Stratigraphy

Walking through the northern reaches of Denny Lodge Enclosure I notice where one of the drainage ditches had recently been re-cut that the material piled on the banks was full of small shells and shell fragments.  These small shells and shell fragments were in grey blue clay, very similar to that which emerges in the cliffs at Barton, in fact they're the exact same Eocene sedimentary deposits. About 40 odd million years ago the whole region was an extensive shallow muddy lagoon/sea.  What struck me was the stratigraphy, or at least how close to the surface these ancient deposits were, the grey blue clay is not more that 30 cm from the surface, and I'm not sure that the orange clay horizon above it isn't just oxidized grey blue clay. The material heaped in the banks was absolutely stuffed with shell, the sea must have been chocker with life. The proximity of the clay to the surface, and that it extends under the whole forest and beyond, explain why the forest is so wet.You're not walking in the forest, you're really paddling in an ancient sea.