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Foss Cross Quarry facts for kids

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Foss Cross Quarry
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of Search Gloucestershire
Coordinates 51°46′55″N 1°55′10″W / 51.781886°N 1.919501°W / 51.781886; -1.919501
Interest Geological
Area 0.67 hectare
Notification 1972

Foss Cross Quarry is a 0.67-hectare (1.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972. The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 (on line) as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS) and a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).

Location and geology

The site lies in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and provides important exposures of White Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the county. The rocks have been interpreted as deposits which were laid down c.165 million years ago in a warm, shallow sea. The conditions for that exist today on the Bahama Banks in the Caribbean. There is a well-developed sedimentary structure with a variety of fossils.

The site is also important for the red fossil alga (Solenopora jurassica). This is called Beetroot Stone. Areas of hardened sea floor also occur. The site is a significant research area and has enabled geologists to reconstruct the environments of the ancient seas which covered much of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire during the Middle Jurassic time interval.

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