigraphy remains the best means of dating the succession. [continues]

Hooker, J.J., Collinson, M.E., Vanbergen, P.F., Singer, R.L., Deleeuw, J.W. and Jones, T.P. 1995. Reconstruction of land and fresh-water palaeoenvironments near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, southern England. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 152, 449-468. Abstract: Mammalian assemblages in the Bembridge Limestone Formation of late Eocene age, Headon Hill, Isle of Wight, England, indicate habitats ranging from open woodland to closed forest. Distinctive 'lower' and 'upper' mammalian faunas reflect different faunal provinces, probably in response to climatic fluctuations that foreshadowed the terminal Eocene event. In order to improve our understanding of these patterns, we have examined a variety of other palaeoenvironmental indicators from this section. These include paylnological organic matter (POM), plant macrofossils, non-mammalian faunas, organic geochemistry and stable isotopes. The evidence shows that the depositional setting was a tranquil, shallow, freshwater lake, with a brief lagoonal interval However, evidence for habitats surrounding the lake is contradictory, emphasizing the necessity for multidisciplinary approaches to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. The mammal faunas give unequivocal evidence for woodland or forest, yet, apart from some of the land snails, there is no other indication of the presence of trees. Furthermore, according to the mammalian evidence the lake was bordered by distinctive vegetation at different times, with closed forest/woodland during marl deposition and open woodland during black mud deposition, but there are no parallel fluctuations in other biotic elements.

Hooker, J.J. and Insole, A.N. 1980. The distribution of mammals in the English Palaeogene. Tertiary Research, 3 (1), 31-45. Abstract: An examination of the literature on British Palaeogene mammal faunas shows that they have received scant attention since the beginning of the century. The last two decades have seen a revival of interest and several techniques and acid digestion has considerably improved our knowledge of the mammal faunas in both the London and Hampshire Basins. Although investigations are still in progress, this seems an opportune time to present the data so far obtained. The pre-Barton Sand data have been compiled by J.J. Hooker and post-Barton Sand data by A.N. Insole.

Hooker, J.J., Insole, A.N., Moody, R.T.J., Walker, C.A. and Ward, D.J. 1980. The distribution of cartilaginous fish, turtles, birds and mammals in the British Palaeogene. Tertiary Research, 3, 1-2.

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Hooley, R.W. 1907. A brief sketch of the Wealden Beds of the Isle of Wight and the history they reveal. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club,vol.6, part 1, pp. 90-105. Example extract (p. 101):    
"Teeth, bones, and scutes of crocodiles occur throughout the strata. All the teeth I have found, except one, belong to Goniopholis. The odd specimen, instead of having the carina on the anterior and posterior margin, has it on the lateral faces, whilst it is compressed, and not rounded as in Goniopholis, it therefore, apparently, is one of the posterior teeth of Suchosaurus.    
The best find of the associated bones of a crocodile from the Wealden of the I. of W. took me nearly two years to collect, and even now fragments are still coming to hand. They comprise the greater portion of the skeleton of Goniopholis crassidens [probably known to the reader as the "Swanage Crocodile" of the Purbecks], which I described in a paper read before the Geological Society in November last year. In the late autumn of 1904 a huge mass of the cliff at Atherfield, comprising many tbousands of tons of strata, sank. Gradually subsiding, it forced its foot across the beach until it reached the water-line, where it suffered rapid denudation by the sea. In conjunction with Mr. Walter White, tbe coxswain of the Atherfield Life Boat, I watched this continuously, and obtained a block of rock containing crocodile bones and scutes. As this specimen revealed a clean, fresh fracture, a very careful search was kept along the lowest stratum and the beach, especially at low water.    
Fragments of crocodile bones and fish vertebrae now and again were washed ashore. No greater reward was vouchsafed till Whitsuntide of 1905, when a series of very heavy "ground seas" completely removed the foot of the "founder." As the seas lessened, blocks were cast on to the beach, between high and low water-mark. We discerned that they belonged to a different individual from that previously discovered. No further block was found until August, 1905, when rough seas washed ashore two pieces, which, being fitted together, formed a section of a crocodile skull. Shortly afterwards the snout, minus the extreme end of the upper jaw, and one or two smaller parts of the cranium, were recovered. In the middle of September, 1905, I went to Atherfield, and with Mr. White visited the shore, where we had not been more than a few minutes before a huge sea broke, turning over the shore rubble in its course. On its retreat a rock containing the whole of the skull behind the orbits, became visible in the backwash, although there had been no sign of it after the preceeding waves. ..." [continues]

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Hopson, P. 2011. The geological history of the Isle of Wight: an overview of the 'diamond in Britain's geological crown'. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol. 122, (2011), pp. 745-763. Introductory part of "Special Issue: The Geological History of the Isle of Wight. Guest Editor: Peter Robson. Paper by Peter Hopson, Sir Kingsley Dunham Centre, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham. This is also: a NERC Open Research Publication. 30th November 2011. Available free online as a pdf file at:
Hopson_IoW_Geo_History_PGEOLA-D-11-00048R1.pdf
[It can be found easily from a Google Search]
Abstract:
The geology of the Isle of Wight has attracted both the amateur and professional geologist alike for well over two centuries. It presents a cornucopia of things geological and offers a window into the fascinating story of the geological history and landscape development of southern England, as well as an important teaching resource for all levels of study from primary education through to academic research. This paper provides a geological framework and a summary of the history of research as context for the papers in this issue can be placed. Inevitably, it can only offer a precis of the huge amount of information available, but it is hoped will also give added impetus to further investigation of the literature or, indeed, new research. The island offers a field workshop for topics such as lithostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, tectonics and climate change; studies that are becoming ever more international in their influence. There are 15 Sites of Special Scientific Interest designated because of their geological importance and a number of these are internationally significant. After a brief discussion on the concealed geology, this paper concentrates on an outline of the near-surface geology on the coast and inland, and introduces a different view on the structure of the Cretaceous and Palaeogene strata. The enigmatic Quaternary deposits are discussed particularly with reference to the development of the Solent River, human occupation and climate change.

[This is a key publication on the geology of the Isle of Wight and extremely well illustrated.]

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Hopson, P.M., Farrant, A.R., Wilkinson, I.P., Woods, M.A., Newell, A.J., Kender, S. and Jehle, S., 2011. The lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the Chalk Group (Upper Coniacian to Upper Campanian) at Scratchell's Bay and Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 122, (2011), pp. 850-861. By Peter Hopson, Andrew Farant, Ian Wilkinson, Mark Woods, Sev Kender and Sofie Jehle. (All except Sofie Jehle at the British Geological Survey, Nottingham; Sofie Jehle at University of Tubingen, Germany.)
The Scratchell's Bay and southern Alum Bay sections, in the extreme west of the Isle of Wight on the Needles promontory, cover the stratigraphically highest Chalk Group formations available in southern England. They are relatively inaccessible, other than by boat, and despite being a virtually unbroken succession they have not received the attention afforded to the Whitecliff GCR (Geological Conservation Review series) site at the eastern extremity of the island. A detailed account of the lithostratigraphy of the strata in Scratchell's Bay is presented and integrated with macro and micro biostratigraphical results for each formation present. Comparisons are made with earlier work to provide a comprehensive description of the Seaford Chalk, Newhaven Chalk, Culver Chalk and Portsdown Chalk formations for the Needles promontory. The strata described are correlated with those seen in the Culver Down Cliffs–Whitecliff Bay at the eastern end of the island that form the Whitecliff GCR site. This provides an overall correlation for the Upper Coniacian to Upper Campanian Chalk strata on the island. The influence of the Purbeck-Wight Structure (Sandown and Brighstone periclines) on the Chalk Group strata is discussed and the conclusions drawn demonstrate that movement on this structure is diachronous across the island.

Hopson, P.M., Wilkinson, I.P., Woods, M.A., 2008. A stratigraphical framework for the Lower Cretaceous of England. British Geological Survey. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/08/03. Hopson et al. A Stratigraphical Framework etc.

Hopson, P.M., Wilkinson, I.P., Woods, M.A. and Farrant, A.R., 2011. The Lower Albian Monk's Bay Sandstone Formation (formerly the Carstone) of the Isle of Wight: its distribution, litho- and bio-stratigraphy. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122, pp. 816-830. Authors from the British Geological Survey, Sir Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham. The paper is available online as a BGS publication in pdf format.
Abstract:
The Monk's Bay Sandstone Formation (MBSF) is the new name for the Lower Albian ferruginous sandstone that was formerly known as the Carstone of the Isle of Wight. The new term was proposed to remove any confusion with the Carstone, of similar age and lithology, described from the separate Lower Cretaceous sedimentary basin of Eastern England. This paper formalises the nomenclatural change outlined in the Lower Cretaceous Framework Report, ratified by the Geological Society Stratigraphy Commission. The MBSF, representing a major mid-Albian transgressive event, is described from a series of boreholes drilled by the British Geological Survey across the Isle of Wight, and from additional coastal exposures, together with reinterpretations of sections described in earlier works. The age range of the MBSF is determined in relation to recent biostratigraphical schemes supported with new data from the previously unknown presence of foraminifera. Deposits, belonging to the Leymeriella regularis Subzone, were previously considered to be absent from the succession and represent the stratigraphical gap separating the formation from the underlying Sandrock Formation. However a first occurrence of tubular foraminifera resembling Hyperammina/Rhizammina cf dichotomata suggest that the oldest part of the formation in the northeast of the island may be of regularis Subzone age. This unconformity is correlated with the sequence boundary LG4 of Hesselbo and the presence of the Sonneratia kitchini Subzone at the base of the MBSF on the Isle of Wight suggests that this boundary should be placed at the lower of two candidate horizons within the successions of the Weald. The formation is restricted to the Isle of Wight but is coeval with similar coarsegrained sediments, e.g the Carstone and 'Junction Beds' to the north. The palaeogeography of the formation and the relationship with these similar deposits and the implications for the timing of mid-Albian structural events is briefly discussed. The identification of older Lower Greensand Group sediments beneath the MBSF in boreholes north of the Isle of Wight structure, together with new survey data indicating north-south orientated faulting affecting the early Cretaceous implies a tectonic element to the distribution the Lower Greensand Group sediments. Taken together these imply a complex interaction of tectonics and transgressive events throughout the Aptian and Albian over this structural high.

Huggett, J.M. and Cuadros, J. 2005. Low temperature illitisation of smectite in the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene of the Isle of Wight (Hampshire Basin), UK. American Mineralogist, vol. 90, pp. 1192-1202.

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Huggett, J.M. and O'B. Knox. 2006. Clay mineralogy of the Tertiary onshore and offshore strata of the British Isles. Clay Minerals, vol. 41, pp. 5-46. J.M. Huggett, Dept. of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, London, O'B. Knox, British Geological Survey, Keyworth.
Abstract: Tertiary sediments are of restricted occurrence in the onshore British Isle but occur extensively offshore, attaining thicknesses of approximately 4 km. in the Faroe - Shetland Basin and approximately 3 km. in the North Sea Basin. Clay mineral stratigraphic studies of the North Sea Paleocene to Lower Miocene successions show a dominance of smectite (and smectite-rich illite-smectite) with minor illite, kaolin and chlorite. Abundant smectite in the Paleocene and Eocene reflects alteration of volcanic ash derived from pyroclastic activity associated with the opening of the North Atlantic between Greenland and Europe. However, the persistence of high smectite into the Oligocene and Middle Miocene indicates that smectite-rich soils on adjacent land areas may also have been an important source of detrital clays. An upward change to illite-dominated assemblages in the Middle Miocene reflects higher rates of erosion and detrital clay supply, with a subsequent increase in chlorite reflecting climatic cooling. The persistence of smectite-rich assemblages to depths of greater than 3000 metres in the offshore indicates little burial-related diagenesis within the mudstone succession, possibly as a consequence of over-pressuring. Despite the importance of Paleocene and Eocene sandstones as hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North Sea and Faroe-Shetland basins, there are few published details of the authigenic clays. The principal clay cements in these sandstones are kaolin and chlorite, with only minor illite reported.
The offshore successions proved a valuable background to the interpretation of the more intensively studied, but stratigraphically less complete, onshore Tertiary successions. The most extensive onshore successions occur in the London and Hampshire basins where sediments of Paleocene to earliest Oligocene age are preserved. Here clay assemblages are dominated by illite and smectite with subordinate kaolin and chlorite. The relatively large smectite content of these successions is also attributed to primarily to the alteration of volcanic ash. Associated non-smectitic clays are largely detrital in origin and sourced from the areas to the west, with reworking of laterites and "china clay" deposits developed over Cornish granites. Authigenic clays include glauconite (sensu lato), early diagenetic kaolin that has replaced muscovite (principally in the London Clay Formation of the London Basin)and smectite that has replaced ash. Pedogenesis has extensively modified the assemblages in the Reading Formation and Solent Group. Tertiary sediments are largely missing from onshore northern and western Britain, but clays and sands of Eocene age are locally preserved in small fault-bounded basins. Here, clay assemblages are dominated by kaolin and with minor illite.

Huggett, J.M. and Gale, A.S. 1997. Petrology and environmental significance of glaucony in the Eocene succession at Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 109, 99-113.

Huggett, J.M. and Gale, A.S. 1998. Petrography and diagenesis of the Thames Group at Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, U.K. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 109, pp. 99-113.

Huggett, J.M., Gale A.S. and Clauer, N. 2001. The nature and origin of non-marine 10 angstrom green clays from the late Eocene and Oligocene of the Isle of Wight (Hampshire Basin), U.K. Clay Minerals, vol. 36, pp. 447-464.

Huggett, J.M., Gale, A.S. and Wray, D.S. 2005. Diagenetic clinoptilolite and opal-CT from the Middle Eocene Wittering Formation [Bracklesham Group], Isle of Wight, U.K.. Journal of Sedimentary Research., vol. 75, pp. 585-595.
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Hughes, J.C. 1922. The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight. Edward Stanford, Ltd., London. With Illustrations of Fossils by Maud Neal. 115 pages. [A popular account with some photographs, maps, cross-sections and illustrations of fossils.]
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Hutchings , M.M. 1953. The Isle of Wight. By Monica M. Hutchings.

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Hutchinson , J.N. 1965. A reconnaisance of coastal landslides in the Isle of Wight. Building Research Station Note, No. EN11/65.

Hutchinson, J.N. 1987. Some coastal landslides of the southern Isle of Wight. In Barber, K.E. (ed) . Wessex and the Isle of Wight - Field Guide, Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge, pp. 123-135.

Hutchinson, J.N. 1991. The landslides forming the south Wight Undercliff. In: International Conference on Slope Stability Engineering - Developments and Applications. Thomas Telford, London, 157-168.

Hutchinson, J.N., Bromhead, E.N. and Chandler, M.P. 1981. Report on the Coastal Landslides at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. Unpublished report to Lewis and Duvivier, Consulting Engineers.

Hutchinson, J.N., Bromhead, E.N. and Chandler, M.P. 1991. The landslides of St. Catherines Point, Isle of Wight. International Conference on Slope Stability, Engineering Developments and Applications, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Institute of Civil Engineers.

Hutchinson, J N, Bromhead, E N, and Lupini J F. 1980. Additional observations on the Folkestone Warren landslides. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, Vol.13, part 1, pp.1-31.

Hutchinson, J.N., Brunsden, D. and Lee, E.M. 1991. The geomorphology of the landslide complex at Ventnor, Isle of Wight. In: International Conference of Slope Stability Engineering - Developments and Applications. Thomas Telford, London, 213-218.

Hutchinson, J.N., Chandler, M.P. and Bromhead, E.N. 1981. Cliff recession on the Isle of Wight SW coast. In: Proceedings, 10th International Conference of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Stockholm, Sweden, June 15th -19th, vol. 1, 429-434.

Hutchinson, J.N., Chandler, M.P. and Bromhead, E.N. 1985. A review of current research on the coastal landslides forming the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight with some practical implications. Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline, Newport, Isle of Wight.
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Insole , A.N. and Daley, B. 1985. A revision of the lithostratigraphic nomenclature of the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene strata of the Hampshire Basin, southern England. Tertiary Research, 7, 67-100.

Insole, A., Daley, B. and Gale, A. 1998. The Isle of Wight. Geologists' Association Guide No. 60. 132pp. By Allan Insole, Brian Daley and Andy Gale. ISBN 0-900717-54-8. The Geologists' Association, London. Printed by Dinkyprint. [Clear, well-explained field guide in paperback form, easy to carry in the field. With references and with notes on access]

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Insole , A.N. and Hutt, S. 1994. The paleoecology of the dinosaurs of the Wessex Formation (Wealden Group, Early Cretaceous), Isle-of-Wight, Southern England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean society 112: (1-2) 197-215 Sept-Oct, 1994. Abstract: The Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight yields an Early Cretaceous dinosaur fauna. Sedimentological evidence shows that this represents a mosaic of fluvial, floodplain and lacustrine environments within a relatively narrow east-west oriented valley. The vegetational cover on the alluvial plain had a savannah- or chaparral-like aspect, probably of low productivity. The relative scarcity of small aquatic vertebrates, absence of coals, abundance of oxidixed sediments and the presence of immature calcretes indicate seasonal water supply. The dinosaur taxa compising the Wessex Formation faunal assemblage represent a single palaeocommunity which inhabited the local alluvial plain, although some species may have been transient. The fauna had a relatively low diversity and this is attributed to the low productivity of the local vegetation. Iguanodontids and Hypsilophodon were the dominant elements in the fauna. In contrast to Late Jurassic dinosaur faunas, sauropods are less abundant in the Wessex Formation, although they remain taxonomically diverse. It is concluded that climatic changes which took place in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous resulted in the appearance of low productivity vegetation and that this was incapable of supporting large sauropod populations. Authors address - Museum of Isle of Wight Geology, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 8AF. Publisher Academic Press Ltd., London.
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Institute of Geological Sciences and Southern Water Authority. 1979. Hydrogeological Map of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Scale 1:100,000.

