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Gault
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{{Short description|Geological formation in England}} {{about|the clay formation}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Gault Formation | image = Rocks and Rock Pools - geograph.org.uk - 906044.jpg | caption = An exposed surface of Gault clay on the foreshore near [[Beachy Head]], [[East Sussex]] | type = [[Geological formation]] | age = [[Albian]] {{Fossil range|112|100}} | period = Albian | prilithology = [[Mudstone]], [[clay]] | otherlithology = [[Limestone]] | namedfor = | namedby = | region = [[Southern England]] | country = England | coordinates = | unitof = [[Selborne Group]] | subunits = | underlies = [[Upper Greensand Formation]], [[Cambridge Greensand]], [[Chalk Group]] | overlies = [[Monk's Bay Sandstone Formation]], [[Folkestone Formation]], [[Woburn Sands Formation]], [[Carstone Formation]], overstepping of [[Jurassic]] and [[Triassic]] rocks in Southern England | thickness = 2 m in Norfolk to 110 m in the Weald | extent = | area = | map = | map_caption = | location_ts = Copt Point, [[Folkestone]] }} The '''Gault Formation''' is a [[geological formation]] of stiff blue [[clay]] deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower [[Cretaceous]] Period (Upper and Middle [[Albian]]). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at [[Copt Point]] in [[Folkestone]], [[Kent]], [[England]], where it overlays the [[Lower Greensand]] formation, and underlies the [[Upper Greensand Formation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=SELB |title=Selborne Group |work=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> These represent different [[facies]], with the sandier parts probably being deposited close to the shore and the clay in quieter water further from the source of sediment; both are believed to be shallow-water deposits.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallois |first1=R.W. |last2=Edmunds |first2=M.A. |edition=4th |date=1965 |title=The Wealden District |series=British Regional Geology series |publisher=British Geological Survey |isbn=0-11-884078-9}}</ref> The etymology of the name is uncertain and probably of local origin.<ref name="OED">{{Cite book |title=The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1973}}</ref>
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