THE STRATIGRAPHY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE UPPER WEALD CLAY (BARREMIAN)AT SMOKEJACKS BRICKWORKS, OCKLEY, SURREY, ENGLAND

The stratigraphy of the Weald Clay of Surrey is summarized. The Hauter ivian/Barremian boundary is shown to correspond closely to the Lower W eald Clay/Upper Weald Clay boundary, which lies at the base of BGS (Br itish Geological Survey) Bed 3a and is close to the Ewhurst/Capel ostr acod faunicycle boundary. Detailed sections of the sediments exposed i n the pit at Smokejacks Brickworks are published for the first time. B GS Bed 5c is present at the top of the pit, which indicates that the s ediments belong to the Upper Weald Clay and suggests an early Barremia n age for this sire. The pit has yielded a diverse non-marine fossil f auna and flora consisting of the remains of insects, crustacea, bivalv es, dinosaurs (including Baryonyx walken), pterosaurs, crocodiles, sha rks, bony fish, club mosses, horsetails, ferns, conifers and a primiti ve aquatic or marsh-dwelling herbaceous plant. The extinct lacewing fa mily Brongniartiellidae is recorded from the Barremian for the first t ime. The sediments exposed in Smokejacks pit and their fossil content indicate a shallowing upwards sequence, documenting a change from a la custrine/lagoonal to a fluvial/mudplain environment. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited.