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Wessex Formation

Early Cretaceous geological formation in England

Summary

Early Cretaceous geological formation in England

Field	Value
name	Wessex Formation
image	West_of_Chilton_Chine_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1378519.jpg
caption	Exposure of the Wessex Formation west of Chilton Chine
type	Geological formation
period	Barremian
age
prilithology	mudstone
otherlithology	sandstone, ironstone & conglomerate
namedfor	Wessex
namedby	Daley and Stewart
year_ts	1979
region	Southern England
country	United Kingdom
unitof	Wealden Group
subunits	Coarse Quartz Grit (in Dorset)
underlies	Vectis Formation
overlies	Durlston Formation
thickness	up to 1000 m near Swanage
location_ts	Bacon Hole, Mupe Bay
extent	Dorset, Isle of Wight, offshore Wessex Basin
map	IOW_geology.svg
map_caption	Exposure of the Wessex and Vectis Formations on the South Coast of the Isle of Wight, shown in turquoise.

Exposures of the Wessex and Vectis Formations in southern Dorset, shown in turquoise.

The Wessex Formation is a fossil-rich English geological formation that dates from the Berriasian to Barremian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It forms part of the Wealden Group and underlies the younger Vectis Formation and overlies the Durlston Formation. The dominant lithology of this unit is mudstone with some interbedded sandstones. It is part of the strata of the Wessex Basin, exposed in both the Isle of Purbeck and the Isle of Wight. While the Purbeck sections are largely barren of vertebrate remains, the Isle of Wight sections are well known for producing the richest and most diverse fauna in Early Cretaceous Europe.

Nomenclatural history

Historically, the Wessex Formation has been called alternately the "Variegated Marls and Sandstones", a name used by W. J. Arkell in his 1947 map of the Isle of Purbeck as well as the "Wealden Marls" It was given its current formal name by Daley and Stewart in 1979.

Stratigraphy and lithology

Introduction

Position of the Wessex Formation within the Wessex Basin succession

The Wessex Formation forms part of the Wealden Group within the Wessex Basin, an area of subsidence since Permo-Triassic times. The basin is located along southern half of the Isle of Wight and Purbeck, extending offshore into the English Channel. The Wealden Group is also exposed significantly in the Weald Basin, which has a separate stratigraphic succession. The Wealden Group is not widely present elsewhere in Britain, as these areas were tectonic highs where little to no sediment deposition was taking place. The formation has limited exposure as it has been deeply buried beneath the subsequent Lower Greensand. Selbourne and Chalk Groups, as well as being very vulnerable to erosion. It has been exposed at the surface due to the creation of anticlinal structures as a distant effect of the formation of the Pyrenees as part of the Alpine Orogeny during the Paleogene.

The major source rocks for the sediments were from the Cornubian Massif to the west, an upland region roughly equivalent to the extent of Cornwall and Devon, with occasional large dropstones transported in tree roots being found in Wealden sediments over 100 km from where they originated.

The Wessex Formation in the Isle of Purbeck

The exposure in of the Wessex Formation in the Isle of Purbeck is largely confined to a thin belt on the south side of the Purbeck Ridge and is best exposed at Swanage, Lulworth Cove and Worbarrow Bay. One notable persistent horizon within the Purbeck sections of the formation is the "Coarse Quartz Grit", an up to 6 m thick sequence of conglomeratic ironstone, with many beds including numerous centimetre sized subangular to rounded pebbles predominantly of vein derived quartz, hence the name. This horizon is present throughout the Purbeck outcrops of the Wessex Formation. The transition to the Vectis Formation at Swanage is obscured by a landslip.

The Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight succession has two primary exposures, The major one being the several kilometre long section along the South West coastline around Brighstone Bay, and another smaller exposure on the South East coast near Yaverland. While the formation taken as a whole dates from the Berriasian to the Barremian, only the uppermost part of the formation is exposed on the Isle of Wight. With less than 200 m of exposed composite stratigraphic thickness, and which dates from Hauterivian to Barremian. A radiometric date has been obtained from the lower part of the succession, estimated to be 127.3 ± 2.7 million years ago.** This makes the formation coeval with upper portion of the Weald Clay in the Weald Basin. The primary lithology of the exposed portion of the formation on the Isle of Wight consists of featureless purple-red overbank mudstone, interbedded with sandstones. The environment of deposition was a floodplain within a narrow, east–west oriented valley. The climate at the time of deposition is considered to be semi-arid, based on the presence of pedogenic calcrete nodules within the mudstones. The "Pine Raft" horizon found near the base of the exposed portion of the formation includes calcitized conifer trunks up to metre in diameter and 2-3 m long.

