Weald Clay

Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of rocks within the Weald Basin, and the upper portion of the unit is equivalent in age to the exposed portion of the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. It predominantly consists of thinly bedded mudstone.^[1] The un-weathered form is blue/grey, and the yellow/orange is the weathered form, it is used in brickmaking.

Weald Clay
Stratigraphic range: Hauterivian-Barremian, 136–125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Weald Clay exposed at Clock House Brickworks
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Wealden Group
Sub-units	Horsham Stone Member
Underlies	Atherfield Clay Formation
Overlies	Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation
Thickness	up to 460 m
Lithology
Primary	Shale, Mudstone
Other	Siltstone, Sandstone, Limestone, Ironstone
Location
Region	England
Country	United Kingdom
Type section
Named for	Weald
Extent of the Weald Clay within the Weald Basin, shown with horizontal lines

The formation was deposited in lagoonal, lacustrine and alluvial conditions that varied from freshwater to brackish.^[2] The climate at the time of deposition is thought to have been semi-arid,^[3] and prone to fire.^[4] The clay alternates with other subordinate lithologies, notably hard red-weathering beds of ironstone, limestone (Sussex Marble) and sandstones, notably including the calcareous sandstone unit referred to as the Horsham Stone. It has a gradual, conformable contact with the underlying Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation, and has a sharp, unconformable contact with the overlying Atherfield Clay Formation, a shallow marine unit deposited after marine transgression during the Aptian.

Physical properties

Bored exposure of the lower Weald Clay on the shore near Cooden Beach

The weathered and unweathered forms of the Weald Clay have different physical properties. Blue looks superficially like a soft slate, is quite dry and hard and will support the weight of buildings quite easily. Because it is quite impermeable, and so dry, it does not get broken by tree roots. It is typically found at 750mm down below a layer of yellow clay. Yellow, found on the surface, absorbs water quite readily so becomes very soft in the winter. The two different types make quite different bricks.

Paleofauna

Vertebrates

Vertebrates reported from the Weald Clay
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Baryonyx	B. walkeri	Smokejack Clay Pit	Upper Weald Clay	Multiple partial skulls, one of which had an associated postcranial skeleton.[5]	A spinosaurid	Baryonyx
Horshamosaurus	H. rudgwickensis	Rudgwick Brickworks	Upper Weald Clay	"Vertebrae, partial fore and hindlimbs, osteoderms."[6]	A dubious[7] genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur belonging to Polacanthinae. Originally named as a species of Polacanthus.[8]
Iguanodon	I. bernissartensis	Smokejack Clay Pit	Upper Weald Clay		Iguanodontian, also known from the Wessex Formation.	Iguanodon
Mantellisaurus	M. atherfieldensis	Smokejack Clay Pit	Upper Weald Clay		Iguanodontian, also known from the Wessex Formation	Mantellisaurus
Valdosaurus	V. canaliculatus[9]	Heathfield	Lower Weald Clay		A dryosaurid, also known from the Wessex Formation
Leptocleidus	L. superstes[10]			NHM R4828 (holotype)	Pliosauroid	Leptocleidus
Wyleyia[11]	W. valdensis[11]	West Sussex[11]
Dorsetisaurus	Indeterminate	Keymer Tile Works
Sauropoda	Indeterminate	Smokejacks, Bexhill
Anura	Indeterminate	Keymer Tile Works	Lower	Maxillary fragment[12]
Urodela	Indeterminate	Keymer Tile Works	Lower	Atlas vertebra	Has been suggested to have a close relationship with Balveherpeton from Germany.[13]

Invertebrates

Numerous insect species are known from several localities in the Weald Clay, including Rudgwick Brickworks,^[14] Auclaye Brickworks,^[15] Smokejacks^[16] and Clockhouse Brickworks^[17][18][19]

Invertebrates reported from the Weald Clay
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Principiala[20]	P. rudgwickensis	Rudgwick Brickworks	Upper Weald Clay	Single partial fore-wing	An Ithonidae lacewing, the second in Principiala
Englathauma	E. crabbi	Rudgwick Brickworks		BMB 021962/3 almost complete forewing	A englathaumatid scorpionfly
	E. mellishae	Smokejacks		Wing and wing fragments
Cretophasmomima[21]	C. traceyae	Smokejacks		Forewing	A stick insect
Valdicossus	V. mikewebsteri[22]	Smokejacks	Upper	Hindwing	A member of Palaeontinidae
	V. chesteri[23]	Cooden Beach	Lower	Hindwing
Ilerdocossus	I. prowsei [22]	Clockhouse Brickworks	Lower		A member of Palaeontinidae
Proraphidia	P. hopkinsi[24]				A member of Mesoraphidiidae
Turanophlebia	T. anglicana[25]				Dragonfly, member of Tarsophlebiidae
Brochocoleus	B. keenani[26] B. tobini	Smokejacks	Upper		Member of Ommatidae
Diluticupes	D. crowsonae
Zygadenia	Z. tuberculata,[27] Z. angliae[28]
Cionocoleus	C. elizabethae, C. watsoni [29] C. minimus
Omma	O. elongatum	Keymer Tile Works	Lower

Flora

Plants reported from the Weald Clay
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Weichselia[4]	W. reticulata				A tree fern
Brachyphyllum[4]					Conifer leaves
Pagiophyllum[4]					Conifer leaves
Pseudofrenelopsis[4]	P. parceramosa				A conifer belonging to the extinct family Cheirolepidiaceae

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Paleontology portal
• Dinosaurs portal

• Wealden District
• London Clay
• Oxford Clay
• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations