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Coast Northwest of Hill Head

Low cliffs have been eroded on some north-eastern shores of the estuarine system where there is much exposure to waves driven by the prevailing south-westerly winds. Here is a good section in the Pleistocene periglacial river gravels northwest of Hill Head near Lee-on-the-Solent.

The gravels overlie Middle Eocene, Bracklesham Group (Selsey Formation). This consists here of marine sandy clays with abundant glauconite weathered to brown at the surface. It is much bioturbated, with some poorly preserved moulds of marine molluscs. Large fossiliferous calcareous nodules occur in the Bracklesham strata in the subsurface and weathered rotted examples can be found in the cliffs here.
The Pleistocene gravels are similar to others at higher levels and to gravels occurring under the estuary. Subangular flint pebbles are dominant but there are also present some rounded pebbles with percussion marks that are derived from the Eocene strata. Scattered reddened flint pebbles are probably the result of fires on the tundra (or human activity). Occasional sarsen stones occur. The gravels, which are of seasonal braided river origin, show scours and cross-bedding and the effects of cryoturbation and there are ice-wedge casts. Brickearth at the top is a silt deposit which in this area has clay minerals suggesting at least partial derivation from nearby Chalk outcrops.

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Browndown

Browndown and Gilkicker Point where the southeast end of Southampton Water meets the Solent. The relatively bare ground of Browndown consists of accumulations of gravel transported by longshore drift from the low cliffs of Pleistocene gravel around this area. Gilkicker Point further southeast (bottom) is underlain by a thick Quaternary gravel deposit on Bracklesham Group. There is a line of boreholes from here across to the Isle of Wight at Ryde, providing a good cross-section of the eastern Solent.

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Cowes

Part of the Solent seen from above the Isle of Wight, looking northwestward. East and west Cowes are separated by the estuary of the river Medina which is on the line of a fault. The promontory south (to the left) of the ship consists of Solent Group with a capping of Pleistocene gravel. Queen Victoria's residence, Osborne House, is situated on the hill here. The low cliffs around this part of the Solent contain fresh and brackish water gastropods and bivalves in the Solent Group clays and sands and also charophyte oogonia (freshwater alga). Wootton Creek is the small estuary in the lower part of the image.

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West Solent

The western Solent is the valley of the Solent river, which flowed from west to east, flooded in the Flandrian Transgression. This view is towards the west. Near the left of the image is the coast of Christchurch Bay, ending to the southeast at Hurst Castle Spit. The conspicuous dark feature near the bottom of the image is Parkhurst Forest. Appearing rather murky in the middle distance is the Newtown estuary where Pleistocene vertebrate remains occur. Bison bones are particularly numerous near the mouth of the estuary and mammoth remains occur too.

Lepe Beach, West Solent

Go to webpage on: Solent - Lepe Beach and Stone Point ?

Lepe Beach and Stone Points are localities of special interest for periglacial flint gravels of the Pleistocene, with an interglacial peat and mud deposit. Elephant remains have been found in this. There are small exposures of the Headon Hill Formation in this area. A dinosaur footprint in Purbeck stone from Dorset has been found here, and there are blocks of Purbeck Marble which have transported from the Isle of Purbeck and wrecked on the beach here.

Quaternary Deposits of Lymington

Beneath the salt-marshes of the Lymington area there is an interesting sequence of Pleistocene Gravel of the Solent River, overlain by Holocene alluvial muds with the Neololithic Peat. The sequence was originally revealed in old borehole investigations for a proposed railway tunnel from Lymington across to the Isle of Wight. Fortunately, the tunnel has never been excavated, allowing the Isle of Wight to retain its relative isolation. As a result the natural western coast of the Isle of Wight has not been destroyed by the development of major holiday resorts. (Literature references and a partial cross-section will be given later. )

Bibliography of the Geology of the Solent - General Section - Undivided This is a list of Solent Estuarine System references, not separated under topics. It is not comprehensive and the user is referred to the continuation - the alphabetical section below for more complete coverage .

This is divided into sections such as Bracklesham Group, Radionuclides, Saltmarshes etc. and is more complete. Some topics such as material relating to the Isle of Wight are only covered briefly and full lists are in other bibliographies (although not necessarily available here).

This is just a small scale map showing the general features of the Pleistocene valley under the Solent Estuarine System based on the borehole data referred to below and geophysical work. The original Pleistocene map for Southampton Water is much more detailed with contours at 10 feet (3m.) intervals and is on the scale of 1:10,000. A structure contour map of the Bracklesham strata , based on the variolarius Bed, has also been produced for Southampton Water.

Records of more than 1,400 boreholes

Lee-on-the-Solent

• Southampton Mineral and Fossil Society. The following is part of the Fossil Page section (see left frame) of this Web Site on: Death of a Fossil Site - Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire. This site is an important Middle Eocene exposure and famous for the variety of fossils that can be found. Such is the importance of this site that it was confirmed as an SSSI by English Nature. This site has now been destroyed by Gosport Borough Council. They have completely covered the exposure with large limestone blocks and backfilled with gravel dredged from the Solent. The following extract is from English Nature. "The important site at Lee-on-the-Solent yielded the first British bird fossils of mid-Eocene age. The avifauna includes type material for five species, and shows the continuity of typical Lower Eocene families such as Rallidae and the Phasianidae; one of only a few locations to yield a mid-Eocene avifauna." ..... ":The site is particularly rich in sharks teeth. Thirty-seven species of shark are recorded, including nineteen rays and five species of chimaeroids. This locality yields the unique species Alopias leeensis and a chimaeroid, Elasmodus kempi. Chimaeroids, poorly known cartilaginous fish are rarely found as fossils and the site yields important evidence of the order. Seventy-seven species of teleost have been recorded here, forty-five of these from otoliths. " -- See the SMFS Web Site for photographs of the reclamation work and for images of sharks teeth and other details.