Cast of a dinosaur footprint, Wessex Formation

Plant debris beds

A notable feature of the formation are the so-called "plant debris beds". These consist of a basal matrix supported conglomerate, grading upwards into grey mudstone with lignitic plant debris, including large trunk fragments of the extinct conifer Pseudofrenelopsis present in the upper portion. These were formed by sheet flood deposits induced by storms that filled pre-existing topographic lows like oxbow lakes and abandoned channels in the floodplain depositional environment. The debris beds do not form a continuous horizon throughout the formation, but are laterally extensive over tens of metres. Many of the wood fragments in the debris beds are cemented together with large nodules of pyrite, suggesting depositional conditions were anoxic. Most fossils within the formation are associated with the debris beds. Vertebrate fossils are mostly disarticulated individual bones and teeth, suggesting a long subaerial exposure prior to burial, though the bones lack abrasion, suggesting that they had not been significantly transported. Partial skeletons also sometimes occur, but are uncommon. Autochthonous siderite nodules are also present, which encase some of the fossils. Plant debris beds also exist within the Swanage section, and one of these horizons has yielded microvertebrate remains.

''"Hypsilophodon'' bed"

While most fossils are associated with the plant debris beds, a notable exception is the "Hypsilophodon bed" present near the top of the formation, an up to 1 m thick bed of silty red-green mudstone, with two separate horizons that have produced almost exclusively over a hundred complete and articulated skeletons of the dinosaur Hypsilophodon, sometimes even with preserved tail tendons. The bed is laterally extensive, being persistent for over a kilometre. A 2017 study suggested that the accumulation of skeletons were a mass mortality event caused by a crevasse splay, while a 2025 study contested this assertion, suggesting that the Hypsilophodon individuals gradually accumulated over time and had been exposed for some time prior to burial. Just above the "Hypsilophodon bed" the red mudstones of the Wessex Formation change to the transitional light coloured sandstone "White rock" and overlying laminated grey mudstones of the Vectis Formation, caused by the changing of environmental conditions from that of a floodplain to coastal lagoon conditions.

Palaeoenvironment

Example of modern [[macchia]] vegetation in Corsica, to which the environment of the Wessex Formation has been compared

The palaeoenvironment of the Wessex Formation is considered to have been semi-arid, and has variously been compared to chaparral or macchia Mediterranean shrubland. The dominant trees were conifers of the extinct family Cheirolepidiaceae belonging to the genera Pseudofrenelopsis and Watsoniocladus, both of which have reduced xerophytic leaves adapted to arid conditions. Tree cover is thought to have been thin, and concentrated near waterways. The ground cover is thought to have consisted of xerophytic ferns. Wildfires were common occurrences, as evidenced by preserved charred vegetation.

Fauna

The Wessex Formation likely spans several million years of deposition, and not all taxa are likely to have been contemporaneous.

Invertebrates

Invertebrates are commonly preserved in the Wessex Formation. Freshwater bivalves can be found including unionids such as Margaritifera, Nippononaia, and Unio. These bivalves help reconstruct what the freshwater paleoenvironment may have been like during the formation's deposition. Specimens of Viviparus, a genus of freshwater snail, have also been found. While compression fossils of insects are found in the overlying Vectis Formation, all insect fossils in the Wessex Formation are found as inclusions in amber. Amber can be found present as a rare component in plant debris beds in the Wessex formation both on the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Purbeck, however, the only significant concentration and where all of the inclusions have been found is a lag channel in the L6 plant debris horizon just south-east of Chilton Chine. Only four species from the amber have been formally described, Cretamygale chasei a mygalomorph spider, Dungeyella gavini Libanodiamesa simpsoni, both chironomid midges, as well as Embolemopsis maryannae, a embolemid parasitic wasp. However a table of undescribed taxa has been given, and several images of some of the undescribed taxa have been released from various sources, including multiple chironomids, and a therevid dipteran.

