Mesozoic forests of Britain

Project summary

• Focus: The productivity of important Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous forests of southern England

This project aims to investigate the productivity of important Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous forests of southern England.

Work will focus initially on forests of the Purbeck Formation, which are associated with the mining of Portland Stone.

We are using new laser scanning technology to reconstruct tree habit accurately and characterise the tree component of the Formation.

We hope this research will enable us to better understand forest ecosystems of the Mesozoic Era, and document an important feature of the geological heritage of the British Isles.