The South Coast

Abstract

The geology of the south coast of Britain is varied with Devonian rocks approaching 400 million years of age in the far west, giving way to younger Triassic and Jurassic rocks of around 200 million years of age as we move eastward towards Dorset, with a huge swathe of Cretaceous rock between 65 and 140 million years of age in the south east, interrupted around the Southampton area by a band of com­paratively young Miocene rock of between 2 and 24 million years of age. In the far west we find granite outcrops such as at Lands End, with a variety of sedimentary layers as we move eastward, varying in colour from beautiful red hues to more traditional greys and, in the south east, of course, the chalk, with significant bodies on the coast at Seven Sisters and Dover. Moving slightly in land, there is a swathe of very young Miocene rock around the London and home counties area, moving across diagonally to the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts. The south coast of Britain is thus quite varied in both the relative age and appearance of its cliffs and visible coast line. From gleaming white chalk to the burnt amber and reds of western sandstones and various shades of grey. The beaches also show an interesting variation, from the large dense pebbles at Budleigh Salterton through shingle beaches in Dorset and the pebble beaches at Hastings, interspersed with a variety of sands.