Arthropods

Arthropods of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Abundance	Note	Images
Cypridea	C. wicheri, C. brevirostrata	Dungy Head	Base of the formation		An ostracod belonging to Cypridoidea
		Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen	Mygalomorph spider, has been described from a specimen found in amber.	See article
Dungeyella	D. gavini	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Multiple specimens	A tiny buchonomyiine chironomid midge	See article
Embolemopsis	E. maryannae	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen	Embolemid parasitic wasp, genus also known from the Zaza Formation. Specimen previously described as a dryinid in a 2015 conference abstract.	[[File:Wealden Dryinid.jpg	frameless]]
Protopangu	P. valdensis	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen	A panguid parasitic stinging wasp
Libanodiamesa	L. simpsoni	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen	Prodiamesinae chironomid, genus also known from the Lebanese amber
Chironomidae		Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	44% of all arthropod inclusions	Uncertain how many taxa represented, likely at least two. At least one is a tanypodian with a wingspan twice that of Dungeyella.
Therevidae	Indeterminate	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	At least one specimen	At least one specimen figured	[[File:Wealden Therevid.jpg	frameless	165x165px]]
Diptera	Indeterminate	Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Multiple specimens	Uncertain how many taxa represented
Hymenoptera		Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Multiple specimens	Uncertain how many taxa represented
Blattodea		Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen
Coleoptera		Chilton Chine	L6 plant debris bed	Single specimen
Curculionoidea?

Vertebrates

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

Ornithischians reported from the Wessex Formation	Genus	Synonyms	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Brighstoneus	B. simmondsi	L9	Partial skeleton	A hadrosauriform iguanodontian	[[File:Brighstoneus.png	center	frameless]]
Comptonatus	C. chasei	Compton Bay	Partial skeleton	An iguanodontian dinosaur	[[File:Comptonatus chasei.png	center	frameless]]
		Hypsilophodon bed	Many partial skeletons	A hypsolophodontid	[[File:Hypsilophodon TD.png	center	frameless]]
		Yaverland bed 38	Teeth	Resemble the cheek teeth of the heterodontosaurid Tianyulong.
					[[File:Iguanodon TD.png	center	frameless]]
					[[File:Istiorachis macarthurae.png	center	frameless]]
				A hadrosauroid iguanodontian	[[File:Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis Steveoc.jpg	center	frameless]]
Polacanthus	P. foxii		Dorsal vertebrae, dorsosacral vertebrae, sacral vertebrae, caudosacral vertebra, caudal vertebrae, dorsal ribs, ilia, pubes, ischia, femora, tibia, distal end of fibula, astragalus, metatarsals, ungual phalanx, sacral shield and osteoderms.	An ankylosaur
		Recovered from various parts of the formation	Multiple partial skeletons	A dryosaurid
Vectidromeus	V. insularis	Lower part of the formation	Associated elements of the dorsal vertebrae, pelvis, hindlimbs, and tail, from a juvenile specimen	A hypsilophodontid	[[File:Vectidromeus insularis 2.png	center	frameless]]
Vectipelta	V. barretti	L5	Partial skeleton	An ankylosaur. Referred to as the "Spearpoint ankylosaur" prior to its original description. Only distantly related to Polacanthus.

Saurischians

Sauropods

Sauropods reported from the Wessex Formation	Genus	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
Chondrosteosaurus				A eusauropod	[[File:Chondrosteosaurus.jpg	center	frameless]]
				A macronarian.	[[File:Eucamerotus holotype Hulke 1870.png	center	frameless]]
					[[File:Oplosaurus.png	center	frameless]]
Undescribed Sauropod (Barnes High sauropod)	Indeterminate		title=Field Guide to English Wealden Fossils	publisher=Palaeontological Association	year=2011	chapter=Sauropod dinosaurs}}	Currently in private collection and unavailable to researchers. Known informally as "the Barnes High sauropod". Possibly the same as Eucamerotus
"Angloposeidon" (informal)	Indeterminate	L1	One cervical vertebra and possible associated centrum	Represents a large animal 20 metres or greater in length. Known informally as "Angloposeidon". Perhaps a somphospondylan?	[[File:Angloposeidon.jpg	center	frameless]]
		Scapula found approximately around L11

