Places on the Triassic Coast.
Picture Galleries.
Places on the Jurassic Coast.
Picture Galleries.
Places on the Cretaceous Coast.
Picture Galleries.
West Bay near Bridport.
West Bay or Bridport Harbour as it was once known, is situated where a river valley intersects the eroding cliffs of the Jurassic coast and the westernmost part of the Chesil Beach. This western end of Chesil Beach consisted of fine shingle, the remnants of which can still be seen east of the harbour.
Looking at West Bay and the Harbour from the South West Coastal path going up East Cliff.
The towering 46m high honey coloured cliffs are formed from Bridport Sands.
East Cliff at West Bay, 46m high cliffs formed from Bridport Sand.
Looking west from the beach at Burton Freshwater towards the Bridport Sand Cliffs.
The natural colour of Bridport Sandstone is blue – grey, it turns yellow with surface weathering.
The cliff face is dissolved by rainwater containing carbon dioxide and the combined action of rain and wind erodes out the sand in patches.
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The start of the Jurassic period is marked by the rise in sea levels that flooded the Triassic desert.
Initially the sea was deep and a thick sequence of clays were deposited between 195 and 200 million years ago, this is characterised by the Blue Lias cliffs of Lyme Regis and Charmouth which are famous for their fossils, especially ammonites.
Towards the end of the Lower Jurassic and the start of the Middle Jurassic, 176-161 million years ago the sea had become much shallower, laying down deposits of sandstones, which to the west of the harbour became the cliffs we see today.
The towering honey coloured cliffs are formed from Bridport Sands, rocks that formed at the mouth of a giant river delta that flowed into the Jurassic sea from the north.
The honeycombed surface develops because some of the cliff face is dissolved by rainwater containing carbon dioxide and the combined action of rain and wind erodes out the sand in patches. This honeycombed weathering is only present in the cliff above the level at which storm waves can wear away the surface fairly smooth.