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Isle of Wight History Centre. 20??. Robert Hooke and Geology: His Experiences on the Isle of Wight.
Published online: Isle of Wight History Centre - Robert Hooke. [interesting and unusual account with good geological detail, revealing Robert Hooke's observations of the geology of the Isle of Wight]
"The Second is an Observation of my own, which I have often taken notice of, and lately examined very diligently, which will confirm these Histories of Pliny, and this my present Hypothesis; and that is a Part of the Observation I have already mentioned, which I made upon the Western Shore of the Isle of Wight. I observed a Cliff of a pretty height, which,by the constant washing of the water at the bottom of it, is continually especially after Frosts and great rains, foundering and tumbling down into the Sea underneath it. Along the Shore underneath this Cliff, are a great number of Rocks and large Stones confusedly placed, some covered, others quite out of the Water; all which Rocks I found to be compounded of Sand and Clay, and Shells, and such kind of Stones, as the Shore was covered with. Examining the Hardness of some that lay as far into the Water as the Low-Water-mark, I found them to be altogether as hard, if not much harder than Portland or Purbeck-stone: Others of them that lay not so far into the Sea, I found much softer, as having in probability not been so long exposed to the Vicissitudes of the Tides: .... [continues, with comparisons to the geological record of the Isle of Wight and with maps and illustrations of fossils etc.]

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Isle of Wight Council and Royal Haskoning. 2010. Isle of Wight Shoreline Management Plan 2: Main Report, Chapter 4. 4.5 Policy Development Zone 4. Ventnor and the Undercliff (PDZ4). With good maps and diagrams, including a cross-section at Ventnor.
Available online as a pdf file: Isle-Wight-Shoreline-Management-4-Undercliff.pdf.
Go to: Isle of Wight Shoreline Management Plan
or Search for "Isle of Wight Shoreline Management".
Small extract follows:
1.4 Description
The town of Ventnor and surrounding villages of Bonchurch, St. Lawrence, Niton and Blackgang are located on the south-facing terraces of a large coastal landslide complex, parts of which are reactivating.
The Ventnor Undercliff is approximately 12km in length and is the largest urbanised landslide complex in England and Wales, and one of the largest in north-west Europe. Based on current shoreline management practices, there are specific areas within the Undercliff that are at risk of ground movement and all proposed developments must take account of the ground conditions. A programme of ground monitoring is in place and detailed landslide mapping (geomorphology, ground behaviour, planning guidance) is available. The sea cliffs are approximately 20-30m in height, with terraces of developed ground rising behind in Ventnor town (up to the back scar at approximately 100m height, approximately 400m inland), with more scattered development to the west. Sea level rise, cliff toe erosion and increased winter rainfall will affect slope stability. Coastal road links will be at risk over the next 100 years. The centre of Ventnor town is protected by coastal defences, along with Reeth Bay in the west, but the majority of the Undercliff is undefended. The present management practices of sea cliff stabilisation and toe weighting at Wheelers Bay and Monks Bay appear to have significantly reduced the occurrences of landslide re-activations.

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Jarvis, I., Murphy, A.M. and Gale, A.S. 2001. Geochemistry of pelagic and hemipelagic carbonates: criteria for identifying systems tracts and sea-level change. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 158, pp. 685-696.
Abstract:
The elemental (Si, Ti, Al, Mn, Ca, Zr) and carbon stable-isotope (delta l3C) geochemistry of a biostratigraphically well-constrained Cenomanian- Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) Chalk succession on the Isle of Wight, southern England, shows systematic variation that corresponds closely to a published sequence stratigraphic model for the Cenomanian. Six sequences and their constituent systems tracts, defined elsewhere using sedimentological criteria, are clearly distinguishable from bulk-sediment elemental profiles, and an additional Upper Cenomanian sequence previously identified in Spain is recognized in England from these geochemical data. The manganese curve is particularly instructive, exhibiting minima around sequence bonndaries and through lowstands, rising values from the transgressive surfaces through transgressive systems tracts, maxima around maximum flooding surfaces, and declining values through highstands. Silica and trace-element (Ti, Zr) aluminium ratios peak around transgressive surfaces and maximum flooding surfaces, indicating pulses of increased siliciclastic input. Positive delta 13C excursions are confirmed at the base of the Middle Cenomanian and spanning the Cenomanian- Turonian boundary but are not evident in other sequences. Variation in Mn is related to bulk sedimentation rate and detrital versus biogenic supply, which control the Mn flux and the efficiency of the diagenetic Mn 'pump' that leads to elevated Mn contents in sediments. Manganese peaks do not generally correlate with positive delta 13C excursions, and although near-coincident Mn and delta l3C peaks occur around the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, the former is not necessarily linked to the oceanic anoxic event occurring at that time. The global oceanic Mn flux may have been enhanced during the Cenomanian as a result of hydrothermal activity during rapid sea-floor spreading and oceanic plateau formation. Elemental chemostratigraphy provides a new tool for developing sequence stratigraphic models in pelagic and hemipelagic carbonate successions.
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Jarzembowski , E.A. 1980. Fossil insects from the Bembridge Marls, Palaeogene of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 33, (4), 237-293.

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Jeans, C.V. 1978. Silicifications and associated clay assemblages in the Cretaceous marine sediments of southern England. By C.V. Jeans, (Dr. Chris Jeans) then at Department of Applied Biology, University of Cambridge. Clay Minerals (1978) vol. 13, pp. 101 - 126. Available free online.
Abstract: Silicifications and smectite-dominated clay assemblages are associated in the marine Cretaceous sediments of England. Both are neoformed, and have developed at approximately the same time in the host sediment. Two silicification types, opal-CT and or- quartz, have a distribution pattern unrelated to the stratigraphy or lithology of the Lower Greensand, Upper Greensand and Lower Chalk. The petrography of five examples suggest that the two silicification types were both precipitated from the porewaters of their host sediment, and their silica mineralogy and their associated silicate minerals were controlled generally by the silica concentration of the porewaters and more locally by the pH gradients.
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Jenkins, G.O., Foster, C. and Hopson, P.M. 2011. Geology as a control on landslides on the Isle of Wight: an Overview. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122 (2011), pp. 906-922. By staff of the British Geological Survey, Nottingham.
Abstract:
The Cretaceous and Palaeogene sedimentary rocks that crop out on the Isle of Wight are highly prone to landsliding and the island offers an important field laboratory wherein to investigate a number of the different types of failure. Many of these landslides represent a significant engineering hazard, with several urban areas requiring remedial work and planning constraints (e.g. The Undercliff and Seagrove Bay) to aid development. Previous studies have thoroughly investigated the major landslides in the Undercliff area around Ventnor and presented a mechanism for that massive failure. This overview of the landslides throughout the Isle of Wight by the British Geological Survey was completed as part of the multidisciplinary survey of the surface geology, structure, geophysical response and offshore interpretations of the island between 2007 and 2010. The survey has collected new observational data on the extensive coastal landslides, as well as the distribution, nature and mechanism of failure of the lesser-studied inland examples.

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Jefferies , R.P.S. 1963. The stratigraphy of the Actinocamax plenus Subzone (Turonian) in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 74, 1-33.
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Johnstone, J.M. 1992? Fall of the Arch Rock. [Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight]. [undated, but re the fall of Arch Rock, of Chalk, just east of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight, on 25th October, 1992] By Joy M. Johnstone. Booklet published by Seawinds Services. Printed by West Island Printers. "An eyewitness account by Anne Dodgson. "Anne, a retired secretary has lived in Terrace House, once owned by Lord Tennyson, for 21 years. Her sitting room must havehone of the best views of the Island. As I interviewed her I could not take my eyes off this wonderful scene. The sun was dancing on the water of Freshwater Bay and the rocks were silhouetted against the skyline. As we enjoyed a cup of coffee, I asked her exactly what happened.
I was standing just here looking out of my window at 8am on Sunday 25th October - the wind wailed as the storm raged. As the waves battered the Arch, Mermaid and Stag rocks in the Bay, then I noticed that the left side of the Arch had disappeared. The top and right side remained, but I knew that it wouldn't be long before the whole Arch collapsed. I could not take my eyes off this incredible spectacle - if I moved, or blinked I knew I would miss it. As each wave broke the rock wobbled precariously. Then at 8.50am it tumbled to its watery grave. ..."
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Jones , T.R. 1857. A Monograph of the Tertiary Entomostraca of England. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society.
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Jukes-Browne, A.J. and Hill, W. 1904. The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain, Volume 3, the Upper Chalk of England, Chapter VII, Isle of Wight. Memoir of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.

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Keen , M. C. 1977. Ostracod assemblages and the depositional environments of the Headon, Osborne and Bembridge Beds (Upper Eocene) of the Hampshire Basin. Palaeontology, 20, 405 - 445.
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Keeping , H. 1887. On the discovery of the Nummulina elegans Zone at Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight. Geological Magazine, 4, 70-72.

Keeping, H. 1921. Reminiscences of My Life. 2nd Edition, F.W. Talbot, Cambridge, 24 pp.

Keeping, H. and Tawney, E.B. 1881. On the Beds at Headon Hill and Colwell Bay in the Isle of Wight. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 37, 85-127.
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Kemp , D.J. 1982. A Brief Illustrated Account of the English Eocene Shark and Ray Fossils. Gosport Museum, Hampshire. 10pp. and 11 plates, November, 1977.

Kemp, D.J. 1982. Fossil Sharks, Rays and Chimaeroids of the English Tertiary Period. Gosport Museum. A complete illustrated guide by David John Kemp, 47pp, 10 figs, 3 tables, 16 plates.

Kemp, D.J., Kemp, L. and Ward, D. 1990. An Illustrated Guide to the British Middle Eocene Vertebrates. Published by David Ward, London, October 1990, 59 pp. By David Kemp, Liz Kemp and David Ward. [Useful small handbook, on sale at Portsmouth City Museums - original price £4.]
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Kellaway , G.A., Redding, J.H., ShephardThorn, E.R. and Destombes, J.P. 1975. The Quaternary history of the English Channel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, A.279, 189-218. [A thoroughly referenced paper with much interesting detail on a theoretical English Channel glacial. Controversial.]
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Kemp , D.J. 1982. A Brief Illustrated Account of the English Eocene Shark and Ray Fossils. Gosport Museum, Hampshire. 10pp. and 11 plates, November, 1977.

Kemp, D.J. 1982. Fossil Sharks, Rays and Chimaeroids of the English Tertiary Period. Gosport Museum. A complete illustrated guide by David John Kemp, 47pp, 10 figs, 3 tables, 16 plates.

Kemp, D.J., Kemp, L. and Ward, D. 1990. An Illustrated Guide to the British Middle Eocene Vertebrates. Published by David Ward, London, October 1990, 59 pp. By David Kemp, Liz Kemp and David Ward.
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Kerth , M. and Hailwood, E.A. 1988. Magnetostratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous Vectis Formation (Wealden Group) on the Isle of Wight, Southern England. Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 145, issue 2, pp. 351-360.
Magnetostratigraphic results are described from two sections within the Lower Cretaceous Vectis Formation (formerly Wealden Shales) of the Isle of Wight, Southern England. The sections are located at Shepherd's Chine and Yaverland, respectively.
In both of these sections a reliably-established reverse polarity magnetozone, herein defined as the Vectis magnetozone, occurs within the Shepherd's Chine Member. This magnetozone has a thickness of some 15 m and its upper boundary is well defined in the Yaverland section but is obscured in the Shepherd's Chine Section due to cliff slumping. The lower boundary is well established in both sections and lies some 15 m above the Barnes High Sandstone Member in the Shepherd's Chine section and 12 m above this unit at Yaverland. This boundary provides a useful chron-stratigraphic datum.
A comparison with established geomagnetic polarity timescales for the Cretaceous indicates that the Vectis magnetozone may be correlated either with Lower Aptian reverse polarity Chron CM-0 or with Lower Barremian Chron CM-1, with the former being the more likely. An important implication of this interpretation is that the base of the Aptian stage, as defined from Tethyan foraminiferal zones, must lie within the Vectis Formation, at least 25-30 m beneath the top of the Shepherd's Chine Member, rather than at the top of this member as hitherto commonly accepted.
Beds characterized by anomalously high intensities of magnetization, which occur at the base of the Vectis Formation and a few metres above the Barnes High Sandstone in the two sections, are tentatively interpreted as having a volcanogenic origin.
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Kennedy , W.J. 1969. The correlation of the Lower Chalk of south-east England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 80, 459-560.
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King , C. 1981. The stratigraphy of the London Clay and associated deposits. Tertiary Research Special Paper, 6, 1-158. By Chris King.

King, C. 2010. Stratigraphy, depositional environments and palaeogeography of the Colwell Bay Member (Headon Hill Formation, Solent Group, Late Eocene,Hampshire Basin). By Chris King of Park Road, Bridport, Dorset. pp. 247-260 in: Whitaker, J.E. and Hart, M.B., Editors, Micropalaeontology, Sedimentary Environments and Stratigraphy: a Tribute to Denis Curry (1912-2001). The Micropalaeontological Society, Special Publications. Published by the Geological Society for the Micropalaeontological Society. Price 110 pounds, 96 pence at Amazon. 90 pounds at the Geol. Soc. but only 54 pounds to Fellows.
Abstract: Detailed logging of key outcrops and boreholes in mainly nearshore and marginal-marine sediments of the Colwell Bay Member has enabled regional correlations to be established. The Colwell Bay Member comprises a single depositional sequence, based by a combined sequence boundary and transgressive surface and terminated by a second sequence boundary. Regionally developed omission surfaces delimit five parasequence within the Colwell Bay Member. Environmentally controlled mollusc assemblages indicate progressive SW to NE progradation of marginally marine-marine environments within each parasequence. Previous interpretations of the Solent Group as deposited in a narrow embayment of the proto-English Channel are evaluated and rejected. It is interpreted as a remnant of wide area of coastal and near-coastal sediments deposited in a wide embayment of the southern North Sea Basin, now largely removed by mid-Tertiary uplift and erosion.

King, C. 2016. Edited by A.S.Gale and T.L. Barry. A revised correlation of Tertiary rocks in the British Isles and adjacent areas of NW Europe. Book, paperback, 724 pp. List Price 120 pounds sterling. [60 pounds sterling to Fellows of the Geological Society]. Published January 2016.
This Special Report comprehensively describes the stratigraphy and correlation of the Tertiary (Paleogene-Neogene) rocks of NW Europe and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean and is the summation of fifty years of research on Tertiary sediments by Chris King. His book is essential reading for all geologists who deal with Tertiary rocks across NW Europe, including those in the petroleum industry and geotechnical services as well as academic stratigraphers and palaeontologists. Introductory sections on chronostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and other methods of dating and correlation are followed by a regional summary of Tertiary sedimentary basins and their framework and an introduction to Tertiary igneous rocks. The third and largest segment comprises the regional stratigraphic summaries. Regions covered are the North Sea Basin, onshore areas of southern England and the eastern English Channel area, the North Atlantic margins (including non-marine basins in the Irish Sea and elsewhere) and the Paleogene igneous rocks of Scotland.

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Kirkaldy , J.F. 1975. Fossils in Colour. Fourth Edition, Blandford Press, Poole, 223 pp. [Not specifically on the Isle of Wight, but with illustrations of some fossils that occur in the Isle of Wight.]
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Kokeritz , H. 1940. The Placenames of the Isle of Wight. by Helge Kokeritz.
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Loader , R.D. 2001. Priory Bay, Isle of Wight: A review of current knowledge. Pp. 71-76 in: Wenban-Smith, F.F. and Horsfield, R.T. 2001. Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Solent River, Proceedings of the Lithic Studies Society day meeting held at the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton on Saturday 15th January, 2000. Lithic Studies Society Occasional Paper No. 7 (2001). Published by the Lithic Studies Society, c/o British Museum (Quaternary Section), Franks House, 38-46 Orsman Road, London, N1 5QJ. ISBN 0-9513246-3-2, ISSN 0950-9208. 111 pp., paperback. Abstract: Palaeolithic implements were first found on the shore at Priory Bay on the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight in the late nineteenth century. Since then, more than 500 handaxes have been recovered by local collectors, and material has been found in situ in gravel at the top of the cliff, but the site has yet to be properly investigated. [The location is north of Bembridge Harbour and south of Seaview.]
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Lockett , N.J. 1985. A Study of the Water Resources of the South Downs on the Isle of Wight. By Nicholas John Lockett.
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Lott, G.K. 2011. The use of local stone in the buildings of the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122 (2011), pp. 923-932. By Dr. Graham Lott, British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK. Also available online as a pdf download.
The charm of the Isle of Wight, so much appreciated by visitors and the local population alike, is very much a combination of its delightful scenery and unique assemblage of vernacular buildings. These buildings range from isolated farmhouses to elaborate manor houses, castles and churches all constructed using the indigenous stone resources of the island. Today, these stone buildings, many of which date back to medieval times, are increasingly in need of conservation repair to maintain them for future generations. Essential to such conservation work is the safeguarding of the island’s indigenous building stone sources as many of the stones used are unique to the island and no longer quarried. Protecting these stone sources could also provide stone for new building projects which would help to further enhance the character of the island’s towns and villages.
[Note on use of Purbeck Marble in the Isle of Wight - see page 931.]
"Purbeck 'Marble'
In contrast, however, the decorative 'marbles' of the early Cretaceous Purbeck succession can be widely seen across the island. Probably the best display of imported Purbeck Marble is the Norman church at Shalfleet. Here the large supporting columns of the nave roof comprise drums of the marble at least 0.45m across and 0.30 thick. The church also contains a large Purbeck Marble font and a tombstone or leger. Purbeck Marble shaft bases are also found at Arreton church. Other examples of the marble include the large tombstone legers, not badly worn at Godshill church."

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MAFF/Welsh Office . 1993. Strategy for Flood and Coastal Defence in England and Wales. MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, UK) publications.

MAFF. 1994.Coast Protection Survey of England. MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, UK) publications.
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Mannion, P.D. 2008. A rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, England. Cretaceous Research, Vol. 30, Issue 3, June 2009, pp. 521-526.
Abstract:
Rebbachisauridae is one of the most enigmatic and poorly understood clades of sauropod dinosaurs. They are considered to be basal diplodocoids, are known solely from the Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Coniacian), and have only been recovered from Africa, South America, and Europe. As a result of their extreme skeletal reduction, rebbachisaurid material is highly susceptible to destructive taphonomic processes and thus most remains are highly incomplete and fragmentary. Previous remains attributed to rebbachisaurids from England are restricted to isolated teeth. Here a sauropod scapula from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, England, is described. Although incomplete, this scapula possesses both the extreme dorsoventral expansion of the scapular blade and the "hook"-like acromial process that are characteristic of rebbachisaurids. This study has also enabled the recognition of a putative local synapomorphy of Rebbachisauridae, with the highest point on the dorsal margin of the scapula blade equal to or exceeding that of the dorsal margin of the proximal plate. This scapula is one of the oldest known examples of a rebbachisaurid and represents the first postcranial remains of this clade to be described from the United Kingdom. In addition, it provides further support for the presence of rebbachisaurids in the Early-mid Cretaceous of Europe.

