Snowdon Hill Quarry () is a 0.6

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

geological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...

on the western outskirts of

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, notified in 1963. The site shows rock exposures through the

Upper Greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

and

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

which contain fossil crustaceans which are both unique and exceptionally well-preserved and support study of

palaeontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

in Britain. The unit has been dated to the subdivision of the Chalk known as the

Turrilites acutus Zone ''Turrilites'' is a genus of helically coiled ammonoid cephalopods from the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous ( Cenomanian and Turonian); generally included in the Ancyloceratina. Previously (Arkell, 1957) it was included in the ammonoid subord ...

, named after one of the characteristic fossils.English Nature citation sheet for the site
(accessed 9 August 2006)

References

External links

English Nature website
(SSSI information) {{SSSIs Somerset geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1963 Geology of Somerset Quarries in Somerset Chard, Somerset