Seavington St. Mary is a 0.3 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Seavington St Mary

Seavington St Mary

Seavington St Mary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated next to the village of Seavington St Michael, about east of Ilminster, within the South Somerset district and had a population of 365 inhabitants at the 2001 census....

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, notified in 1971.

Extensive exposures through much of the Inferior Oolite

Inferior Oolite

The Inferior Oolite is a geological formation in Europe. It dates back to the Middle Jurassic.-Formation:The Inferior Oolite is an Oolitic limestone, a Sedimentary rock, meaning it was formed during lithication. The Inferior Oolite is rich in organic material...

. This is the most westerly outcrop of this formation in England. It is thus of considerable importance in interpreting the local stratigraphy

Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....

 and sedimentology

Sedimentology

Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, mud , and clay, and the processes that result in their deposition. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary...

 in relation to the palaeogeography

Palaeogeography

Palaeogeography is the study of what the geography was in times past. It is most often used about the physical landscape, although nothing excludes its use in reference to the human or cultural environment...

 of south-west England in Middle Jurassic

Middle Jurassic

The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from 176-161 million years ago. In European lithostratigraphy, rocks of this Middle Jurassic age are called the Dogger....

times. A valuable Aalenian - Bajocian locality affording a prime educational and research facility.

Source

• English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 10 August 2006)

External links

• English Nature website (SSSI information)