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Mantell , G.A. 1854. Geological Excursions Round the Isle of Wight, and Along the Adjacent Coast of Dorsetshire. By Gideon Algernon Mantell. 1854. 3rd ed.
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Martill, D.M. and Naish, D. 2001. Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight. Palaeontological Association, Guides to Fossils: No. 10, Palaeontological Association, London, 433 pp. ISBN 0 901702 72 2. Edited by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, technical editing by David J. Batten, photography by Robert Loveridge, computer generated artwork by Stig Walsh, contributors - Stafford Howse, Stephen Hutt, Andrew R. Milner. Price for paperback in 2001 - £16. Address of editors: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, PO1 3QL, UK. Contents: Acknowledgements, Preface, Chapter 1 Introduction by David M. Martill, Darren Naish and Stephen Hut, Chapter 2 The Geology of the Isle of Wight by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 3 The Global Significance of Isle of Wight Dinosaurs by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 4 Taphonomy and Preservation by David M. Martill, Chapter 5 Ornithopod Dinosaurs by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 6 Boneheaded and Horned Dinosaurs by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 7 Armoured Dinosaurs by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 8 Saurichian Dinosaurs 1: Sauropods by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 9 Saurichian Dinosaurs 2: Theropods by David M. Martill, Stephen Hutt and Darren Naish, Chapter 10 Dinosaur Trace Fossils: Footprints, Coprolites and Gastroliths by David M. Martill and Darren Naish, Chapter 11 Pterosaurs by Stafford C.B. Howse, Andrew Milner and David M. Martill, Chapter 12 An Aid to the Easy Identification of the Commoner Wealden Dinosaur Bones by David M. Martill and Darren Naish. [Cover in colour as shown here; mostly monochome inside but with numerous photographs and other illustrations and with 16 colour plates. A large quantity of useful information and with a glossary and extensive reference list. Very good quality, low-priced, recommended. In National Oceanographic Library, Southampton University, GPAL, Mar. ]

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Martini , E. 1970. Standard Palaeogene calcareous nannoplankton zonation. Nature, London, 226, 560-561.

Martini, E. 1970b. The Upper Eocene Brockenhurst Bed. Geological Magazine, 107, 225-228. Abstract: Calcareous nannoplankton from the Brockenhurst Bed of Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, belongs to zone NP 20 of the standard Palaeogene calcareous nannoplankton zonation, indicating that the stratigraphic position of the Brockenhurst bed is in the uppermost Eocene, and not equivalent to the type Lattorfian (Lower Oligocene).
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McCobb , L.M.E., Duncan, I.J., Jarzembowski, E.A., Stankiewicz, B.A., Wills, M.A. and Briggs, D.E.G. 1998. Taphonomy of the insects from the Insect Bed (Bembridge Marls), late Eocene, Isle of Wight, England. Geological Magazine, 1998, vol. 135, pp. 553-563.
Abstract:
The environmental setting and taphonomy of the insect fauna of the Insect Bed, Bembridge Marls (late Eocene; 36 Ma) of the Isle of Wight is described. Cluster analysis of taxonomic data on the insect fauna of a diversity of modern tropical environments, together with that of the Bembridge Marls, shows that the insects of the latter are characteristic of a primary sub-tropical/tropical forest subject to significant seasonal rainfall. A similar approach indicates that the sample of taxa preserved in the Insect Bed is biased toward insects from leaf litter and lower herbage microhabitats. External ornamentation of the cuticle is preserved on a micron scale, and the individual microfibrils of the procuticle can be distinguished. The insects of the Bembridge Marls are remarkable in preserving cuticle and mineralized internal tissues in a largely uncompacted state. Chemical analysis (py-GC/MS) reveals that the cuticle is composed of an aliphatic polymer, possibly due to polymerization of cuticular waxes during diagenesis. No chitin was detected. The soft tissues, which include sarcolemma and muscle fibres, are preserved through replacement in calcite.

MCINNES - SECTION - McInnes, Dr. Robin, OBE, FICE, FGS, FRSA - Publications by Professor McInnes, of the Centre for the Coastal Environment, Isle of Wight Council, and a Member of Staff of Southampton University. He has published many papers and books regarding coastal landslides and other coastal matters. They are particularly well-illustrated.

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McInnes, R. 2006. Responding to the Risks from Climate Change in Coastal Zones: a Good Practice Guide. By Dr. Robin McInnes, OBE, Centre for the Coastal Environment, Isle of Wight Council, United Kingdom. 84pp. It contains many good photographs.
[from Introduction, p. 7]. The coastal zones of the European Union are subjected continuously to the natural processses of weathering, marine erosion, flooding and landsliding. The impacts of these processes and events vary from one part of the coastline to another and depend upon the geological structure of the coastline, the durability of the rocks exposed on each particular coastal frontage as well as the relative exposure of that frontage to the impacts of waves and tides. Eroded and weathered materials that accumulate at the base of cliffs or on the foreshore are transported from one part of the coast to another by the process of longshore drift. Sedimentary materials may be deposited around the coastline where 'sediment transport pathways' are interrupted by major headlands, estuaries or sediment 'sinks'. Human development activity has imposed itself on this continously evolving and changing coastal environment with coastal defence structures being constructed in an attempt to 'fix' the position of the coastline to protect coastal cities, towns, villages and strategic infrastructure. [continues]

McInnes, R. 2007. The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight: A Guide to Managing Ground Instability. 69 pp. Isle of Wight Council.
Executive Summary. The Isle of Wight Undercliff represents one of the most scenic parts of the Isle of Wight coastline. Its natural beauty arises from its geological history together with the ongoing processes of coastal erosion and landsliding. Extending for a distance of 12km from Blackgang in the west to Bonchurch in the east, and including the town of Ventnor and the villages of Bonchurch, St. Lawrence, Niton, and Blackgang, the Undercliff is the largest urban landscape complex in northwestern Europe. Following on from studies by earlier researchers the former Department of the Environment (DOE) commissioned an investigation of ground movement problems in Ventnor in 1987 in order to assist the preparation of national planning policy guidance for areas affected by ground instability. The results of this study verified many of the issues and misconceptions relating to ground movement and following this the DOE pilot study of central Ventnor was extended by the Council to the east and west to include the whole of the Undercliff.
More recently, these surface investigations and field mapping surveys have been supported by valuable information gained from two phases of ground investigations in 2001 and 2005. These subsurface studies have assisted in confirming the geological structure of the area and have allowed consideration of landslide riskd together with the preparation of improved guidance for management of the Undercliff, taking account of the predicted impact of climate change.
This new guide is intended to provide practical information for all those with an interest in the sustainability of the Undercliff in a clear and readable format. It is very much hoped that the new book will prove to be of real use to those involved with a wide range of interests in the area, including homeowners, who, through good practice, can contribute towards a reduction of the the problem of ground movement. - .Dr. Robin G. McInnes, OBE, Centre for the Coastal Environment, Isle of Wight Council, August, 2007.

McInnes, R. 2008. Coastal Risk Management: A Non-Technical Guide. (Second Edition) Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline (SCOPAC), October 2008. 86pp. For SCOPAC - see: www.scopac.org.uk, or google SCOPAC.
From "Acknowledgements: About this Publication": The Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline (SCOPAC) was established in 1986. SCOPAC is a network of local authority elected members and technical officers together with the Environment Agency and other key organisations interested in coastal risk management along the central south coast of England. The Second Edition of this popular Non-Technical Guide has been commissioned and funded by SCOPAC, with support from the Environment Agency, to assist stakeholders in understanding the technical and administrative arrangements for coastal risk management.
[This quite large, paperback book has an excellent quality, aerial photograph of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight on the front cover. See also the excellent aerial photograph on p. 11: - "The massive debris lobe extending into Watershoot Bay near Blackgang, Isle of Wight, following the Gore Cliff rockfall of July 1928. The failure from the rear scarp blocked the old Undercliff Road between Niton and Blackgang and caused collapse of the coastal slope which had become saturated following several months of rainfall."

McInnes, R. 2014. British Coastal Art; An Illustrated Description: 170-1930. A large beautifully illustrated book. 260 pp. By Robin McInnes, OBE, FICE, FRSA. With a foreword by Maldwin Drummond, OBE, D.Sc., FSA. This is a very large and very impressive book with numerous superb and important paintings.
Extract from the Foreword by Maldwin Drummond, OBE., DSc., FSA.
"The coastline of the British Isles today contains the fingerprints of yesterday's cliffs, sandy beaches and rocky strands. These historical coastal features are illustrated in this book, through a wealth of landscape paintings, watercolour drawings and prints that date from the late eighteenth century; they help to bridge the disciplines of art and science." [to be continued].

McInnes, R.G. and Moore, R. 2014. Living with Ground Instability and Landslides - Understanding the Risks, Empowering Communities, Building Resilience - An International Good Practice Guide. CH2M HILL, Birmingham, 80 pp. By Professor Robin McInnes of Coastal and Geotechnical Services, and Professor Roger Moore, CM2M HILL and the University of Sussex.
Preface: CH2M HILL [also known as CH2M, a major American company] is a recognised world leader in landslide investigation, analysis, management and engineering slope stability. Our team has conducted stability assessments of thousands of slopes and has undertaken detailed design of stabilisation measures for many hundreds of man-made and natural soil slopes, rock slopes and landslides all over the world. Our staff includes several with over thirty years experience and their contribution to the practice and science of landslide management is reflected by well over one hundred technical papers and best practice guides on the subjects. The CH2M HILL Earth Engineering Practice operates globally with core teams located in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Dubai, Poland and Argentina. The company is pleased to be able to support the preparation and dissemination of this new guide. The UNISDR has reviewed and endorsed this guide "based on the importance and quality of the work we would very much like to support the publication" UNISDR, 2014). The guide will now be distributed to stakeholders with an interest in ground instability and landslides across the world. Preface by: Professor Roger Moore, Ph.D., F.G.S, C.Geol., FICE. CH2M HILL Fellow Technology Leader - Earth Engineering, Professor of Applied Geomorphology - University of Sussex - UK Registered Ground Engineering Advisor.
[Extract from Executive Summary] "Slope instability and landslides are natural and man-made hazards affecting communities and infrastructure world-wide. Since 2002, they have accounted for, on average, 10,000 fatalities every year (Petley, 2012), and represent some of the worst disaster to impact society. Some notable events include Aberfan, Wales, in 1966 with 144 fatalities; Yungay, Peru, in 1970 with over 22,000 fatalities; and Gansu, China, in in 2010 with over 1,700 dead or missing. Apart from the loss of life, the direct and indirect economic losses from slope instability and landslides are considerable; published data are scarce and often country-specific, for example Schuster estimated losses of 2 billion US dollars per year in the United States (Schuster et al., 2001) and the Hong Kong Government has spent approximately 80 million US dollars a year on slope and landslide protection since 1977 (Choi et al. 2013)." [continues].
[specific points re: ISLE OF WIGHT]
See page 33. Fig. 3.3. Part of a Planning Guidance Map for the Isle of Wight Undercliff, United Kingdom (image courtesy: Isle of Wight Council). This map is based on geomorphological field survey and the interpretation of 1:2500 scale photograph taken in 1995. In particular it shows in red - "Areas most unsuitable for built development. Local Plan development proposals subject to major constraints." [A landslide risk area, red, is shown descending down-slope from the Undercliff Drive.] "This map is one of a series which provide information about the landslide complex extending from Luccombe to Blackgang. All maps should be used in conjunction with the accompanying report by the Isle of Wight Council based on the 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey maps with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office... continues. .. The Isle of Wight Council is grateful for the expert advice and scientific contributions made by Professor J.N. Hutchinson and Professor D. Brunsden, King's College, University of London.

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Medland, J.C. Shipwrecks of the Isle of Wight. 1986, revised edition 1995. Published by Coach House Publications Ltd., The Coach House, Freshwater, Isle of Wight. ISBN 0 9511498 0 6. 70 pp. Very interesting and well-illustrated publication relevant to the geologist in that it show the cliffs and coastal topography of certain places at various dates in the past.
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Melville , R.V. and Freshney, E.C. 1982. British Regional Geology: The Hampshire Basin and Adjoining Areas. Fourth Edition, Institute of Geological Sciences, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 146p.
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Merrill, J.N. 1988. The Isle of Wight coast path. by John N. Merrill; maps and photographs by John N. Merrill.
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Moore, E, Lee, E.M. and Longman, F. 1991. The impact, causes and management of the landsliding at Luccombe Village, Isle of Wight. Slope Stability Engineering, T. Telford, London, 1991.
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Moreno, J. 2007. Warning after major cliff fall. Local newspaper report. Monday, May 21, 2007. By Jon Moreno - Monday, May 21, 2007. Reference courtesy of Steven Apsey.
[A photograph of Culver Cliff. - Scene after the cliff fall at Whitecliff Bay, Bembridge. Picture courtesy of Sandown and Shanklin Inshore Lifeboat.] Coastguardsd are warning the public to stay away from the cliff edge at Whitecliff Bay following a major cliff fall on Saturday. A massive chunk of chalk cliff at Bembridge collapsed into the sea at around midday. The alarm was raised by a member of the public who saw the landslide. Coastguard rescue officers from Bembridge and an Island coastguard representative went to the scene to assess the extent of the fall and cordon off the area. The coastguard rescue helicopter, India Juliet, was scrambled to make sure no-one was trapped. It is believed onlookers at Whitecliff Bay heard a loud rumble and saw the cliff edge collapse into the sea. The noise was immediately followed by a cloud of white dust. Watch manager Nigel Guyll, of the Solent Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, said: "There were no people trapped by the fall. It would appear we have been very fortunate no people were in the near vicinity at the time. "This is a popular location for anglers and we would stress the enormous importance to the public to stay away from the area. There has been a significant landslip which has left the area very unstable with the strong possibility of further slips."
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Morey , F. 1909. A Guide to the Natural History of the Isle of Wight. County Press, Newport, Isle of Wight, William Wesley, London, 560pp.

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Mortimore, R.N. 1979. The Relationship of Stratigraphy and Tectonofacies to the Physical Properties of the White Chalk of Sussex. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Brighton.

Mortimore, R.N. 1983. The stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Turonian-Campanian in the southern province of England. Zitteliana, vol. 10, pp. 27-41.

Mortimore, R.N. 1986. Stratigraphy of the White Chalk of Sussex. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 97, pp. 97-139.

Mortimore, R.N. 2011. Structural geology of the Upper Cretaceous Chalk Central Mass, Isle of Wight, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 122, pp. 298-331.
Abstract:
Remapping the Chalk of the Central Chalk Mass of the Isle of Wight between Carisbrooke (Newport), Calbourne and Shalcombe, including the Bowcombe Valley, has identified a complex series of tectonic 'rolls' and 'flats' in a region that has been interpreted as a relay ramp between the Needles and the Sandown Faults. A major new WNW trending fault at Cheverton throws the Chalk down by greater than 50 metres to the SW in a 80 - 100m. wide zone of faulting within which some chalk blocks have near vertical dips. The fault location and trend closely follows the edge of the Cranbourne-Fordingbridge High and could also reflect for the first time the expression of the Needles Fault, a major inversion reverse fault. Located along this fault zone deep Quaternary weathering of the Chalk and Quaternary gravel deposits are present. The trend of the Cheverton Fault brings it towards Gotten Leaze where a groundwater pumping station is located and groundwater springs regularly cause flooding on the Brighstone - Calbourne Road. Analysis of the jointing in the Chalk shows that the stratabound fracture patters typical of the Chalk of formations elsewhere in Southern England are present in the Central Mass. In addition, there are numerous small faults along which valleys have formed. Tectonic structure and lithology have a profound influence on the geomorphology and groundwater flow in the Chalk in the Central Mass [of the Isle of Wight].
[By Professor Rory Mortimore, University of Brighton, School of Environment and Technology and of ChalkRock Ltd, Prince Edwards Road, Lewes, Sussex.]
[This is a substantial and very well-illustrated paper with many colour photographs, vertical logs etc.]

Mortimore, R.N. and Pomerol, B. 1991a. Upper Cretaceous tectonic disruptions in a placid Chalk sequence in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 148, pp. 391-404.

Mortimore, R.N. and Pomerol, B. 1991b. Stratigraphy and eustatic implications of trace fossil events in the Cretaceous Chalk of northern Europe. Palaios, vol. 6, pp. 216-231.

Mortimore, R.N. and Pomerol, B. 1997. Upper Cretaceous tectonic phases and End Cretaceous Inversion in the Chalk of the Anglo-Paris Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 108, pp. 231-251.

Mortimore, R.N, Wood, C.J. and Gallois, R.W. 2001. British Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy. Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 23, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Mortimore, R.N., Wood, C.J., Pomerol, B. and Ernst, G. 1998. Dating the phases of the Subhercynian tectonic epoch: Late Cretaceous tectonics and eustatics in the Cretaceous basins of northern Germany compared with the Anglo-Paris Basin. Zentralblatt fur Geologie und Palaeontologie, Tell 1, 1996, parts 11/12, pp. 1349-1401.

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Morton, A. 2016. A Collection of Eocene and Oligocene Fossils; compiled by Alan Morton. Go to:
A Collection of Eocene and Oligocene Fossils, compiled by Alan Morton.
This Eocene and Oligocene Web Site of Alan Morton displays more than 2,000 of the characteristic fossils of the Eocene and Oligocene deposits of England. The photographs are of very high quality and very impressive. The main subsections, which can clicked on to enter, are: London Clay, Bracklesham Beds, Barton Beds, Headon Beds, and Hamstead, Osborne and Bembridge Beds. The particular collection that is the source of the specimen or specimens is cited. The author of the species is given, and with the date. The size is given in millimetres. Varieties are specified, with the name of the author. The Contents list includes: The Collection; Instructions; What's New; Stratigraphy; References; Links; Acknowledgements; Contact Alan Morton. This website has been given the "Golden Trilobite Award" of the Palaeontological Association. It is an extremely useful and quite remarkable website. [More on the Contents. It includes, London Clay Gastropods, London Clay Bivalves, Bracklesham Gastropods, Bracklesham Bivalves, Bracklesham Vertebrates, Bracklesham Other Invertebrates, Barton Bivalves, Barton Gastropods, Barton Vertebrates, Barton Other Invertebrates, Headon Bivalves, Headon Gastropods, Headon Vertebrates, Headon Other Invertebrates, Hamstead, Bembridge, Osborne Bivalves, Hamstead, Bembridge, Osborne Gastropods, Hamstead, Bembridge, Osborne Vertebrates, Hamstead, Bembridge, Osborne, Other Invertebrates. www.dpmap.co.uk.]

