page_title: Gault
section_title: Fossils
hierarchical_section_title: Gault / Fossils
caption_attribution_description: English: Hamitidae fossil in Gault Clay in Wear Bay in Folkestone, Kent, England, UK.
context_page_description: 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. 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. 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.
  The etymology of the name is uncertain and probably of local origin.
context_section_description: Gault yields abundant marine fossils, including ammonites (such as Hoplites, Hamites, Euhoplites, Anahoplites, and Dimorphoplites), belemnites (such as Neohibolites), bivalves (such as Birostrina and Pectinucula), gastropods (such as Anchura), solitary corals, fish remains (including shark teeth), scattered crinoid remains, and crustaceans (such as the crab Notopocorystes). Occasional fragments of fossil wood may also be found.
caption: Hamitidae fossil in Gault Clay on a beach in Folkestone, Kent
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