Theropods

Theropods reported from the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
				Possibly an Enantiornithe and a Hesperornithid present
					[[File:Aristosuchus restoration.jpg	center	frameless]]
					[[File:Calamosaurus.jpg	center	frameless]]
					[[File:Ceratosuchops inferodios by PaleoGeek.png	center	frameless]]
		Chilton Chine		A tyrannosauroid	[[File:Eotyrannus 1 NT.jpg	center	frameless]]
		Chilton
					[[File:Ornithodesmus cluniculus.jpg	center	frameless]]
					[[File:Riparovenator milnerae by PaleoGeek v2.png	center	frameless]]
Tetanurae	Indeterminate	Chilton Chine	last1=Benson	first1=Roger B. J.	last2=Brusatte	first2=Stephen L.	last3=Hutt	first3=Stephen	last4=Naish	first4=Darren	title=A new large basal tetanuran (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Wessex Formation (Barremian) of the Isle Of Wight, England	journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology	volume=29	issue=2	year=2009	pages=612–615	issn=0272-4634	doi=10.1671/039.029.0202	bibcode=2009JVPal..29..612B	s2cid=83869634}}	Distinct from Neovenator and Baryonyx. Currently in private collection.
					[[File:Thecocoelurus.png	center	frameless]]
Undescribed coelurosaur	Indeterminate		Partial associated skeleton	last=Darren	first=Naish	date=23 March 2020	title=Theropod Dinosaurs of the English Wealden, Some Questions (Part 1)	url=https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/3/23/theropods-of-the-english-wealden-questions-part-1	access-date=2021-07-06	website=Tetrapod Zoology	language=en-GB}}
Coelurosauria	Indeterminate (or possibly C. oweni)		Tibia	Previously referred to Hypsilophodon, Aristosuchus, Calamosaurus, Ornithomimosauria indet. and Coelurosauria indet.	[[File:Calamospondylus oweni tibia.png	frameless	250x250px]]
					[[File:Vectiraptor greeni dorsal vertebra by Nick Longrich.jpg	center	frameless]]
		Yaverland	Known from a "partial skull roof comprising both frontals and parts of the right postorbital and left orbitosphenoid". A second specimen is known but has not been formally published.		[[File:Yaverlandia skull replica.png	center	frameless]]

Fish

Cartilaginous fishes

Cartilaginous fishes of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Abundance	Note	Images
					Hybodontid hybodont shark
Hybodus
					Lonchidiid hybodont shark
					Catshark
					Lonchidiid hybodont shark
					Shark
					Lonchidiid hybodont shark

Ray-finned fish

Stratigraphic Position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Aspidorhynchiformes	Known from isolated teeth	[[File:Belonostomus tenuirostris Ob Jura Painten D Ch2.jpg	center	thumb	Full skeleton of the related Belonostomus tenuirostris]]
Amiiform fish		[[File:Caturus_NT.jpg	center	frameless]]
Pycnodontid fish
Coccolepidid fish
Lepidotid fish		[[File:Scheenstia_maximus.jpg	center	frameless]]

Mammals

Mammals of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
		Multiple debris beds	L9, Yaverland bed 38 and CL3		Eobaatarid multituberculate
?Gobiconodon	Indeterminate	Yaverland	Yaverland bed 38	A lower right premolariform	Gobiconodontid	[[File:GobiconodonDB15.jpg	frameless]]
					Eobaatarid multituberculate
		Multiple debris beds	Mandible from Yaverland bed 38, isolated teeth from L2, L9 and L14		Spalacotheriid	[[File:Yaverlestes.png	frameless]]
		Multiple debris beds	Yaverland bed 38 and L9	A lower right molar (NHMUK.M45558) C, an upper left molar (NHMUK.M45564)., a tentatively referred lower left or upper right premolar (NHMUK.M45484)
Eutriconodonta	Indeterminate	Yaverland	Yaverland bed 38	Lower left molariform

Lissamphibians

Amphibians of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Notes
url=http://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app20110109.html	title=A new albanerpetontid amphibian from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, southern England - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica	website=www.app.pan.pl	access-date=2017-10-11}}	W.evansae	L2 and Yaverland 38	Albanerpetontid amphibian
		Multiple	1: Yaverland 38 2: L2 and Yaverland 38 3: L2 and Yaverland 38 4: Yaverland 38 5: Yaverland 38	At least 5 distinct taxa distinguished by characters in their ilium
Urodela	Indeterminate	Multiple	1: L2, L14 and Yaverland 33 and 38 2: L9 and Yaverland 38 3: unnamed bed in Compton bay and Yaverland 38	At least 3 distinct taxa distinguished by their atlas vertebrae