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Murray, J.W. and Wright, C.A. 1974. Palaeogene foraminiferida and palaeoecology, Hampshire and Paris Basins and the English Channel. Special Papers in Palaeontology, No. 14, pp. iv + 129. Palaeontological Association, London.

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Murton, J.B. 1998. Near-surface brecciation of chalk, Isle of Thanet, south-east England: a comparison with ice-rich brecciated bedrocks in Canada and Spitsbergen. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. Vol. 7, Issue 2, pp. 153-164. April 1996. By Julian B Murton. Available online as a PDF.
Abstract
Chalk on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, is brecciated to depths of a few metres beneath the ground surface. The brecciation commonly comprises (i) an undeformed layer of angular, platy blocks more or less parallel to the surface overlain by (ii) a deformed layer containing small open folds, typically with vertical axial planes. Above the brecciated chalk is an involuted layer (?0.5 to 2.0 m thick) of chalk diamicton and brickearth.
By analogy with brecciated ice-rich limestones, arkoses and shales in areas of continuous permafrost in Arctic Canada and Spitsbergen, it is suggested that brecciation of the Chalk resulted primarily from ice segregation in perennially frozen bedrock, and repeated segregation formed an ice-rich layer just beneath the former permafrost table. Subsequent thaw consolidation of this layer is thought to have formed an involuted layer through soft-sediment deformation.
Three implications arise from this study: (i) near-surface brecciation of the Chalk probably took place during conditions of continuous permafrost; (ii) the growth and thaw of the ice-rich layer in chalk was probably an important element in the geomorphological evolution of the English Chalklands, heaving and brecciating the Chalk during permafrost conditions, and deforming or redepositing the overburden during periods of active-layer deepening; and (iii) repeated ice segregation near the top of permafrost may have brecciated other bedrocks in the British Isles.
[This paper is relevant to the ice-brecciation of the Chalk at Freshwater Bay.]

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Naish, D., Martill, M., Cooper, D. and Stevens, K.A. 2004. Europe's largest dinosaur? A giant brachiosaurid cervical vertebra from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England. Cretaceous Research, 25, 787-795. By Darren Naish, David M. Martill, David Cooper and Kent A. Stevens. Abstract: A single brachiosaurid sauropod cervical vertebra from the Wessex Formation (Barremian, Early Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight is remarkable for its size. With a partial centrum length (i.e., excluding evidence of the anterior condyle) of 745 mm it represents the largest sauropod cervical reported from Europe and is close in size to cervical vertebrae of the giant brachiosaurid Brachiosaurus brancai from Late Jurassic Tanzania. The complete animal probably exceeded 20 m in total length. The specimen shares important morphological characters with Sauroposeidon proteles from Early Cretaceous USA, including extensive lateral fossae and well-developed posterior centroparapophyseal laminae, indicating that it is part of a Brachiosaurus–Sauroposeidon clade, and in some characters is intermediate between the two. Owing to the complexities of Isle of Wight sauropod taxonomy the specimen is not attributed to a named taxon.
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Nel, A. and Jarzembowski, E.A. 1999. Fossil damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta : Odonata) from the late Upper Eocene of southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. 110, pp. 193-201. [Abstract: Fossil dragonflies (sensu lato) from the Bembridge Marls are discussed and five additional species are described: Lestes aff. regina Theobald, 1937 (Zygoptera: Lestidae); two new coenagrionoids; a corduliid and an enigmatic form of uncertain affinity. The palaeoenvironmental implications are considered.]
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Newell, A.J. and Evans, D.J. 2011. Timing of basin inversion on the Isle of Wight: new evidence from geophysical log correlation, seismic sections and lateral facies change in the Headon Hill Formation. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London. vol. 122 (2011), pp. 868-882. By Andrew J. Newell. and David J. Evans, of the British Geological Survey,
Abstract:
Paleogene thickness patterns across the Bouldnor Syncline and Porchfield Anticline in the northwestern Isle of Wight have been deduced using outcrop information, borehole correlation, gamma-ray logs and seismic reflection data. The thickness patterns provide evidence for an early phase of basin inversion at around the Bartonian-Priabonian boundary (Late Eocene) in the Isle of Wight. Paleogene strata older than the Becton Sand Formation show little evidence for significant lateral changes in thickness, even though the boreholes are located at various structural positions around the Bouldnor Syncline and Porchfield Anticline. In contrast, both seismic reflection and borehole data provide evidence for marked thinning of Paleogene strata onto the Porchfield Anticline at around the level of the Becton Sand Formation and basal Headon Hill Formation (Totland Bay Member) which probably results from an episode of basin inversion and growth folding. The inversion event was relatively minor and short-lived and continues to point toward the main phase of the basin inversion being late Oligocene or younger. However, it still has important implications for understanding structural control on sedimentation patterns in the Headon Hill Formation, with the migration of sandy channelised depositional systems into the axis of the Bouldnor Syncline, and the sequence stratigraphic significance of the important Bartonian-Priabonian regression event, which may related to tectonics rather than global sea-level change.

Paper Outline
1. Introduction. 2. Structural framework of the IOW. 3. Existing interpretations on the timing of basin inversion. 4. Data sources. 5. Gamma-ray log; stratigraphy and evidence for thickness change in Paleogene strata. 6. Reading Formation. 7. The London Clay (lower clay-rich part). 8. London Clay (upper sand-rich part) to base Marsh Farm Formation. 9. Marsh Farm Formation. 10. Selsey Sand Formation. 11. Barton Clay Formation. 12. Becton Sand Formation. 13. Headon Hill Formation. 14. Bembridge Limestone. 15. Seismic stratigraphy and evidence for thickness change in Paleogene strata. 16. Paleogene thickness change and timing of basin inversion. 17. Conclusion. Acknowledgements. References.

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Newton, R.B. 1891. Systematic List of the F.E. Edwards Collection of British Oligocene and Eocene Mollusca in the British Museum (Natural History). British Museum (Natural History), London.
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Norman, M.W. 1887. A Popular Guide to the Geology of the Isle of Wight; with a note on its relation to that of the Isle of Purbeck. Compiled and arranged from existing works, with notes and observations by Mark William Norman. Illustrated by a map, sections, and figures of some of the fossils. Ventnor: Published for the Author at Knight's Library, 147 and 149, High Street, Ventnor. Six shillings net. Printed by G. Henry Brittain, steam printer, 152, High Street Ventnor. 240pp.
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North Sea Sun Oil Company Ltd. 1983. Proposals for drilling an exploratory borehole at Bottom Copse, in the vicinity of Medina Wharf, Cowes, Isle of Wight. North Sea Sun Oil Company Ltd., John R. Lawrence Partners Ltd. 1983. [Southampton University, Hartley Library H.F.C.q TN 874.G7 / 55008499]
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Ordnance Survey, 1981. The old series Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales. Vol. III: Southcentral England (Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and parts of Berkshire, Dorset, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire). 1981. [Southampton University, Cope Collection, Cope q 90.5181017 / 82008365]
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Owen, R. and Bell, T. 1849-1858. Monograph of the Fossil Reptilia of the London Clay and of the Bracklesham and other Tertiary Beds. Palaeontographical Society Monograph.
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Pallot, J.M. 1961. Plant Microfossils from the Oligocene of the Isle of Wight. Unpublished thesis, University of London, London, 206 pp.

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PLINT
[now - Dr Guy Plint, (Professor Guy Plint) Department of Earth Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. He has written key papers on the Eocene sediments of the Hampshire Basin, southern England, including Bournemouth, New Forest, Isle of Wight, English Channel Hampshire-Dieppe Basin etc.]

Plint, A. G. 1980. Sedimentary Studies in the Middle Eocene of the Hampshire Basin. Unpublished DPhil Thesis, University of Oxford (3 volumes).

Plint, A.G. 1982. Eocene sedimentation and tectonics in the Hampshire Basin. Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 139, pp. 249-254.
Abstract
Sedimentary evidence in the Eocene (Cuisian-Lutetian) of the Hampshire Basin indicates important intra-Eocene movement on the Isle of Wight and Purbeck Monoclines, and on the Ridgeway Fault. Evidence for syn-depositional movement includes Jurassic and Cretaceous chert and flint pebbles in the Eocene, the distribution of which suggests derivation from both E and W. At Whitecliff Bay, two units of cross-bedded sand have northward-directed palaeocurrents and may have been deposited as localized fans of debris reworked from earlier Tertiary sediments on the upwarped side of the monocline. Three units of laminated muds are intercalated with marine sediments in the eastern part of the basin and suggest periods of low salinity, tideless conditions. These episodes are attributed to the periodic isolation of the Hampshire Basin from the fully marine Dieppe Basin to the SE. This may have been the result of intermittent movement on a tectonic barrier to the SE of Selsey. The onset of uplift and subsequent exposure of the Chalk along the southern margin of the basin proceeded unevenly from ?early Cuisian to late Lutetian times. Movement on the Portsdown Anticline probably occurred over a similar period. The Isle of Wight and Purbeck Monoclines are the superficial expressions of faults in the Palaeozoic basement, and not the result of lateral 'Alpine' pressures. A minor series of syn-depositional folds trend NW-SE across the basin and may reflect a component of sinistral strike-slip on basement faults. [This key paper has a good, speculative palaeogeographic map showing sediment sources. It has references to Curry, Daley and Edwards, Gale etc.] [The paper is also also relevant to Creechbarrow Hill and Creechbarrow Limestone, Dorset, the underlying sediments of which contain unabraded or sub-rounded flint nodules, weighing up to 30lb or 136kg - Huddleston 1903. Re Creechbarrow see also the work of Hooker on vertebrates.]

Plint , A.G. 1983. Facies, environments and sedimentary cycles in the Middle Eocene, Bracklesham Formation of the Hampshire Basin: evidence for global sea-level changes? Sedimentology, 30, 625-653.
Abstract:
The Bracklesham Formation is of Middle Eocene age and occurs throughout the Hampshire Basin of southern England. The basin is elongated east-west and filled with Lower Tertiary sediments. Its southern margin is marked by either large, northward-facing monoclines, or faults, both of which underwent differential movement, with uplift of the southern side throughout the Middle Eocene. The Bracklesham Formation, which is up to 240 m thick, shows pronounced lateral facies changes with dominantly marine sediments in the east passing to alluvial sediments in the west. Four principal sedimentary environments: marine, lagoonal, estuarine and alluvial are distinguished. Marine sediments comprise six facies including offshore silty clays and glauconitic silty sands, beach and aeolian dune sands, and flint conglomerates formed on pebble beaches. Offshore sediments predominate in the eastern part of the basin, as far west as Alum Bay [Isle of Wight], where they are replaced by nearshore sediments. Lagoonal sediments comprise four facies and formed in back-barrier lagoons, coastal marshes and, on occasions, were deposited over much of the basin during periods of low salinity and restricted tidal motion. Five estuarine facies represent tidal channels, channel mouth-bars and abandoned channels. These sediments suggest that much of the Bracklesham Formation was deposited under micro- to meso-tidal conditions. Alluvial sediments dominate the formation to the west of Alum Bay. They comprise coarse to fine sands deposited on the point-bars of meandering rivers, interbedded with thick sequences of laminated interchannel mudstones, deposited in marshes, swamps and lakes. Extensive layers of ball clay were periodically deposited in a lake occupying much of the alluvial basin. In alluvial areas, fault movement exposed Mesozoic rocks along the southern margin of the basin, the erosion of which generated fault-scarp alluvial fan gravels. Locally, pisolitic limestone formed in pools fed by springs emerging at the faulted Chalk-Tertiary contact. In marine areas, flint pebbles were eroded from coastal exposures of chalk and accumulated on pebble beaches and in estuaries. From other evidence it is suggested that older Tertiary sediments were also reworked. The Bracklesham Formation is strongly cyclic and was deposited during five marine transgressions, the effects of which can be recognized throughout the basin in both marine and alluvial areas. Each of the five transgressive cycles is a few tens of metres thick and contains little evidence of intervening major regression. The cycles are thought to represent small-scale eustatic sea-level rises ('paracycles,) superimposed upon a major transgressive 'cycle' that began at the base of the Bracklesham Formation, following a major regression, and was terminated, at the top of the Barton Formation by another major regression. This major cycle can be recognized world-wide and may reflect a period of rapid northward extension of the mid-Atlantic ridge.

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Plint, A.G. 1988. Global eustasy and the Eocene sequence in the Hampshire Basin, England. Basin Research, vol. 1, pp. 11-22.
Abstract:
Recent improvements in biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic control in the Eocene sediments of the Hampshire Basin prompted direct comparison of depositional sequences in outcrop with those predicted by the latest and most detailed Exxon coastal onlap chart. This study focused on the upper two cycles of the London Clay Formation, the Bracklesham Group and the Barton Formation, comprising nine depositional sequences, each a few 10s of metres thick. The sediments were divided into three basic facies associations: marine, estuarine and alluvial. Depositional sequences invariably rest on a regional erosion surface cut during sea-level lowstand. The lower part of each sequence consists typically of 'estuarine' sediments (including tidal channel, lagoon, tidal flat and marsh deposits), laid down under brackish conditions during the early stages of sea-level rise. Estuarine deposits are typically erosively overlain by marine shoreface or shelf deposits; the eroded, pebble-strewn contact marks the passage of the marine shoreface. Marine deposits may be erosively overlain by alluvial sediments that record coastal progradation in response to stable or slowly falling sea level. Magnetostratigraphy, in the form of truncated or absent magnetozones provides supporting evidence for significant erosion during periods of lowstand. Every sequence can be matched to the Exxon coastal onlap chart, with one exception, which, on biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic evidence has been shown to be absent from the Hampshire Basin. The Exxon chart suggests that in this exceptional instance, coastal onlap was insufficient to effect marine deposition in the Hampshire Basin.

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Pontee, N.I. 2004. Saltmarsh loss and maintenance dredging in estuaries [re Lymington and Yarmouth estuaries]. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Maritime Engineering, 157, June 2004, Issue MA2, pp. 71-82, paper 13629. By Nigel I. Pontee, Senior Scientist, Halcrow Group Ltd, Swindon, UK.
Abstract: The removal of sediment from estuaries by maintenance dredging has the potential to be detrimental to habitats such as saltmarshes. This paper examines the case for environmental reparation with respect to maintenance dredging activities in two estuaries within the western Solent in England. These two examples [Lymington, Hampshire, and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, estuaries] suggest that the detrimental impacts of maintenance dredging and requirement for beneficial use schemes may have been overstated in some areas of the UK. The examples also demonstrate that beneficial use schemes themselves can potentially have deleterious impacts on estuary systems and therefore should not be viewed as a universal panacea for estuary management.
Example of text from Introduction:
"Most parts of the UK coastline are experiencing a rise in relative sea level of several millimetres per year. The natural consequence of this rise is the readjustment of the coast by the erosion, transport and deposition of sediment. According to Bird and May the majority of the UK coastline is eroding. On the south coast of England, research has shown that over 60% of the shoreline is undergoing a landward retreat of the low water mark." .. continues
[The history of development of the Yar Estuary, Isle of Wight, from 1610 to post 1970 is given in a table on page 76]

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Prestwich, J. 1846. On the Tertiary or Supracretaceous formations of the Isle of Wight etc. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 2, 255-259. By Joseph Prestwich, with a plate. [contains a classic description of the Alum Bay cliff section.]

Prestwich, J. 1857. On the correlation of the Eocene Tertiaries of England, France and Belgium. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 13, pp. 105, 115, 118-126, 131.
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Purdy, I. 1869. Laurie's chart of the Isle of Wight: with the adjacent coast including Selsea, Portsmouth, Southampton, Lymington etc. Drawn from the survey by Capt. Sheringham by Isaac Purdy. [Southampton University, Cope Collection, Cope 43.11 / 52114438]

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Quayle, W.J. 1987. English Eocene crustacea (lobsters and stomatopods). Palaeontology, 30, 581-612. Abstract: The Eocene lobsters of the London Clay, Bracklesham and Barton Beds are revised. Nine species of lobster are represented, three new Homarus morrisi, Hoploparia wardi and H. victoriae, belonging to six genera. [continues.]

Quayle, W.J. and Collins, J.S.H. 1981. New Eocene crabs from the Hampshire Basin. Palaeontology, 24, 733-758. Abstract: Eocene crabs are described from the London Clay of Highgate and Sussex; the Elmore Formation, Bracklesham Group of Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire; the Barton Beds of Christchurch Bay and Alum Bay, Isle of Wight; and the Middle Headon Beds of Colwell Bay, Isle of Wight. Twenty species are represented, sixteen new, belonging to fifteen genera, one of them new. The new taxa are: Dromilites simplex sp. nov .... [continues with list of species].
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Quayle, W. J. 1987. English Eocene Crustacea (Lobsters and stomatopod). Palaeontology, 30, 581612.

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Radley, J. D. . Derived fossils in the southern English Wealden (non-marine early Cretaceous): a review. Cretaceous Research, vol. 26, issue 4, pp. 657-664. By Dr. Jonathon D. Radley, Warwickshire Museum.
Abstract:
Derived fossils occur in all the principal facies associations of the southern English Wealden succession (non-marine early Cretaceous). They confirm the presence of Palaeozoic and early–mid Mesozoic source massifs surrounding the Weald and Wessex depocentres, fringed by scarps and intrabasinal highs of Jurassic strata. The derived macrofossil material is largely siliceous and phosphatic. It gains abundance in lake strandline gravels but also occurs as scattered reptilian gastroliths and among lagoonal shell concentrations. Calcareous fossils are abundant at one site, reflecting proximity to source. Jurassic dinoflagellate cysts are widespread among finer-grained facies.

Radley , J.D. 1994. Field Meeting, 24-5 April, 1993 - The Lower Cretaceous of the Isle-of-Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 105, 145-152. A general field introduction to the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Lower Cretaceous Wealden and Lower Greensand Groups was provided, with special emphasis on Wealden vertebrate localities. Recently discovered material from these localities was made available at the Museum of Isle of Wight Geology. An unrecorded insect fauna was recovered from the Vectis Formation of the Wealden Group during the field meeting and is briefly documented.

