Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment |
Show Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment on the Map >> Grid Reference: TR171394 The Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment includes the Holywell Coombe Geological Conservation Review site. Holywell Coombe is important for the Pleistocene sequence of Devensian (70,000 to 10,000 years ago), Late Glacial and Flandrian (less tha 10,000 years ago) spring and slope deposits that occur in the Chalk coombe, containing fossil molluscs, plant remains and fossil beetles. A key feature of the deposits is that they allow changes in the fossil molluscan fauna to be compared with vegetation zones and standard pollen zones. A series of mollusc assemblage zones defined on the basis of successive mollusc fauna at Holywell Coombe is now established as a standard against which other similar mollusc assemblages, occurring in southern England, can be compared and dated. Holywell Coombe is therefore a key Pleistocene reference site. For more information on this SSSI site visit the English Nature website. |
(Regionally Important Geological Sites)
RIGS are geological sites that are important for historical, scientific research or educational reasons.
(Sites of Special Scientific Interest)
SSSIs give legal protection to the best sites for wildlife and geology in England.