South-west England Chalk Group Lithostratigraphy: Jarvis & Woodroof (1984) & Jarvis & Tocher (1987) - Little Beach Bioclastic Limestone

The Little Beach Bioclastic Limestone, broadly equating with Cenomanian Limestone division B of Jukes-Browne & Hill (1903), named after Little Beach [SY 223 880], Devon, where it is c. 1.5 m thick, comprises an indurated limestone with locally strongly developed, phosphatised hardgrounds a short distance above the base of the member (informally referred to as the cavernous hardground), and at the top (the Humble Point Hardground: the most conspicuous of the Beer Head Limestone hardgrounds). The base of the member is immediately above the upper surface of the Kings Hole Hardground (marking the top of the underlying Hooken Nodular Limestone), and the top is marked by the upper surface of the Humble Point Hardground (Jarvis & Woodroof, 1984). In the vicinity of Beer Head the member shows considerable local attenuation, and is locally absent at some localities hereabouts, but elsewhere is relatively uniform in character (Jarvis & Woodroof, 1984). The echinoid Holaster subglobosus is characteristic of the unit, which, in contrast to the adjacent members, otherwise contains few macrofossils, (Jarvis & Woodroof, 1984).

Macrofossil Biozonation: (see under Cenomanian Limestone division B of Jukes-Browne & Hill, 1903)

Correlation: see Correlation with other lithostratigraphical schemes for south-west England

see Correlation with other UK regions

References

JARVIS, I & WOODROOF, P B. 1984. Stratigraphy of the Cenomanian and basal Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) between Branscombe and Seaton, S E Devon, England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol. 95 (3), 193-215.

JUKES-BROWNE, A J & HILL, W.1903. The Cretaceous rocks of Britain. Vol. 2 - The Lower and Middle Chalk of England. Memoir of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.

See: Cenomanian Limestone Bed B, hardground