CHAPTER IV. 



FROM RYDE TO CULVER CLIFF — GEOLOGY OF WHITECLIFF BAY 



STRATA AND ORGANIC REMAINS SANDOWN BAY BONES OF 



COLOSSAL REPTILES. 



From Ryde to Culver Cliff. — On the north 

 side of Culver Cliff, the eastern extremity of the 

 chalk downs and of the island, the long-continued 

 action of the sea on the tertiary strata has exca- 

 vated an irregular bay, which is bounded by cliffs 

 that expose a section of the entire series of 

 marine and freshwater eocene deposits. This ex- 

 cavation is called Whitecliff Bay, and is about 

 nine miles from Ryde.* 



The road from Ryde passes over a country 

 prettily diversified by gentle hills and dales ; but 

 the strata are concealed by pasturage and cul- 

 tivation, and the geological character of the dis- 

 trict can only be traced in the low borders along 

 the sea-shore, and in the pits and quarries opened 



* See the diagram, PI. VII. p. 94 ; and the Map, PI. XX. The reader will 

 remember that Whitecliff and Alum Bay are natural sections of the vertical 

 and horizontal tertiary strata that extend through the island from east to 

 west, on the north of the chalk downs. 



