Why is the Dorset coastline called the Jurassic Coast?
Why is it called the Jurassic Coast? The Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site is more popularly known as the ‘Jurassic Coast’. The name comes from the best known of the geological periods found within it, but in fact the site includes rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
What is Dorset coast famous for?
Dorset’s Jurassic Coast Dorset’s incredible coastline is famous for its fossil-flecked cliffs. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site due to its outstanding geology, take a trip through 185 million years of earth’s history as you journey along the.
Why is the Dorset and East Devon Coast listed?
Outstanding Universal Value The Dorset and East Devon Coast has an outstanding combination of globally significant geological and geomorphological features. This coast is considered by geologists and geomorphologists to be one of the most significant teaching and research sites in the world.
Why is the Jurassic Coast a World Heritage Site?
The Jurassic Coast is a hugely diverse and beautiful landscape underpinned by incredible geology of global importance. In 2001 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for the outstanding universal value of its rocks, fossils and landforms. It remains England’s only natural World Heritage Site.
Why are the cliffs red in Devon?
A spokesman from the Environment Agency told Devon Live: “During this time of year algae comes into the water caused by sunlight. It’s an algae that grows, when you see it sometimes it has different colours and can look red. “It could be that, but its more likely to be discolouration caused by cliffs.”
How did Dorset get its name?
Dorset derives its name from the county town of Dorchester. The Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning “place with fist-sized pebbles”.
What sea is Dorset on?
Coastline. Excluding the shoreline of Poole Harbour, the Dorset coastline is 142 kilometres (88 mi) long and faces the English Channel.
What are Jurassic rocks?
Jurassic rocks are widely distributed and include sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. Because of continuous subduction and destruction of ocean crust in trenches, Middle Jurassic oceanic crust and sediments are generally the oldest sediments remaining in the deep sea.
How old are the fossils in Dorset?
Scientists were able to date its fossilised remains to 200 million years old.
Are there white cliffs in Devon?
The cliffs of South Devon come in many colours, from rusty red sandstone along much of the eastern and central coast, with a pocket of white chalk cliffs around the village of Beer, to rugged grey Schist to the west of the county. …
What is the rock on the Devon coast?
This rocks along this coastline are mainly Shales, Slates and Sandstones, laid down over several hundred million years when this area was part of a vast ocean basin. Sediments that were eroded from the adjacent land were deposited in the sea by rivers.
How old is the Dorset and East Devon coast?
Criterion (viii): The coastal exposures along the Dorset and East Devon coast provide an almost continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era and document approximately 185 million years of Earth’s history.
Why is the Dorset coast a World Heritage Site?
Dorset’s incredible coastline is famous for its fossil-flecked cliffs. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site due to its outstanding geology, take a trip through 185 million years of earth’s history as you journey along the Jurassic Coast. The World Heritage Site stretches for 96 miles between Dorset and East Devon.
What to see on the East Devon coast?
The area is world renowned for the cliff exposures on the East Devon and Dorset coasts that show the near continuous sequence of rock formations that cover approx 185 million years of the earth’s history. The cliff exposures provide visitors with a walk through the ages that include the Jurassic and Triassic periods.
Why is the Jurassic Coast important to Dorset?
Dorset’s Jurassic Coast Dorset’s incredible coastline is famous for its fossil-flecked cliffs. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site due to its outstanding geology, take a trip through 185 million years of earth’s history as you journey along the Jurassic Coast.