Jurassic Coast
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Image:Dorset lymebay 01.jpg Image:Gbdot Jurassic Coast.png
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The 95 mile (155km) long site starts at Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon and ends at Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset. The site consists of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous cliffs, spanning the Mesozoic Era, documenting 180 million years of geological history. The Jurassic coast was the first natural World Heritage Site to be designated in the United Kingdom. Its entire length can be walked on the South West Coast Path.
The site contains a number of unique geological features and shows excellent examples of different landforms, including the natural arch at Durdle Door, the cove and limestone folding at Lulworth Cove and an island, the Isle of Portland. Chesil Beach is a fine example of both a tombolo and a storm beach. West Bay forms a major gateway to the Jurassic Coast with the completion in 2004 of the Jurassic Pier. Weymouth is a major gateway town, near the centre of the world heritage site. A World Heritage Coast Centre is to be built in the town by 2011.
The site has stretches of both concordant and discordant coastlines. The site is the subject of international field studies, because of the quality of the geology.
It was featured on the television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the South West (of the UK).
In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Jurassic Coast was named as the 5th greatest natural wonder in Britain.
[edit] Gateway towns
- Abbotsbury
- Bridport
- Budleigh Salterton
- Charmouth — Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre
- Exmouth
- Lulworth
- Lyme Regis
- Seaton
- Sidmouth
- Swanage
- West Bay
- Weymouth
[edit] See also
- Mary Anning — local Paleontologist, who studied the fossils of the coastline around Lyme Regis and discovered the first complete Ichthyosaur fossil.
- Geology of the United Kingdom
- UK coastline
- List of Dorset beaches
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- The South West Coast Path National Trail
- UNESCO's page on the Jurassic Coast
- UNEP's page on the Jurassic Coast
- The Dorset Coast Forum
- South West Grid for Learning, Dorset Coast Forum, Countryside Agency and Dorset & Devon County Council joint Jurassic Coast site
- National Geographic article on the Jurassic Coast
- BBC News Article on the Jurassic Coast
- Dorset and Devon county council's Jurassic Coast site
- Information on the Heritage Coast of Devon and Dorset
- Information, History, Photos etc
- Dr Ian West's page including a lot of information on the Geology of the coast
- 360° panoramas of The Jurassic Coastline at Lyme Regis
- Geology of the Wessex Coast by Ian West, Southampton University
| World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom (list) | |
|---|---|
| Image:Stonehenge back wide.jpg |
England: Blenheim Palace · Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey & St. Martin's Church · Bath · Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape · Derwent Valley Mills · Durham Castle & Cathedral · Hadrian's Wall · Ironbridge Gorge · Jurassic Coast · Kew Gardens · Liverpool · Maritime Greenwich · Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey & St. Margaret's · Saltaire · Stonehenge & Avebury · Studley Royal Park · Tower of London Scotland: Edinburgh Old Town & New Town · Heart of Neolithic Orkney (Maeshowe, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, Standing Stones of Stenness) · New Lanark · St Kilda Wales: Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd (Beaumaris Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle, Harlech Castle) · Blaenavon Northern Ireland: Giant's Causeway Overseas territories: Henderson Island · Gough Island and Inaccessible Island · St. George's |