Radley, J. D. 2009. Archaic-style shell concentrations in brackish-water settings: Lower Cretaceous (Wealden) examples from southern England. Cretaceous Research, vol. 30, Issue 3, June 2009, pp. 710-719.
Abstract:
Shell pavements, shelly gutter and scour fills, and coquinas are described from brackish-water mudrock facies of the southern English Lower Cretaceous (Wealden) successions. These shell concentrations are consistently thin, reflecting small shell sizes, conservative molluscan life-modes, high net deposition and low levels of bioturbation in lacustrine and lagoonal environments. In biostratinomic terms the shell concentrations are of archaic aspect and similar to other occurrences within Mesozoic mudrock formations ascribed to ‘stressed’, brackish-water settings. As such, Wealden mud-dominated brackish-water settings are identified as a biostratinomic ‘window’ for generation and preservation of archaic-style shell concentrations.

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Ramboll, 2013. [re Landslide prospects, Ventnor Undercliff area] Isle of Wight Highways PFI. Undercliff Site 10, Caravan Park, Geotechnical Report. October, 2013. Revision A, 09.10.13. Made by Ross Adams, Checked by Andy Rose, Approved by Stephen West. Report, ref. no. 61030594/10/R/001. With Appendix A: Geology and Groundwater, monitoring records. Appendix B: Geotechnical Risk Register. Appendix C. Drawings. [Available online with other related websites - Google Search: Ramboll Wight Undercliff etc. See also: Ramboll Report on Undercliff Drive Isle of Wight. [See also various press reports, mainly of about 2014. There is much literature, press information, public discussion etc. on this topic, so it does not seem at all to be a confidential matter, although some details might not be widely known to the public.]
"Ramboll has been commissioned by Island Roads for the detailed design of the geological red risk istes identified in the the Isle of Wight Highways PFI Scheme. This document is a Geotechnical Design Report which also incorporates the requirements of a Strengthened Earthworks Appraisal Form based on the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges Volume 4, Section 1, HD 22/08 Managing Geotechnical Risk. This document has been prepared for Site 10, Caravan Park, Undercliff Drive...."
"1.3. Nature of Scheme Element. Site 10 is located at National Grid Reference 4522 0761 immediately adjacent to and west of the Caravan Park along Undercliff Drive (Figure 1). The site is 301 metres long and begins just to the west of the traffic lights and extends 115 metres east of the Caravan Park. The existing road has been reduced to single carriageway following a major land slippage event in 2001. [Figure 1 - Location of Site 10, a small map.] The existing carriageway is constructed across an active landslide, and large tension cracks have developed. the westbound carriageway has dropped as the landslide has progressed downslope towards the sea. The design prseented in this report is intended to prevent the development of further cracking in the carriageway and to enable the continuing safe passage of traffic on both carriageways. The design comprises ground anchors to be installed from chainage 57 to chainage 170 with a continuous anchor beam as a reaction block, and geogrids to stabilise the local face of the scarp.
A tension crack has developed in the westbound lane, along with a smaller less well developed cracks in the eastbound lane close to the caravan park. The tension crack has been sealed, but has subsequently re-opened due to creep movement of the existing landslide complex. Adjacent land also shows signs of localised depression and differential movement. The westbound carriageway is currently close to traffic, with a traffic light control in place." [The road was later completely closed, with a diversion up the Chalk hill].

So much has already been published about the ancient trade with Britain for tin, and the accounts given by Diodorus Siculus and Caesar have so often been discussed, that it would appear as if no further evidence were obtainable. It has seemed also as if there were unfortunate contradictions between the classical authorities, which made their statements untrustworthy, or at any rate too vague and too little exact to be of value.

Perhaps approaching the subject from a different side, I may be able to show that the ancient writers can be literally depended on, and that their descriptions are thoroughly in keeping with each other, and with what we now know to have been the physical condition of Britain at and before the date at which they wrote.

The accounts given by ancient writers of the trade with Britain will be found excellently summarised by Professor W. Ridgeway in his "Greek Trade-Routes to Britain." It is unnecessary to go over this ground again, and I need only refer to the supposed discordance between the different writers, and between .them and what it was supposed that we knew of the physical geography of Britain 1,900 years and more ago.

The difficulties that have always been felt in reconciling the records were practically these: Mictis, Ictis, and Vectis seem to refer to the same island near Britain; and Mictis and Ictis are distinctly recorded as shipping places for the tin, by. Timaeus (flor. 350-326 B.C.), and by Diodorus Siculus, perhaps following

Posidonius (about 90 B.C.). Vectis is the name of the Isle of Wight in Roman times. But Pliny, quoting Timaeus, says" that the island of Mictis, in which the tin is produced, is distant inwards from Britain six days' voyage, and that the Britons sail to it in vessels made of wicker-work covered with 'hide'." Six days' coasting from the mouth of the Exe would amply suffice to bring boats to the Isle of Wight, for the prevailing summer wind is favourable. The Isle of Wight and . more easterly districts of the south of England were politically part of Gaul, perhaps even at that early date; the tin-producing" Britain" was' apparently outside the dominion of the Belgae, and must have been Devon and Cornwall. A . coasting trade of this sort would go direct to the Isle of Wight side of the Solent, and therefore there is no mention of the causeway alluded to by Diodorus, writing at a later date. The account given by Diodorus Siculus is different, and here comes in the . principal difficulty which I desire to deal with. I quote from Professor Ridgeway's translation:

The inhabitants of that part of Britain which is called Belerion are very fond of strangers, and, from their intercourse with foreign merchants, are civilised in their manner of life. They prepare the tin, working very carefully the earth in which it is produced. The ground is rocky, but it contains earthy veins, the produce of which is ground down, sme1ted, and purified. They beat the metal into masses, shaped like astragali, and carry it to a certain island lying off Britain called Ictis. During the ebb of the tide the intervening space is left dry, and they carry over into this island the tin in abundance in their waggons. Now there is a peculiar phenomenon connected with the neighbouring islands, I mean those that lie between Europe and Britain; for at the flood-tide the intervening passage is overflowed, and they seem like islands; but a large space is left dry at the ebb, and then they seem to be like peninsulas. Here, then, the merchants buy the tin from the natives and carry it over to Gaul; and after travelling overland for about thirty days, they finally bring their loads on horses to the mouth of the Rhone.

In this description the talk is of waggons, and apparently of an overland route, but nothing is said about the course taken before the Solent is reached. The author seems also to know nothing of the mining or metallurgy of tin. He speaks of beating the metal into masses (tin can only be cast), which suggests also - that the people from whom the information was obtained were the shippers, but not the producers of the tin. The account of the mines is very vague, and might apply either to shallow working on the decayed upper part of the lodes ("gossans") or to stream-works. There is no mention of the method of mining, nor of the washing which is so essential a part of the process in either case. Can it be that the inhabitants of Belerion neither desired nor chose to give information as to the country beyond, from they obtained the tin? It is curious that in this account there should be no hint as to the route taken to Ictis, except the causeway, which everybody must have known, including the foreign merchants.

The generalisation about other islands can be disregarded. The author, I believe, was quite right as to the only one on the trade route he was describing, but there is nothing to show that he was acquainted with any others, though certain of the Scilly Islands also would answer to his description, as far as being alternately islands and peninsulas. At the date he wrote St. Michael's Mount must have been an isolated rock rising out of a swampy wood.

An incidental remark by Caesar seems at first sight to add to the confusion, for he speaks of tin coming from the interior, which would scarcely be his description if he were referring to a coasting trade with Devon and Cornwall. He is right, I think, for he refers to the British part of the trade-route, perhaps implied but not described by Diodorus Siculus, who mentions only the causeway to Ictis and the route through Gaul. The British part also was an overland route, only reaching the coast at the Solent. Caesar was not speaking of the position of the mines, but of the metallic tin as brought to the port for shipping, and this tin came from inland. There is no evidence that the tin mines up to Caesar's time were in the hands of strangers, though the export trade apparently was so, and had been for a considerable period.

In the foregoing comments on the ancient descriptions it is assumed that Mictis and Ictis were the same island as Vectis, for only thus can the perfect consistency of the accounts be brought out. It now remains to deal with the evidence yielded by geology and physical geography, which together show that at the date we are dealing with there was no other spot which could answer to the description, and that then, though not now, the Isle of Wight fully answered to the peculiar sketch given by Diodorus Siculus.

It fell to my lot some years ago to revise the geological map of the northern part of the Isle of Wight for the Geological Survey, and later on I had to map the whole of the adjacent parts of the mainland. Though greatly interested in the changes which this coast has undergone, and is still undergoing, I did not immediately see the bearing of my work on the descriptions given by Caesar and by Diodorus Siculus of the tin trade in Britain and of the peninsula Ictis. But all the while I had in my hands the evidence that seemed to make it clear that when these authors wrote Vectis must have corresponded to the description given of Ictis.

If the geological map is studied it will be seen that the strata in the part of the Isle of Wight immediately east of Yarmouth form a basin or syncline, at the bottom of which lies the Bembridge Limestone, a rock which can form extensive pavement-like ledges on the foreshore. This basin, however, is now incomplete, the Solent having cut away its western lip, leaving a ragged ledge of limestone at Hampstead and another outcrop near Yarmouth. It may be objected that there is no visible ledge of rock on the foreshore at Yarmouth, and this is the case at present. The limestone has, however, an extensive outcrop near Thorley Street; but it happens to strike the coast just where the River Yar has cut a deep channel to below sea-level, thus destroying the visible continuity of the ledge. But if we follow the line of strike across the Yar the limestone reappears in Black Rock, a rock now only visible at low tide. Black Rock, however, is, I believe, the last remnant of the old causeway, in use at the time when Diodorus wrote.

[Reid's structural interpretation is reasonable. However, the Pennington section testifies against the causeway theory. A causeway model incorporating the Pennington section implies a very late, minus 4m regression.]

It is obvious that the limestones of Black Rock and Hampstead Ledge are the same, and that the visible outcrops must once have swept round northward and southward near Yarmouth to close in the basin, for neither the limestone nor the overlying clays continue as far as the present coast-line of the mainland. On completing the geological map, as it would appear if the limestone still rose to the sea-level, we find, however, that the loop of rocky ledges must have reached the mainland coast of 2,000 years ago, though now it does not do so.

The way this conclusion was arrived at is as follows: From the known inclination of the strata the broken lip of the basin was completed and the approximate. position of the limestone at the sea-level was laid down on the geological map. This brought the loop of rock half-way across the Solent. Next, the rapidly-wasting coast-line was restored to its calculated position of 1,900 years ago, and it was found possible to reconstruct it with a fair approximation to the truth; at any rate the probable error is not of such a magnitude as seriously to affect our argument. The known rate of loss just outside the Solent on the mainland is approximately three feet per annum, which would give a strip something over a mile in breadth destroyed in 1,900 years. Accepting the loss for the last few centuries as giving a fair average, I have reconstructed the coast-line outside the Solent, for a date about the beginning of our era (see map, fig. 1).

The next step is more difficult. It is obvious that at the present day a shingle-spit, at the end of which lies Hurst Castle, greatly protects the shores of the Solent from the heavy swell driven in by the west wind, and that, though the less protected Isle of Wight shore is wasting rapidly, little or no change is now taking place on the mainland opposite; in fact under the lee of Hurst Castle mud flats are growing. The spit of shingle on which Hurst Castle stands has not, however, been long there. Like the similar accumulation of beach at Dungeness, it is of rapid and comparatively modern growth, having only begun to form after the subsidences of the land which carried the "submerged forests" beneath the sea-level. The last of these subsidences, since which the relative level of sea and land in the south of England appears to have remained unchanged, happened in late Neolithic times. I get a date for it of about 1500 B.C., or a few centuries earlier, from rough calculations as to loss of land, or rate of accumulation of mudflats and sand-dunes, in different parts of England. Before this beach of Hurst Castle had extended seaward, the rate of loss on the mainland just inside the Solent must have been nearly as rapid as that outside; after the beach grew, the loss ceased.

As long, however, as part of that ledge of limestone remained intact, its effect must have been to turn the strong tidal currents northward and make them impinge against the coast of the mainland, thus causing rapid waste. At the same time the tidal scour would prevent the accumulation of the Hurst Castle bar, which would not begin to accumulate till the ledges were cut away and the channel had shifted southward.

Notwithstanding all these apparent complications, which seem to render so uncertain the date of the isolation of the Isle of Wight, the dominant factor is a very simple one. The rate of destruction of the isthmus depends on the general rate of loss of the coast-line to the west, and this is a known quantity. The coastline for the beginning of our era has been restored, and except for a rocky causeway there was then no connection between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. Let us add another strip of land, representing the loss for six more centuries, and instead of a more rocky causeway we find a wide low isthmus, representing an old water-parting in the ancient Valley of the Solent, as I will now attempt to show.

The view above expressed is very different from that of other writers who have suggested that when Diodorus wrote the Isle of Wight as still joined to the mainland. They postulate a ford between Stone and Gurnard Bay. But this, for geological reasons, is, I think, quite impossible. Even if the water were sufficiently shoal, I am sure that nowhere except near Yarmouth would it be possible to take carts across. The bottom, from Hurst Castle to Spithead, except at the one causeway, would everywhere be soft clay or loose sand.

The objection will probably be made that long before the Roman period the Isle of Wight must have become an island, for between it and the mainland must have run the deep channel of the Solent, which is often, though I think wrongly, considered to be the outlet through which the old rivers draining into Southampton Water once discharged. This idea involves an entire misapprehension of the course. of the ancient River Solent, once one of the largest rivers of Britain. As it involves also the possibility of any such continuous rocky naturally paved causeway as I describe, it will be necessary to go back to a still earlier period, and trace step by step what is known of the history of this old river.

In the course of the Geological Survey of the Hampshire Basin, a fairly complete history of this river has been worked out; but as far back as 1862 it was pointed out by the Rev. Fox that the Solent was nothing but a continuation of the ancient valley of the Frome, which had been breached laterally by the sea between the Needles and the Isle of Purbeck. The same view was taken by Sir John Evans in 1874 and by Mr. Strahan and myself in 1889, after the completion of the new geological map of the Isle.

In later Memoirs of the Geological Survey, and in the geological article in the Victoria County History of Hampshire, I have given further details of this old river system, and fixed more exactly the date of the changes; but the only one of these Memoirs that need here be referred to is that containing a restoration of the whole river system, here copied. This map (fig. 2) may be taken as our starting point, as it shows the physical geography of this part of England about the date when man perhaps first appeared in Britain.

When the sea breached the wall of Chalk Downs which once stretched continuously from the Needles to the Purbeck Hills, it cut off the whole of the head-waters of the Solent, diverting them directly into the sea. The rest of the river continued to flow eastward, down the slope of the valley; but some of the tributaries nearest to the new gap would tend to take the shortest course to the sea, so that there would be two streams in the valley of the Solent, flowing in opposite directions from a low watershed or divide. Where would this divide be? At first sight it looks as if there would be a steady movement of the divide eastward as the gap widened; but, taking into account the nature of the rocks and their dips, I think that this would not be the case. The position of the divide would soon be fixed, and it would remain practically unaltered till it was finally broken through by the sea on either side.

In reconstructing the old valley, we must remember that when the breach was made into its side the river flowed at a higher level than the present Solent. We therefore need not expect to find a deep and very ancient channel on the valley to the east. The deepening of the present Solent seems to have taken place at a much later period, probably in the main when the land stood 50 feet higher than now and the lowest of the" submerged forests" (probably also Neolithic) was growing. The position of the divide being already fixed at that period, subaerial denudation would not much affect it, though it might, probably would, greatly deepen the valley on either side.

This brings us back to the question: What fixed the position of the divide? There is only one continuous rock-bed amid the strata which crop out along this valley between the Avon and the Solent, and this bed is the Bembridge Limestone. Though not a very hard rock, it is much harder than anything above and below. A short distance south-east of Yarmouth it forms an actual escarpment and bold feature for two or three miles. It was, I believe, the continuation of this escarpment across the valley that probably fixed the limit of the gradual "capture" of successive portions of the main valley by streams flowing westward instead of eastward. They cut back to this scarp, but no further, the dip slope of the limestone fixed the direction of the flow of the water.

The escarpment of the limestone must once have been further west than now; but only a short distance during the periods we are dealing with. The dips show that the basin must end fairly abruptly, and the limestone scarp must always have been east of the Avon Water, which has its outlet close to Hurst Castle. Thus for a long period the water-parting across the Solent Valley was formed by the escarpment of the Bembridge Limestone, and it lay between the Avon Water and the Lymington River.

It has already been pointed out that the River Yar cuts a deep and wide channel through the limestone at Yarmouth. As its waters turned eastward on entering~ the main valley, it must also have breached the north-eastern lip. of the basin in that direction, so that no continuous causeway would have connected Hampstead Ledge with the mainland. This brings us back to the point that at one spot only is it possible for a continuous land-connection to be found; on each side of it the main valley would be either occupied by sea or by streams of sufficient magnitude to be troublesome.

We thus see that from the western side of the Yar a natural stone causeway extended to the mainland opposite Pennington marshes (fig. l), but that this causeway at the time Diodorus wrote was already being lowered by the sea to such an extent. that it was only available at low tide. As soon as the sea once got round the northern edge of the rocky ledge, the tidal scour would be so great as rapidly to undermine it, and to widen and deepen the gap, rendering the causeway useless. When this took place the crossing would naturally be moved to a ferry further east and out of reach of the heavy swell let in through the new gap. For various reasons the neighbourhood of Stone Point seems to be the most probable locality for this later crossing.

The landing-place on the mainland from the causeway must have lain between the Avon Water and the Lym. Almost certainly it would have been near Woodside Farm, for there only does the firm gravel come right down to the water's edge. From this point the road for wheeled vehicles, or probably for pack-horses, is obvious; it must run across the firm open ground and avoid the oak forests and marshes. It must strike inland past Pennington, Durns Town, Burley, and cross the Avon at Ringwood. From this point there seem to be two routes across the downs, both meeting at Blandford. Beyond Blandford the road probably passes under Hod Hill, where it crosses the Stour, and so on probably by Cerne Abbas, Maiden Newton, Crewkerne, Chard, and the Black Down Hills to Dartmoor and Cornwall. This route I suggest as the "line of least resistance", which a trade route must be. Between the Isle of Wight and Maiden Newton it seems the obvious road; west or the latter place the country becomes more difficult, and I do not yet know it well enough to trace the road.