Reptiles

Squamates

Squamates of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Meyasaurus	Indeterminate	Yaverland	Yaverland bed 38	Teeth and a partial lower jaw	Genus also known from Spain
Anguimorpha		Multiple plant debris beds	1st taxon L14 and L2, 2nd L2 and Yaverland bed 38, 3rd Yaverland bed 38	last=Sweetman	first=Steven C.	date=March 2016	title=A comparison of Barremian–early Aptian vertebrate assemblages from the Jehol Group, north-east China and the Wealden Group, southern Britain: the value of microvertebrate studies in adverse preservational settings	url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12549-015-0217-9	journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments	language=en	volume=96	issue=1	pages=149–167	doi=10.1007/s12549-015-0217-9	bibcode=2016PdPe...96..149S	s2cid=129956539	issn=1867-1594	url-access=subscription}}
Scincomorpha		Multiple plant debris beds	1: L14 and Yaverland 38 2: Yaverland 38, 3: L2 and Yaverland 38 4,5: Yaverland bed 38 6:L2, L14 and Yaverland 38 7,8,9: Yaverland 38 10: L2, L14 and Yaverland 38	At least 10 distinct taxa represented by isolated teeth, maxilla and lower jaw fragments, some of which are paramacellodids based on the common occurrence of osteoderms typical of this clade.

Neosuchians

Neosuchians of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Abundance
			Disputed, either uppermost Wessex or lowermost Vectis		A goniopholidid
A. epikrator	Hanover Point		Mostly complete skull and partial dentaries and associated postcranial material	[[File:Goniopholis simus 3.jpg	frameless]]
Bernissartia	Indeterminate			40 Isolated teeth	A bernissartiid
				A well-preserved, nearly complete skull	A goniopholidid
					A bernissartiid
				Teeth	An atoposaurid
Vectisuchus	V. leptognathus	Barnes High	Just below the base of the Vectis formation	"Partial semi-articulated skeleton"	A goniopholidid

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Abundance	Notes	Images

Turtles

Turtles of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
				Shell and skull material	Helochelydrid
				Shell fragments	Xinjiangchelyid, previously known by the synonyms Plesiochelys brodiei Lydekker, 1889; Plesiochelys valdensis Lydekker, 1889 and Plesiochelys vectensis Hooley, 1900
last1=Jacobs	first1=M. L.	last2=Pérez-García	first2=A.	last3=Martín-Jiménez	first3=M.	last4=Mottram	first4=C. M.	last5=Martill	first5=D. M.	last6=Gale	first6=A. S.	last7=Mattsson	first7=O.	last8=Wood	first8=C.	year=2023	title=A well preserved pan-pleurodiran (Dortokidae) turtle from the English Lower Cretaceous and the first radiometric date for the Wessex Formation (Hauterivian-Barremian) of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom	journal=Cretaceous Research	volume=150	at=105590	article-number=105590	doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105590	bibcode=2023CrRes.15005590J	doi-access=free }}''	E. cf. morellana	Partial shell with associated vertebrae and limb bones	A dortokid panpleurodiran turtle.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Wessex Formation	Genus	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
			An ornithocheirid	[[File:Caulkicephalus trimicrodon.jpg	center	thumb	[[Caulkicephalus]]]] [[File:IstiodactylusDB3.jpg	center	thumb	[[Istiodactylus]]]]
			An istiodactylid
Ornithocheiridae	Indeterminate	"partial distal left metacarpal IV"	Estimated wingspan of 5.6 metres
			An ornithocheirid, distinct from Coloborhynchus

Flora

Spermatophytes

Spermatophytes reported from the Wessex Formation	Family	Genus	Stratigraphic Position	Material
Araucariaceae	Agathoxylon?	Indeterminate	Wood	Reported as "Dadoxylon"
Araucariaceae	Brachyphyllum	B. obesum	Leaves
Cheirolepidiaceae	Pseudofrenelopsis	P. parceramosa	Leaves and abundant, and occasional segments of the trunk
Cheirolepidiaceae	Watsoniocladus	W. valdensis	Leaves
Cupressaceae	Sphenolepis		Leaves	"taxodiaceous"
Pinaceae	Pityites	P. solmsii

Pteridophytes

Pteridophytes reported from the Wessex Formation	Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic Position	Material	Notes	Images
					May actually originate from the underlying Purbeck Group.	[[File:Tempskya sp. - MUSE.jpg	center	frameless]]

References

Batten, D. J. (ed.) 2011. English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association, London.

References

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West, Ian. "Swanage Bay and Ballard Cliff".
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West, Ian. "Worbarrow Bay".
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"Fossil specimen: MIWG IWCMS.1994.99 – Holotype".
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