A. G. Plint

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Abstract
Recent improvements in biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic control in the Eocene sediments of the Hampshire Basin prompted direct comparison of depositional sequences in outcrop with those predicted by the latest and most detailed Exxon coastal onlap chart. This study focused on the upper two cycles of the London Clay Formation, the Bracklesham Group and the Barton Formation, comprising nine depositional sequences, each a few 10s of metres thick. The sediments were divided into three basic facies associations: marine, estuarine and alluvial. Depositional sequences invariably rest on a regional erosion surface cut during sea‐level lowstand. The lower part of each sequence consists typically of ‘estuarine’ sediments (including tidal channel, lagoon, tidal flat and marsh deposits), laid down under brackish conditions during the early stages of sea‐level rise. Estuarine deposits are typically erosively overlain by marine shoreface or shelf deposits; the eroded, pebble‐strewn contact marks the passage of the marine shoreface. Marine deposits may be erosively overlain by alluvial sediments that record coastal progradation in response to stable or slowly falling sea level. Magnetostratigraphy, in the form of truncated or absent magnetozones provides supporting evidence for significant erosion during periods of lowstand. Every sequence can be matched to the Exxon coastal onlap chart, with one exception, which, on biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic evidence has been shown to be absent from the Hampshire Basin. The Exxon chart suggests that in this exceptional instance, coastal onlap was insufficient to effect marine deposition in the Hampshire Basin.