Editing Isle of Thanet (section)

==Geology==
The Isle is formed almost wholly of [[Chalk Group|chalk]], a soft pure white [[limestone]] of [[Cretaceous]] age, specifically the Margate Chalk Member (Santonian to Campanian) traditionally referred to simply as the 'Margate Chalk', and sometimes as the ‘Margate Member’. It is a sub-division of the Newhaven Chalk Formation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Margate Chalk Member |url=https://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=MACK |website=BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref> Beneath this and outcropping around the margins of the Isle is the Seaford Chalk Formation which contains relatively more flint nodules and seams.<ref>{{cite web |title=Seaford Chalk Formation |url=https://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=SECK |website=BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref> It has also been referred to as the ‘Broadstairs Member’. The Seaford Chalk is of [[Coniacian]] to [[Santonian]] age whilst the Margate Chalk is of Santonian to [[Campanian]] age. Both were traditionally referred to the ‘Upper Chalk’ but are now classed as parts of the ‘White Chalk Subgroup’ as part of the broader [[Chalk Group]].<ref>"The Rural Landscape of Kent", SG McRae and CP Burnham, [[Wye College]], 1973.</ref>

Overlying the chalk both within the [[Wantsum Channel]] and in patches on the surface of the Isle itself are the {{cvt|100|m}} thick [[sand]]s, [[silt]]s and [[clay]]s of the [[Palaeogene]] age Thanet Formation (formerly the Thanet Beds). The area gives its name to the internationally recognised [[Thanetian]], descriptive of rocks of this particular part of the [[Palaeocene]] throughout the world. [[Brickearth]] [[head (geology)|head]] deposits lie within many of the shallow chalk valleys and across some areas of flatter ground within the Isle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geological Survey of Great Britain (England and Wales), Ramsgate, Sheet 274, 1:50000 series, Solid and Drift Edition |url=http://www.largeimages.bgs.ac.uk/iip/mapsportal.html?id=1001769 |website=Maps Portal |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref>