Thanet Beds

The Thanet Beds or Thanet Sands are Paleocene sedimentary strata found in southeast England which are 54.8 to 57.0 million years old. They are referred to, in a wider European context, as Thanetian. Due to a local discontinuity, in the south of England they lie at the bottom of the Paleogene strata, deposited unconformably above the Cretaceous Chalk and conformably beneath the Lambeth Group. They consist almost wholly of fine soft sand, very pale grey or buff, and slightly clayey. They are well exposed at Herne Bay and Pegwell Bay. At Herne Bay the beds are divided as follows (top to bottom):