The question will perhaps be asked, why did the merchants take the trouble to carry the tin across to the Isle of Wight, when according to your own map there were abundant harbours on the mainland? These harbours, however, are all more or less exposed to the prevalent south-west wind, and are sheltered by no high land. Besides this, the harbours outside the Solent were probably always rendered dangerous by bars of sand and shingle. On the south side of the Solent, on the other hand, there existed an ideal series or landlocked sheltered harbours, extending from Yarmouth to Brading, and in most of these harbours rocky ledges must have formed natural staithes or "hards". very convenient for shipping. 'The mainland harbours would show at low tide mud-flats or sandbanks, not so convenient for wheeled vehicles.

Footnote by Reid: The coast line is that calculated for about the year 100 B.C. The present coast is marked by broken lines; but on the north side of the Solent wide mud-flats are found, and the high-water and low-water lines are now far apart. The coast was cut back and the limestone removed, but afterwards this loss of land was partly made good by the accumulation of mud.

[End of paper. Particularly see also: Tomalin, D. 2000. Geomorphological evolution of the Solent seaway and the severance of the Isle of Wight: a review.]

Reid, C. and Strahan, A. 1889. 2nd edition. The geology of the Isle of Wight. Memoir of the British Geological Survey.

Reid, E.M. and Chandler, M.E.J. 1926. The Bembridge Flora, Catalogue of Cainozoic plants in the Department of Geology, I. British Museum, Natural History, London.

Reid, E.M. and Chandler, M.E.J.. 1933. The Flora of the London Clay. British Museum, Natural History, London.

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Risknat [a Natural Risks research organisation], University of Barcelona. 2001?. Geotechnical Study Area G2. Luccombe Landslide, Ventnor Undercliff, Isle of Wight, UK. 10 pp. [see online: Risknat: - go to: www.wb. edu/risknat/en . Alternatively Google "Risknat Barcelona".]
"In 1987/1988 landslide movement occurred seaward of Luccombe Village at the eastern end of the Isle of Wight Undercliff affecting a number of properties (see Plate G2 and Figure G2.1). These movements were not an isolated event in the area. Geomorphological mapping and analysis of historical documents, including newspapers and postcards indicate that the village was built on an ancient landslide system and there has been intermittant movements several times this century. Over the last 50 years in particular the landslide movements have taken the form of periodic reactivations and upslope extension of of earlier failures, and have thereby been progressively affecting a larger area of the village.
In addition to the obvious landslide damage there has been gradual subsidence, which has affected all the properties within the village. A study commissioned by the Department of the Environment in 1988 (DoE: Report on the Study of Landsliding in and around the village of Luccombe) identified a continuing potential for landslide activity involving seasonal movements below the coastal footpath, period movements along the rear scarp feature at the head of the landslide and slow and gradual subsidence upslope of the immediate landslide area. The risks associated with future movements ranged from likely building damage to possibility of personal injury.
In the past there has been an "ad hoc" response to specific landslide events, primarily relating to repairing building damage or condemning properties rather than preventing further movements. However, the nature and scale of of the movements in 1987/88, accompanied by the continuing potential for further movementss indicated that there was a clear need to identify the most appropriate strategy to reduce the problems and to identify who may be responsible for undertaking any further works." [....continues]
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Rowe, A.W. 1908. Zones of the White Chalk of the English Coast. V. The Isle of Wight. With a Note on the accompanying maps by C.D. Sherborn. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 20, 209-352. By Dr. Arthur Walton Rowe, MB, MS, F.G.S. (This is a classic paper. He received the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society).
Dr. Rowe was a medical doctor of Margate, primarily interested in the palaeontology of Micraster etc. He pioneered use of the "dental engine" to reveal the structure of Micraster, and also was also involved early in the microphotography of fossils. Geologists dealing with Dorset and the Isle of Wight ect. are still often familiar with his pioneering work on Chalk Zones on the hazardous Chalk cliffs of the South of England. He often did thorough and difficult work in very dangerous situations.
The following is a report of an award by the Geological Society of London to Dr. Rowe.
"The President [of the Geological Society] then presented the Balance of the Proceeds of the Wollaston Donation Fund to Mr. Arthur Walton Rowe, M.B., M.S., of Margate, addressing him as follows: " Dr. Rowe, " It will, I am sure, be a source of gratification to you to be associated with Professor Barrois on the present occasion, for you have done much to confirm and extend the principles which he first applied to the elucidation of the structui-e of the English Chalk. We recognize, however, that, although your work has heen of very great stratigraphical importance, your main object is biological, and that the task you have set yourself is that of working out the evolution of organic forms during the Upper Cretaceous period. ln your paper on Micraster you have set an example which I trust will be followed. You have shown how it is possible to deal with a vast mass of material, so as to bring out the maiu facts of evolution, without burdening science with hosts of new names and long lists of synonyms.' By the application of the dental engine to the preparation, and of micro-photography to the illustration, of fossils, you have also rendered signal service to science. The Council of the Geological Society, in making this award, have been desirous of expressing their gratitude to you for the work that you have alreadv accomplished, and their lively sense of favours to come.
Also provided here is the following extract from p. 144 of the Geological Magazine (year uncertain).
"The Zones of the White Chalk of the English Coast" - With the appearance of part V on " The Isle of Wight," in the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association for January, 1908, Dr. Arthur W. Rowe, F.G.S., has at length concluded this important work, which has occupied so many years. The numerous maps have been prepared by Mr. C. Davies Sherborn, F.G.S., and the splendid series of photographs by Dr. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S. " A task of such magnitude," says the author, " should only have been essayed by one with abundant leisure. The brief holidays snatched from an over busy professional life have, during the past twelve years, been given up unreservedly to this quest. Over 30,000 fossils from the White Chalk have been collected, accurately zoned and localised, so that those who wish to study genera and species in bulk can do so unharassed by any uncertainty."
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Ross, A.J. 2014. The Fauna and Flora of the Insect Limestone (Late Eocene), Isle of Wight, UK. Earth and Environmental Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, [Formerly Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences] Vol. 104, Issues 3-4, May 2014. 231, Year 2014 for 2013. Andrew J. Ross, Department of Natural Science, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. [This is a major publication, resulting of a major international project. It contain ten papers on subjects such as spiders, dragonflies, thrips, caddis-flies, wasps, bees and ants, and also the general fauna and flora of the Insect Limestone.] [Individual papers can be purchased online for round about 30 pounds each. Go to Cambridge Journals, online. Papers may, however, be obtainable through a university library or a scientific society.]
[Example extract from part of the Preface, shortened]
"The Insect Limestone of the Isle of Wight, UK is remarkable for the exquisite preservation of insects and spiders. Over the past decade, a multinational INTAS-funded project has the thorough study of these fossils and the results will be presented in two volumes. This is the first volume, comprising papers on the history and geology of the Insect Limestone and the fossil plants, molluscs, spiders, dragonflies, damselflies, barklice, thrips, caddis-flies, wasps, bees and ants that have preserved within it.
The project commenced in 2004, thanks to the award of a grant of 149,998 euros from INTAS (The International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the new Independent States of the former Soviet Union) which unfortunately no longer exists. The project was entitled:
The Terrestrial Fauna and Flora of the Insect Bed, Isle of Wight: Interpreting the Climate near the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary. Andrew J. Ross was the co-ordinator of this project. When the project commenced 33 scientists were involved, mostly Russians, with additional members from Poland, France, Germany, Spain and the UK. ....
[shortened - ]Thirty-three scientists visited the UK for one to two weeks to study the Insect Limestone collections in the Natural History Museum, London (NHM), [... and at other places]... A week-long field trip to the Isle of Wight was organised for May 2005 and 28 of the project members were able to attend with assistance from staff at the NHM. During the course of the week, the party visited Thorness Bay, Burnt Wood, Gurnard Bay, Node's Point and Bembridge Foreland as well as studying specimens in the Isle of Wight Museum. During the course of the trip, about 150 insect specimens were recovered, which were deposited at the Natural History Museum. ... [continues].

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Ruffell, A.H. and Garden, I.R. 1997. Tectonic controls on the variation and thickness of pebble beds in the Lower Greensand Group (Aptian-Albian) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 108, pp. 215-229. By Alistair Ruffell and Ian Ross Garden.
Abstract:
Pebble-rich horizons occur throughout the Aptian-Albian Lower Greensand Group of the Isle of Wight. The four distinctive pebble-beds selected for detailed analysis in this study occur above transgressive and/or erosive surfaces and have previously been used as stratigraphie markers. The Perna Member in the Atherfield Clay Formation marks the first Aptian transgression across the area. Pebble-beds at the bases of Members XI/XII and XIII, in the Ferruginous Sands Formation are associated with the regional manlniodes regression and the subsequent nutfieldieiuis transgression. The topmost pebble-beds in the Lower Greensand Group occur in the Carstone Formation which transgresses and oversteps across the Isle of Wight-Portsdown High to the north of the Channel Basin. The pebble-beds show different mineralogical contents, thickness distributions and palaeocurrent patterns to the surrounding sediments. The pebble-beds comprise far-travelled clasts derived from the distant Welsh Massif to the north and locally derived detritus eroded from Jurassic strata exposed on the Isle of Wight-Portsdown High. Most Lower Greensand Group formations thicken from north to south across the island, whereas the pebble-beds are typically thickest in the north and thin southwards. The pebble-beds are also associated with increases in kaolinite abundance relative to other parts of the Lower Greensand Group. The introduction of locally derived detritus together with evidence of local variations in the thickness, palaeocurrents and clay content of pebble-beds provides a clear indication of rejuvenation of topographic highs in the area and shedding of locally derived detritus into the adjacent basins. These changes resulted principally from contemporaneous movement along the Isle of Wight fault, uplift and erosion of the footwall and subsidence and deposition in the hanging-wall basin.

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Rendel Geotechnics. 1991. National Landslides Databank. Rendal Geotechnics, 58-72 John Bright Street, Birmingham, B1 1BN. Tel. 021-627-1777. Fax 021-627-1774. Computerised data banks for south-east and south-west England should retail at around £125 plus VAT (1991 figures). National Landslide Distribution Maps at 1:625,000 scale (north and south sheets) can be provided as dyelines at around £20 per sheet or overlay transparencies at around £40 per sheet. County Landslides Distribution maps at 1:250,OOO scale can be provided at around £75 per set including dyeline base map and two overlay transparencies for each county. PC-based landslide databank for Britain. Information on more than 9000 landslides. Descriptive data and bibliographic sources given.

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SCOPAC in Solent Forum Web Site - including Coastal Protection.

SCOPAC 1993? Coastal Sediment Transport Study. Leaflet on this is available from the Conference Secretariat at the Isle of Wight County Council, contact Helen Gaches 0983-823287. University of Portsmouth.

SCOPAC. 1998 et seq. SCOPAC News. (issue no. 4, 1998 seen) Newsletter of the Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline. More information from Mr J. Pulsford, Secretary to the Conference, County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD or telephone Barbara Herbert on 01983-823282.

SCOPAC. 1999. A Critique of the Past - A Strategy for the Future. Executive Summary. SCOPAC - Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline. January 1999. Report to Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline by Rivers and Coastal Research Group (RACER), University of Portsmouth. 4 page brochure. For further information on the availability of the Report, please contact: SCOPAC Secretariat, c/o Isle of Wight Council, County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD, tel. 01983-823282.
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Shore , T.W. 1890. The clays of Hampshire and their economic uses. Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, vol. 1, no. 4, 23-45. [Little specific information on the Solent but interesting notes on the clays of the area around it. Use of the Stamshaw Clay, a local name for the Reading Formation clay, for puddling operations in dock engineering at Portsmouth. Vivianite in Bracklesham clay at Netley shoal. Many records of old brick-pits in the area. The West Wellow Pipeclay used for tobacco pipes and pottery and shipped out at Eling. Hampshire fullers earth. Roman use of the London Clay for tile-making. Working of clays on the Isle of Wight etc.]
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Simpson , M.I. 1985. The stratigraphy of the Atherfield Clay Formation (Lower Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) at the type and other localities in southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 96, (1), 23-45. Abstract: The stratigraphy of the Atherfield Clay Formation at the type locality (Atherfield, Isle of Wight) is presented, and a comparison made with the ammonite zonal scheme of Casey (1961). The members of the formation are defined and the stratigraphical nomenclature is revised; the Atherfield Clay of Fitton (1847), comprising only that part of the Atherfield succession which represents the Deshayesites fittoni Subzone, is here renamed the Chale Clay Member. The macrofauna of the entire formation at Atherfield is here recorded; it includes a newly discovered assemblage of decapod crustaceans which contain Meyeria ornata (Phillips), a species previously known only from the Boreal Lower Cretaceous. A correlation is made between the sequence at Atherfield and those at Compton Bay and Redcliff (Isle of Wight) and the Dorset coast. A review is also made of the succession in the Weald.

Simpson, M. I. 1993 (Second Edition - 1998). Fossil Hunting on Dinosaur Island; a Practical Guide to Finding Fossils on the Isle of Wight. Paperback booklet, 48pp. By Martin Simpson, a well-known Isle of Wight fossil collector and also the owner of fossil and mineral shops on the Isle of Wight, and a leader of field trips. A booklet written in informal style, particularly appropriate for visitors to the Isle of Wight and well-illustrated with monochrome photographs.
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Snowden, S.P.L. 2002. Eocene Limestone and Sarsen Stones on the Seabed, Christchurch Bay, English Channel. B.Sc. Undergraduate Research Project, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. Abstract: A number of sarsens have been found in a relatively small area on the seabed in Christchurch Bay situated in the Hampshire Basin. Located by diver surveys, these erratics mainly occur in a small valley on the eastern side of a ridge of higher relief. A fossiliferous, argillaceous sandy limestone with glauconite was found as a continuous bed of unknown extent close and possibly underneath the sarsen location. This bed was deposited during the Bartonian Stage and is similar to the septarian nodules found in the Earthy Bed of the Middle Barton sequence. A review of studies on sarsen locations and formation processes indicated that the sarsens are possibly related to past groundwater and drainage lines. Conditions conducive to sarsen formation have occurred withing the Hampshire Basin on a number of possible locations in the past. Possible theories into the reason for both the sarsen and the limestone ridge are discussed. These two geologically interesting formations may be related, with the limestone ridge containing clay minerals from which the silica needed for sarsen formation is believed to be derived. [While the origin of sarsens offshore of the Isle of Wight both east and west is a matter for dispute, their occurrence is of much interest. Perhaps most useful is the location record and description of the Xenophora Limestone of Bartonian age. This contain in some abundance the 'carrier shell' gastropod Xenophora agglutinans (Lamarck) and the bivalve Nemocardium turgidum (Solander). It does not seem to be present as a limestone at Barton-on-sea.] [Note particularly the Barton Clay limestone bed, the Xenophora Limestone.]
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Solander, D.C. 1766. [Description of fossil molluscs in Brander, G. 1766, Fossilia Hantoniensis.]
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Stagg, D.J. Archaeological and historical aspects of change in the Solent coastline. Ordnance Survey, Southampton.
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Stewart, D.J. 1978. The Sedimentology and Palaeoenvironment of the Wealden Group of the Isle of Wight. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Portsmouth Polytechnic (now Portsmouth University).

Stewart, D.J., Ruffell, A., Wach, G. and Goldring, G. 1991. Lagoonal sedimentation and fluctuating salinities in the Vectis Formation (Wealden Group, Lower Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Sedimentary Geology, vol. 72, pp. 117-134.
Abstract: Sedimentation in the Shepherd's Chine Member of the Vectis Formation is characterised by a cyclicity of four principal facies on which a strong asymmetry has been imprinted by erosional events. The four lithofacies are: (1) very fine to fine sandstones; (2) heterolithic sand/silt and mudstones; (3) parallel-laminated (pinstripe) mudstones; and (4) black mudstones. The biota, principally associated with lithofacies 2 and 3 (as shelly partings and coquinas), can be grouped into five molluscan associations which range from freshwater to quasi-marine. These associations are poorly correlated with the lithofacies, but fluctuate within and between cycles. Salinity and storm frequency increase towards the top of the formation, heralding the main marine Aptian transgression. Lithofacies and biotas indicate deposition in a lagoon that was shallow and temporarily emergent. The cyclicity is thought to represent the more distal phases of the advance and retreat of deltaic sand bodies, derived from a westerly direction, into the lagoon. Major storm events broke the symmetry of the cycles. A deltaic facies, represented by the Barnes High Sandstone Member, is thought to be laterally linked, reworked deltaic sandstone lobes.
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Stinton, F.C. 1975. Fish Otoliths from the English Eocene, Part 1. Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society, London, pp 1-56, plates 1-3. Abstract: This monograph on the English Eocene fish otoliths will appear in parts. Part 1 includes a revised English Eocene stratigraphy and a list of localities from which otololiths were obtained. The morphology and functions of otoliths of modern fishes are described, together with their relationships to fossil teleost faunas. Otoliths rarely occur with skeletal remains and reasons for this are considered. Otoliths are of limited use as zonal indicators but they may provide evidence of local ecological conditions. The systematic section describes 55 species of otoliths (29 new and 6 under open nomenclature) referable to 21 extant genera, representing 10 families from the Lepisosteidae to the Ophichthyidae in the classification of Greenwood et al. (1966).

Stinton, F.C. 19??. Fish Otoliths from the English Eocene, Part 2. Monographs of the Palaeontolographical Society, London.

Stinton, F.C. 19??. Fish Otoliths from the English Eocene, Part 3. Monographs of the Palaeontolographical Society, London.

Stinton, F.C. 1980. Fish Otoliths from the English Eocene, Part 4. Monographs of the Palaeontolographical Society, London. April 1980. Pp. 191-258, plates 13-16. Abstract: Part 4 continues the systematic section describing 87 species of otoliths (62 new and 8 under open nomenclature) referable to 41 extant genera representing 15 families, continuing the Serranidae to the Pomadasyidae (in part), in the classification of Greenwood.

Stinton, F.C. and Curry, D. 1979. Lithostratigraphical nomenclature of the English Palaeogene succession. Geological Magazine, vol. 116, 66-67. (By Fred Stinton of Bournemouth, and Professor Denis Curry, geologist and founder of Curry stores.)

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Swiecicki, A. 1980. A Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy of the Campanian and Maastrichtian Chalks of the United Kingdom. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Plymouth Polytechnic (now Plymouth University).

