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Cliffs, Fairlight Head

One of the finest exposures of Lower Cretaceous, Wealden sediments in Britain. The cliffs are Ashdown Sand and shows sediments deposited by rivers that crossed an extensive coastal plain some 140 million years ago. Fossil plant material, including the remains of upstanding plants in growth positions, occur throughout the sequence and suggest that the climate at the time was warm, semi-arid and possibly monsoonal. Animal fossils, entirely non-marine, include insects, molluscs, fish and reptiles. Crocodiles, turtles, and pterosaurs have been found here, but the site is best known for the remains of dinosaurs that occur here, including Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Cetiosaurus.

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