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Tasker, A., Wilkinson, I.P., Fulford, M.G. and Williams, M. 2011. Provenance of chalk tesserae from Brading Roman Villa, Isle of Wight, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 122, (2011), pp. 933-937. By Alison Tasker, Ian P. Wilkinson, Michael G. Fulford and Mark Williams.
Abstract:
Thin section petrographical analysis of chalk tesserae at Brading Roman Villa, Isle of Wight, England, identifies a range of planktonic foraminifera and the calcareous algal cyst Pithonella that identify the Late Cenomanian Rotalipora cushmani Biozone (BGS Foraminiferal Biozones 4iii to 7). The local chalk crop to the north of the villa includes rocks of R. cushmani Biozone age, and indicates a likely local, rather than long distance, source for the tesserae. Microfossils provide a powerful tool for identifying the provenance of artefacts in Roman Britain.
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Tomalin> , D. 2000. Geomorphological evolution of the Solent seaway and the severance of the Isle of Wight: a review. Pp. 9 - 19 in: Collins, M. and Ansell, K. 2000. Solent Science - A Review.> Proceedings in Marine Science, 1. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 385pp including location and subject indexes. ISBN - 0-444-504-65-6, hard cover only. By David Tomalin, County Archaeologist, Isle of Wight Council, Newport, Isle of Wight. [This is a particularly interesting paper considering both the legend of an ancient causeway to the Isle of Wight when known as Ictis, and stimulating ideas about possible drainage westward of the Lymington River and the Western Yar. The subsections are:
Early Questions concerning the Severance of the Isle of Wight.
Thomas Webster and the Wight-Purbeck Ridge.
William Fox and the Solent River Theory.
Clement Reid's Umbilical or Isthmus.
Marine Geophysical Prospecting.
The Loss of an Arm.
Present Knowledge, Outstanding Lacunae
Acknowledgements.
References.

Since no abstract is provided the start of introduction is given here as an example of the text:
"It was more than 400 years ago when the first historians and geographers began to enquire into the nature and origins of the Solent as an open east-west seaway and the date at which it had precipitated the severance of the land of Wight The first recorded questions are those of William Camden, whose first edition of Britannia (published in 1586) included the mischievous speculation that the Isle of Wight, with its Roman name of Vectis, might perhaps be equated with a prehistoric island, otherwise known as Ictis."

A British island called Ictis had been cited in the 1st century BC, by the classical writer Diodorus Siculus; however, we should note that in describing Britain or "Prettanike," this classical historian commonly used the expressions "we are told" or "they say". The style of Diodorus indicates that he was relating the accounts of others and, unlike the earlier Greek explorer Pytheas, who had visited the Cornish coast in the 3rd century BC, it seems that he could offer no personal experience. His gatherings tell of an island close to the shore of southern Britain where the natives could cross at low tide whilst drawing wagons loaded with tin ore or ingots. These consignments were loaded into visiting ships bound for the Atlantic seaboard ofGaul (Rivet & Smith, 1979). Diodorus added that it was people dwelling near the promontory of Belerion (Land's End) who prepared this tin and transported it to the tied island of Ictis.. [continues]

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Velegrakis , A.F. 1994. Aspects of the Morphology and Sedimentology of a Transgressional Embayment System, Poole and Christchurch Bays, Southern England. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Southampton University.

Velegrakis, A.F., Dix, J.K. and Collins, M.B. 1998. Late Quaternary evolution of the upper reaches of the Solent River, Southern England, based on marine geophysical evidence. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 156, 73-87.
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Wach , G.D. 1991. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous of the Channel Basin. D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford.

Bracklesham Group Daley, B., Edwards, N. and Insole, A.N. 1979. Lithostratigraphical nomenclature of the English Palaeogene succession. Geological Magazine, 116, 65-66.

Chalk

Bromley, R.G. and Gale, A.S. 1982. The lithostratigraphy of the English Chalk Rock. Cretaceous Research, 3, 273-306.

Daley, B. and Insole, A. 1984 (reprinted 1987). Geologists' Association Guide: No. 25, The Isle of Wight. 36 p.

Jefferies, R.P.S. 1963. The stratigraphy of the Actinocamax plenus Subzone (Turonian) in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 74, 1-33.

Kennedy, W.J. 1969. The correlation of the Lower Chalk of south-east England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 80, 459-560.

Mortimore, R. and Pomerol, B. 1997. Upper Cretaceous tectonic phases and end Cretaceous inversion in the Chalk of the Anglo-Paris Basin. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 108, 231-255. Abstract: Three intra-Upper Crataceous tectonic phases, Stille's Ilsede (Late Turonian-Early Coniacian), Wernigerode (Late Santonian-Early Campanian) and Riedel's Peine (latest Lower Campanian) are investigated in the Anglo-Paris Basin. Criteria for recognizing these events include field evidence of slumping, allochthonous chalks; lateral changes in thickness and lithology; seismic evidence for slump horizons; and lacunae closely related to tectonic axes. Further evidence from seismic sections indicates large-scale channel development during these phases but the spatial relationship with tectonic lineaments is more difficult to determine. Each phase rejuvenates the tectonic topography which is subsequently buried by post-tectonic facies changes, for example from Lewes to Seaford Chalk following the Ilsede tectonic phase and Culver to Portsdown Chalk, following the Peine tectonic phase. The tectonic phases are recognized along local tectonic lineaments in contrast to more widespread sea-level fluctuations. New information on the end Cretaceous inversion in the London and Anglo-Paris basins supports the recognition of a London axis of uplift where the chalk at subcrop was more deeply eroded than at outcrop. Maximum inversion in the Weald-Wessex area occurred in East Sussex along the southern margin of the Weald where the thickest chalks had previously been deposited.

Rowe, A.W. 1908. The zones of the White Chalk of the English Coast, V, The Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 20, 209-352.

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Wray, D.S. and Gale, A.S. 2006. The palaeoenvironment and stratigraphy of Late Cretaceous Chalks. By David S. Wray and Andrew S. Gale. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 117, 145-162.
Abstract: Since the publication of Hancock's 'the Petrology of the Chalk' there have been numerous developments in our appreciation of the palaeoenvironment and stratigraphic correlation of the UK Chalk. This work presents a review of some of the key developments over the last 30 years. Our detailed understanding of Chalk lithostratigraphy and advances in our understanding of chalk sedimentation indicate that large-scale mass transport and re-sedimentation of chalks by low-angle suspension flows is required to explain the observed thickness variations. The provenance of clay minerals and the process of flint and granular phosphate formation are discussed. The growing importance of isotopic studies in high resolution stratigraphy and improving our understanding of the late Cretaceous oceans and climate are emphasized. Developments in lithostratigraphic studies and recent proposals for a new stratigraphic division of the Chalk in the UK are evaluated. Authors' address - Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, School of Science, The University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.

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Coast Erosion

Dowell, M. 1993. Coastal erosion at Wooton Creek: Implications for the Isle of Wight and Maritime Archaeology. Undergraduate Project, Oceanography Department.

Harlow, D.A. 1980. Sediment Movements in Wooton Creek and the Likely Effects of the Proposed Dredging. Report for the Fishbourne and Wooton Creek Protection Association, 26p.

Hydraulics Research Ltd. 1980. Wooton Creek, Isle of Wight. Effects of Sealink Operations. Report EX932, 4p.

Hydraulics Research Ltd. 1988. Wooton Hard, Fishbourne, Isle of Wight: Factors Causing Erosion of a Shingle Bank. Report EX1723, 25p.

Robert West and Partners, 1990. Wooton Creek, Fishbourne, Isle of Wight. Evaluation of Ferry Induced Erosion. Consultant's Report to Medina Borough Council, 39p.

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Landslides

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Anonymous, 1994. Resident stays put on danger clifftop. The Daily Echo, Southampton, Monday, Jan. 17 1994. p. 7. A woman is refusing to budge from her cliff top wooden home despite warnings that it could be in danger of falling into the sea. Cliff Road, Totland, Isle of Wight. Also 6 hippies were in a chalet at Blackgang Chine where a major landslip threw 60 feet of road and cars and caravans into the sea. The movement is probably the result of the recent heavy rains. Summary above. Article not retained.

Bird, E. 1997. The Shaping of the Isle of Wight: with an Excursion Guide. Ex Libris Press, Bradford on Avon. Geostudies, 1997. 175 pp. Paperback. ISBN 0 948578 83 1. (Price in 1998 - £7.95p.) A very useful description and guide to the geomorphology of the Isle of Wight, with photographs and maps.

Bromhead, E.N., Chandler, M.P. and Hutchinson, J.N. 1991. The recent history and geotechnics of landslides at Gore Cliff, Isle of Wight. International Conference on Slope Stability, Engineering Developments and Applications, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Institute of Civil Engineers.

Chandler, M.P. 1984. The Coastal Landslides Forming the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London.

Chandler, M.P. and Hutchinson, J.N. 1984. Assessment of relative slide hazard within a large, pre-existing coastal landslide at Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Landslides. Toronto, 2, 517-522.

Colenutt, G.W. 1928. The cliff founder and landslide at Gore Cliff, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1, 561-570.

Davies, M. 1994. Problems Associated with Mass Movement. A Case Study of Blackgang, Isle of Wight. Unpublished Undergraduate B.Sc. Research Project, Environmental Sciences, Southampton University, 55 pp.

Dunning, G.C. 1951. The history of Niton, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society, 4, 191-204.

Englefield, H. C. 1816. A description of the Principal Picturesque Beauties, Antiquities and Geological Phenomena of the Isle of Wight. Payne and Foss, London. By Sir H.C. Englefield.

Geomorphological Services, 1989. Coastal Landslip Potential Assessment. (Isle of Wight Undercliff, Ventnor). Report on the Study of Landsliding in and around Luccombe Village. Technical report by Geomorphological Services for the Department of the Environment, Research Contract PECD 7/1/272, March 1989, 146 pp. plus colour maps (Geomorphological Services have since become Rendall Geotechnics). Southampton University, Cope Collection at q 98 LUC 56. Specialist information is held by Alan Forster, Engineering Group of the B.G.S. at Keyworth and Mr Brumhead at Kingston University, UK.

Geomorphological Services. 1987. See: Lee et al.

Geomorphological Services. 1991. Coastal Landslip Potential Assessment: Isle of Wight Undercliff, Ventnor. Technical Report by Geomorphological Services Limited, for the Department of the Environment, Research Contract PECD 7/1/272. 68 pages plus maps. [The reference list contains numerous references to newspaper articles in the Isle of Wight Mercury and in the Isle of Wight County Press. These are all by "Anon" and have dates but no titles.]

Halcrow Group Limited. 2000. Cowes to Gurnard, Coastal Slope Stability, Ground Behaviour Assessment. Halcrow Group Limited, August, 2000. Report for Isle of Wight Council, Newport. 41 pp. plus references, tables and figures. 40 pounds. Prepared by R. Moore, E.M. Lee, and D. Brunsden.

Humphris, C.J. 1979. An Account of the Geomorphology and Mechanics of a Failure of a Stretch of Coastal Cliffs between Blackgang and St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight. Unpublished Undergraduate B.Sc. Project. Kingston University.

Hutchinson, J.N. 1965. A reconnaisance of coastal landslides in the Isle of Wight. Building Research Station Note, No. EN11/65.

Hutchinson, J.N. 1987. Some coastal landslides of the southern Isle of Wight. In: K.E. Barber (Ed.) Wessex and the Isle of Wight. Field Guide. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.

Hutchinson, J.N. 1991. The landslides forming the south Wight Undercliff. In: International Conference on Slope Stability Engineering - Developments and Applications. Thomas Telford, London, 157-168.

Hutchinson, J.N., Bromhead, E.N. and Chandler, M.P. 1981. Report on the Coastal Landslides at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. Unpublished report to Lewis and Duvivier, Consulting Engineers.

Hutchinson, J.N., Bromhead, E.N. and Chandler, M.P. 1991. The landslides of St. Catherines Point, Isle of Wight. International Conference on Slope Stability, Engineering Developments and Applications, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Institute of Civil Engineers.

Hutchinson, J.N., Brunsden, D. and Lee, E.M. 1991. The geomorphology of the landslide complex at Ventnor, Isle of Wight. In International Conference on Slope Stability Engineering - Developments and Applications. Thomas Telford, London, 213-218.

Hutchinson, J.N., Chandler, M.P. and Bromhead, E.N. 1981. Cliff recession on the Isle of Wight SW coast. 10th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Stockholm.

Hutchinson, J.N., Chandler, M.P. and Bromhead, E.N. 1985. A review of current research on the coastal landslides forming the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight with some practical implications. Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline, Newport, Isle of Wight.

Jones, D.K.C. and Lee, E.M. 1991. Landsliding in Great Britain; A review for the Department of the Environment. Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Lee, E.M., Doornkamp, J.C., Brunsden, D. and Norton, N.H. 1987. Ground Movement in Ventnor, Isle of Wight; A summary of the study of landslide problems in Ventnor carried out for the Department of the Environment (Research Contract PBCD7/1/272). Geomorphological Services Limited. 64 pp.

Lee, E.M. and Moore, R. 1989. Report on the study of landsliding in and around Luccombe Village. Geomorphological Services Limited report to the Department of the Environment. DoE Publications.

Martin, G.A. 1849. The "Undercliff" of the Isle of Wight; its climate, history and natural productions. John Churchill, Princes Street, Soho, London, 366 pp. [By George A. Martin, M.D. Chapter 6 is on Geology and Hydrology. This book also contains odd anecdotal information such as the practice of the peasant lads of descending St. Boniface Down on skulls of horses! ]

Matthews, M.C. 1977. Geological and Geotechnical Report on the Southeast Isle of Wight: Geotechnical Study of the Eastern Extremity of the Undercliff (the Landslip). Unpublished Undergraduate B.Sc. Project Report, Portsmouth Polytechnic [now Portsmouth University].

Norman , M.W. 1887. A Popular Guide to the Geology of the Isle of Wight: with a note on its relation to that of the Isle of Purbeck. Knight's Library, Ventnor, 237 pp. [Section on Denudation and Landslips - p. 177. Comments on widening of the Solent - p. 192. ]

Preece , R.C. 1986. Faunal remains from radio-carbon dated soils within landslip debris from the Undercliff, Isle of Wight, southern England. Journal of Archaeological Science, 13, 189-200.

Rendel . 2000? Report on landslides at Cowes, Isle of Wight. [Not seen yet and exact bibliographic details not given here.]

Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation . 1907. First Report. H.M.S.O. London.

Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation . 1911. Third (and final) Report. H.M.S.O. London.

Street , D.C. 1981. An Investigation of a Coastal Landslip on the Undercliff, Isle of Wight. Unpublished Unergraduate B.Sc. Project Report. University of Surrey.

Toms , A.H. 1955. Isle of Wight, Ventnor; Landslips. Report of an investigation of the fundamental nature of landslips, consequent on the development of deep fissures in Whitwell Road. [This reference is from Geomorphological Services Limited, 1991, and no further details are given. It has not been seen.]

White , H.J.O. 1921. A Short Account of the Geology of the Isle of Wight. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, pp. v + 219 (reprinted in 1968 and 1990). [The standard geological memoir on the Isle of Wight with basic information but now out-of-date.]

Whitehead , J.L. 1911. The Undercliff of the Isle of Wight Past and Present. London.

Wilkins , E.P. and Brion, J. 1859. A Concise Exposition of the Geology, Antiquities and Topography of the Isle of Wight. London.

Woodruff , M. 1986. The Cascades, Ventnor, Isle of Wight: Technical Feasibility Studies. Vol. 1. Site Investigation and Site Stability. Report to the South Wight Borough Council.

Woodruff, M. 1989. Monitoring of Ground Movement in Ventnor. Report to the South Wight Borough Council.

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Lower Greensand

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Dike , E.F. 1972. Sedimentology of the Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight. D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford.

Fitton , W.H. 1845. Comparitive remarks on the sections below the Chalk on the coast near Hythe, in Kent, and Atherfield, in the Isle of Wight. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 1, 179-189.

Fitton, W.H. 1847. A stratigraphical account of the section from Atherfield to Rocken-end, on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 3, 289-327.

Kirkaldy, J.F. 1939. The history of the Lower Cretaceous Period in England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, 50, 379-416.

Kirkaldy, J.F. 1939. The provenance of pebbles in the Lower Cretaceous rocks. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 58, 223-241.

Garden , I.R., 1987. The Provenance of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous Coarse Grained Detritus in Southern Britain and Normandy. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southampton.

Garden, I.R. 1991. Changes in the provenance of pebbly detritus in southern Britain and northern France associated with basin rifting. In: Morton, A.C., Todd, S. P. and Haughton, P.D.W. (eds.). Developments in Sedimentary Provenance Studies. Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 57, 273-289.

Macquaker , J., Curtis, C. and Taylor, K.T. 1996. Sedimentological controls on ooidal ironstone and 'bone-bed' formation and some comments on their sequence stratigraphical significance. In: Hesselbo, S.P. and Parkinson, D.N. (eds), Sequence Stratigraphy in British Geology, Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 103, 97-107.

Ruffell, A.H. 1988. Palaeoecology and event stratigraphy of the Wealden-Lower Greensand transition in the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 99, 133-140.

Ruffell, A.H. 1991. Geophysical correlation of the Aptian and Albian formations in the Wessex Basin of southern England. Geological Magazine, 128, 67-75.

Ruffell, A. and Garden, R. 1997. Tectonic controls on the variation in thickness and mineralogy of pebble-beds in the Lower Greensand Group (Aptian-Albian) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 108, 215-229. Abstract: Pebble-rich horizons occur throughout the Aptian-Albian Lower Greensand Group of the Isle of Wight. The four distinctive pebble- beds selected for detailed analysis in this study occur above transgressive and/or erosive surfaces and have previously been used as stratigraphic markers. The Perna Member in the Atherfield Clay Formation marks the first Aptian transgression across the area. Pebble-beds at the bases of Members XI/XII and XIII, in the Ferruginous Sands Formation are associated with the regional martiniodes regression and the subsequent nutfieldiensis transgression. The topmost pebble-beds in the Lower Greensand Group occur in the Carstone Formation which transgresses and oversteps across the Isle of Wight-Portsdown High to the north of the Channel Basin. The pebble-beds show different mineralogical contents, thickness distributions and palaeocurrent patterns to the surrounding sediments. The pebble-beds comprise far-travelled clasts derived from the distant Welsh Massif to the north and locally derived detritus eroded from Jurassic strata exposed on the Isle of Wight-Portsdown High. Most Lower Greensand Group formations thicken from north to south across the island, whereas the pebble-beds are typically thickest in the north and thin southwards. The pebble-beds are also associated with increases in kaolinite abundance relative to other parts of the Lower Greensand Group. The introduction of locally derived detritus together with evidence of local variations in the thickness, palaeocurrents and clay content of pebble-beds provides a clear indication of rejuvenation of topographic highs in the area and shedding of locally derived detritus into the adjacent basins. These changes resulted principally from contemporaneous movement along the Isle of Wight fault, uplift and erosion of the footwall and subsidence and deposition in the hangingwall basin.

Ruffell, A.H. and Wach, G. D. 1991. Sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Aptian-Albian Lower Greensand in southern England. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 8, 341-353. Abstract: Facies analysis and its use in sequence stratigraphy is described using the Lower Greensand of southern England as an example, and the resulting interpretations are outlined. This work forms an independent test of sequence stratigraphic techniques and the Exxon 'cycle chart'. Sequence stratigraphy is a very powerful tool in the analysis of problematic successions, although some modification is made here in emphasizing the use of the transgressive surface. Changing palaeoenvironmental conditions, and the effect that palaoceanography has on the recognition of sequence boundaries, are also discussed. Broad agreement is found between these results and the cycle chart, although changing tidal conditions alter the criteria available for analysis of the Aptian-Albian Lower Greensand succession. Comparison between this study and sequence stratigraphic analyses conducted in the more condensed type sections of England and France shows that further sequence boundaries are recognizable.

Ruffell, A. and Wach, G. 1998. Firmgrounds - key surfaces in the recognition of parasequences in the Aptian Lower Greensand Group, Isle of Wight (southern England). Sedimentology, 45 (1), 91-107. Abstract: Aptian Lower Greensand Group exposures in the cliffs of the Isle of Wight (southern England) display a consistent coarsening-up cyclicity on the scale of centimetres to tens of metres that reflects the bed, bed-set, parasequence, parasequence set and sequence hierarchy. These coarsening-up cycles are most commonly recognized at the scale of parasequences (20 cm to 10 m thick), genetically related groups of which form parasequence sets. Both parasequences and parasequence sets contain the succession of biofacies that culminate in firmground development. Numerous episodes of erosion, deposition and colonization are recorded, reflecting multiple erosion/bypass events. The increase in mean grain-size through each cycle is reflected by changes in physical sedimentary structures; ichnofauna or bioturbational fabric; fossil fauna and diagenesis. Interbedded mudstones, siltstones and sandstones in the lower beds of each cycle display a variety of structures ranging from low-angle, hummocky, or tabular cross-strata, sandstone-filled erosional gutters and planar lamination. The cleaner sandstones found in the upper parts to each cycle are often completely bioturbated with only rare stratification and pebble/plant debris-filled scours preserved. Bioturbational fabrics change upward through each cycle from small, subhorizontal, mud-or sandstone-filled burrows to large, branching, clay-filled or cemented burrow systems. The top surface of each cycle is marked by a fossil epifauna indicative of firm to hard substrate conditions. Concentrations of bivalves, brachiopods, bryozoa, crinoids and corals are preferentially cemented by iron oxide, carbonate or phosphate. Such cements were early and thus utilized by firm or hard substrate dwellers.;This fossiliferous, cemented sandstone is overlain by a flooding surface marked by the mudstone and silt-rich sandstones at the base of the next cycle. Together, the fauna and ichnofauna in each cycle represent the gradual development of firm substrate conditions, culminating in the diverse firmground fauna preserved at the top of each cycle. The fauna and changing substrate conditions reflect the hiatuses developed during successive episodes of marine flooding. High species diversity is matched by complex patterns of taphonomic feedback in the mature firmground faunas that mark major flooding surfaces. Increasing faunal maturity allows recognition of a hierarchy of hiatuses. This hierarchy is analogous to the parasequence-parasequence set division. The stratigraphic condensation of firmgrounds can be used to empirically define the condensed section, the thickness of sediment between firmgrounds being a function of sediment supply and water depth (accommodation space).
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Wach , G.D. 1991. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous of the Channel Basin. D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford.

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Watson J. and Alvin, K.L. 1996. An English Wealden floral list, with comments on possible environmental indicators. Cretaceous Research, volume 17, number 1, February 1996 , pp. 5-26.
Abstract:
An up-to-date floral list of well-authenticated species is presented for the Lower Cretaceous, Wealden succession of England. Elements of the flora are assessed for evidence of Wealden climate and environments. Modes of preservation and plant reconstructions, as well as structural and morphological features of plant organs are used in assessment. The frequent preservation of some plants as fossil charcoal, and the occurrence of certain specialized features resembling those found today amongst fire-climax communities, suggest that fire was sometimes an important environmental factor. Growth rings in secondary wood indicate a degree of seasonality and many botanical features point strongly to the occurrence of periods of aridity.

Holyoak , D.T. and Preece, R.C. 1983. Evidence of a high Middle Pleistocene sea-level from estuarine deposits at Bembridge, Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 94, 231-244.

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Solent Coast

Colenutt, G.W. 1938. Fifty years of Island of coast erosion. Proceedings of the I.W Natural History Archaeological Society, 3, 50-57.

Dowell, M. 1993. Coastal erosion at Wooton Creek: Implications for the Isle of Wight and Maritime Archaeology. Undergraduate Project, Oceanography Department. Mark Dowell - 3rd Year Undergraduate.

Harlow, D.A. 1980. Sediment Movements in Wooton Creek and the Likely Effects of the Proposed Dredging. Report for the Fishbourne and Wooton Creek Protection Association, 26p.

Hydraulics Research Ltd. 1980. Wooton Creek, Isle of Wight. Effects of Sealink Operations. Report EX932, 4p.

Hydraulics Research Ltd. 1988. Wooton Hard, Fishbourne, Isle of Wight: Factors Causing Erosion of a Shingle Bank. Report EX1723, 25p.

Norman, M.W. 1887. A Popular Guide to the Geology of the Isle of Wight: with a note on its relation to that of the Isle of Purbeck. Knight's Library, Ventnor, 237 pp. Section on Denudation and Landslips - p. 177. Comments on widening of the Solent - p. 192.

Robert West and Partners, 1990. Wooton Creek, Fishbourne, Isle of Wight. Evaluation of Ferry Induced Erosion. Consultant's Report to Medina Borough Council, 39p.

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Tertiary Buurman, P. 1980. Palaeosols in the Reading Beds (Paleocene) of Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, U.K. Sedimentology, 27, 593-606.

Hester, S.W. 1965-66. Stratigraphy and palaeogeography of the Woolwich and Reading Beds. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 23, 117-137.

Prestwich, J. 1846. On the Tertiary or Supracretaceous formations of the Isle of Wight as exhibited in the sections at Alum Bay and White-cliff Bay. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 2, 223-260.
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Walder , P.S. 1964. Mineralogy of the Eocene sediments in the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 75, 291-314.

Topography, Geography, History etc.

(A small selection)

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Englefield, Sir Harry C. 1816. A Description of the Principal Picturesque Beauties, Antiquities and Geological Phaenomena, of the Isle of Wight. With additional observations on the strata of the Island, and their continuation in the adjacent parts of Dorsetshire, by Thomas Webster, Esq. Payne and Foss, 88 Pall-Mall, London. Classic book with excellent engravings. Example from Webster's section - "Swanwich, June 16th. Dear Sir, I shall now proceed to described what I have observed in Dorsetshire, in pursuance of your request, that I would examine the chalk at Handfast point, which; being in a line with that of the Isle of Wight, appeared like a continuation of the same strata. -- For this purpose, I hired a small cutter at Yarmouth; and having sailed past the Needles, we directed our course westward towards the chalk cliffs of Dorsetshire, which were distinctly visible." -- continues

Ordnance Survey, 1981. The old series Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales. Vol. III: Southcentral England (Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and parts of Berkshire, Dorset, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire). 1981. Southampton University, Cope Collection q 90.5181017 / 82008365

Turton, F. 1953. A Solent Tunnel: the History of the Solent Tunnel Scheme and Railways associated with it. Southampton. [Southampton University, Cope Collection, Open.]

Wealden

(Wealden Dinosaurs follow)

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Allen , P. et al., 1998. Purbeck-Wealden (early Cretaceous) climates. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 109, 197-236. (Full list of authors: Allen, P, Alvin, KL, Andrews, JE, Batten, DJ, Charlton, WA, Cleevely, RJ, Ensom, PC, Evans, SE, Francis, JE, Hailwood, EA, Harding, IC, Horne, DJ, Hughes, NF, Hunt, CO, Jarzembowski, EA, Jones, TP, Knox, RWO, Milner, A, Norman, DB, Palmer, CP, Parker, A, Patterson, GA, Price, GD, Radley, JD, Rawson, PF, Ross, AJ, Rolfe, S, Ruffell, AH, Sellwood, BW, Sladen, CP, Taylor, KG, Watson, J, Wright, VP, Wimbledon, WA, Banham, GH ). Abstract: A multidisciplinary colligation including new data and analysis of the evidence for the climates of southern Britain during c. 140 Ma. to c. 120 Ma BP (Berriasian-Barremian - ? earliest Aptian). The climate was at first hot, semi-arid and 'Mediterranean' (rather than 'monsoonal') in type, probably with seasonally opposed winds (E/W). An irregular long-term trend of increasing rainfall in the moister seasons is evident. This was probably associated with establishment of predominant westerlies during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition and slightly lower average annual temperatures thereafter until Barremian times. Causes proposed are frequent changes in the regional climatic system due to tectonically induced adjustments of relief under the special conditions of the semienclosed Purbeck-Wealden archipelago and increasing proximity of the widening Protoatlantic sea.

Barker, M.J., Munt, M.C. and Radley, J.D. 1997. The first recorded trigonioidoidean bivalve from Europe, Palaeontology, 40, Pt. 4, 955-963. Abstract: The non-marine bivalve superfamily Trigoniodoidea has been considered to be restricted to the Cretaceous of east Asia. It is a distinctive taxon of unionoids, characterized by separated anterior adductor and anterior pedal retractor muscle scars, and an ornament which typically comprises chevron-forming ribs. Well preserved bivalves (with chevron-forming ribs) from the Wealden Group (Barremian and ? Upper Hauterivian, Lower Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight (southern England), which had previously been assigned to the unionacean unionoids, were re-examined and separated anterior adductor and anterior pedal musculature recognized. The combined character states of musculature, ornament and hinge teeth indicate affinity to the trigonioidid genus Nippononaia. However, placement in the established subgenera N. (Nippononaia) and N. (Eonippononaia) is precluded by the distinctively larger angle produced by the specimens' chevron ornament. Therefore, a new subgenus, N. (Subnippononaia), and a new species, N. (S.) fordi, are proposed to accommodate them. This constitutes the first confirmed record of the superfamily Trigonioidoidea outside of east Asia.

Insole, A.N. and Hutt, S. 1994. The paleoecology of the dinosaurs of the Wessex Formation (Wealden Group, Early Cretaceous), Isle-of-Wight, Southern England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean society 112: (1-2) 197-215 Sept-Oct, 1994. Abstract: The Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight yields an Early Cretaceous dinosaur fauna. Sedimentological evidence shows that this represents a mosaic of fluvial, floodplain and lacustrine environments within a relatively narrow east-west oriented valley. The vegetational cover on the alluvial plain had a savannah- or chaparral-like aspect, probably of low productivity. The relative scarcity of small aquatic vertebrates, absence of coals, abundance of oxidixed sediments and the presence of immature calcretes indicate seasonal water supply. The dinosaur taxa compising the Wessex Formation faunal assemblage represent a single palaeocommunity which inhabited the local alluvial plain, although some species may have been transient. The fauna had a relatively low diversity and this is attributed to the low productivity of the local vegetation. Iguanodontids and Hypsilophodon were the dominant elements in the fauna. In contrast to Late Jurassic dinosaur faunas, sauropods are less abundant in the Wessex Formation, although they remain taxonomically diverse. It is concluded that climatic changes which took place in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous resulted in the appearance of low productivity vegetation and that this was incapable of supporting large sauropod populations. Authors address - Museum of Isle of Wight Geology, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 8AF. Publisher Academic Press Ltd., London.
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Radley , J.D. 1994. Field Meeting, 24-5 April, 1993 - The Lower Cretaceous of the Isle-of-Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 105, 145-152. A general field introduction to the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Lower Cretaceous Wealden and Lower Greensand Groups was provided, with special emphasis on Wealden vertebrate localities. Recently discovered material from these localities was made available at the Museum of Isle of Wight Geology. An unrecorded insect fauna was recovered from the Vectis Formation of the Wealden Group during the field meeting and is briefly documented.

Radley, J.D. and Barker, M.J. 1998. Palaeoenvironmental analysis of shell beds in the Wealden Group (Lower Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight, southern England: an initial account. Cretaceous Research, 19, No. 3-4, 489-504. Abstract: Initial results of a palaeoenvironmental study of Wealden shell beds on the Isle of Wight, southern England are presented. Well- preserved biofabrics reflect 'background' and 'event' depositional processes in coastal alluvial plain and marginal marine lagoonal environments. 'Event' deposits are largely attributable to overbank floods in alluvial facies and shoreward storms in lagoonal environments. These locally preserve concentrations of articulated bivalves, producing molluscan Lagerstatten. Additionally, lagoonal bioclastic tempestites preserve a variety of environmentally diagnostic sole structures. Bivalve trace fossils (Lockeia) occur in lagoonal sand facies. Irregular rainfall in the hinterland accounts for influxes of derived Jurassic fossils and probably, the generation of seasonal growth bands in unionid bivalves. Etched shells in the Wessex Formation and lower part of the Vectis Formation indicate acidic surface waters. Bivalve faunas attain greatest species diversity in stable fresh-water and mesohaline-brachyhaline phases, whilst the environmentally tolerant corbiculids represent species diversity minima, equating to environments of unstable salinity.

Radley, J.D., Barker, M.J. and Harding, I.C. 1998. Palaeoenvironment and taphonomy of dinosaur tracks in the Vectis Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Wessex Sub-basin, southern England. Cretaceous Research, 19, No. 304, 471-487. Abstract: Reptilian ichnofossils are documented from three levels within the coastal lagoonal Vectis Formation (Wealden Group, Lower Cretaceous) of the Wessex Sub-basin, southern England (coastal exposures of the Isle of Wight). Footprints attributable to Iguanodon occur in arenaceous, strongly trampled, marginal lagoonal deposits at the base of the formation, indicating relatively intense ornithopod activity. These were rapidly buried by influxes of terrestrial and lagoonal sediment. Poorly-preserved footcasts within the upper part of the Barnes High Sandstone Member are tentatively interpreted as undertracks. In the stratigraphically higher Shepherd's Chine Member, foot casts of a small to medium-sized theropod and a small ornithopod originally constituted two or more trackways and are preserved beneath a distinctive, laterally persistent bioclastic limestone bed, characterised by hypichnial Diplocraterion. These suggest relatively low rates of dinosaurian activity on a low salinity, periodically wetted mudflat. Trackway preservation in this case is due to storm- induced shoreward water movements which generated influxes of distinct ive bioclastic lithologies from marginal and offshore lagoonal settings. The rapidly-deposited footprint-fills occasionally contain fully articulated shallow burrowing bivalves.

Radley, J.D., Barker, M.J. and Munt, M.C. 1998. Bivalve trace fossils (Lockeia) from the Barnes High Sandstone (Wealden Group, Lower Cretaceous) of the Wessex Sub-basin, southern England. Cretaceous Research, 19, No. 3-4, 505-509. Abstract: Lockeia is described from the upper part of the Barnes High Sandstone Member (Vectis Formation, Wealden Group) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. It is associated with bivalve escape structures and attributed to unionid and corbiculid bivalves. Preservation of the trace fossil and the generating bivalves in probable life position was owing to episodically rapid deposition beneath prograding deltaic sand in a freshwater or oligohaline environment.

Radley, J.D., Gale, A.S. and Barker, M.J. 1998. Derived Jurassic fossils from the Vectis Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight, southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 109, Pt. 2, 81-91. Abstract: Derived late Jurassic fossils occur commonly. in the uppermost pan of the Vectis Formation (Wealden Group. Lower Cretaceous) at Sandown Bay, on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight. These records corroborate subsurface data which indicate the close proximity of Jurassic sediments on the footwall of the syn- depositional fault (Purbeck-Isle of Wight structure) which marked the northern margin of the Channel Basin during Wealden times. The most abundant derived fossils are bivalves (oysters, scallops), with rarer echinoid spines and serpulid worms. derived From late Oxfordian and early Kimmeridgian sediments. Worn phosphatized fragments of the ammonite Pavlovia sp. occur rarely. and were probably derived from tare Kimmeridgian or early Portlandian pebble beds to the north of the island. A model for formation of the derived fossil concentrations which involves storm action and winnowing is based on comparisons between the environment during formation of the Vectis Formation and the present day lagoon in Dorset.

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Tomalin, D. 2000. Geomorphological evolution of the Solent seaway and the severance of the Isle of Wight: a review. Pp. 9 - 19 in: Collins, M. and Ansell, K. 2000. Solent Science - A Review. Proceedings in Marine Science, 1. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 385pp including location and subject indexes. ISBN - 0-444-504-65-6, hard cover only. By David Tomalin, County Archaeologist, Isle of Wight Council, Newport, Isle of Wight. No abstract is provided so the start of introduction is given here:
"It was more than 400 years ago when the first historians and geographers began to enquire into the nature and origins of the Solent as an open east-west seaway and the date at which it had precipitated the severance of the land of Wight The first recorded questions are those of William Camden, whose first edition of Britannia (published in 1586) included the mischievous speculation that the Isle of Wight, with its Roman name of Vectis, might perhaps be equated with a prehistoric island, otherwise known as Ictis.

A British island called Ictis had been cited in the 1st century BC, by the classical writer Diodorus Siculus; however, we should note that in describing Britain or "Prettanike," this classical historian commonly used the expressions "we are told" or "they say". The style of Diodorus indicates that he was relating the accounts of others and, unlike the earlier Greek explorer Pytheas, who had visited the Cornish coast in the 3rd century BC, it seems that he could offer no personal experience. His gatherings tell of an island close to the shore of southern Britain where the natives could cross at low tide whilst drawing wagons loaded with tin ore or ingots. These consignments were loaded into visiting ships bound for the Atlantic seaboard ofGaul (Rivet & Smith, 1979). Diodorus added that it was people dwelling near the promontory of Belerion (Land's End) who prepared this tin and transported it to the tied island of Ictis.." [continues]
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Wach, G.D. 1991. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous of the Channel Basin. D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford.