WHITECLIFF BAY. 125 



of the freshwater and marine series of the Isle of 

 Wight eocene deposits. The cliff now entirely 

 consists of the London clay beds, which are ex- 

 posed wherever there is a break or slip in the 

 turf-covered slopes. These strata become more 

 developed towards Culver Cliff, where the lower- 

 most tertiary, and uppermost cretaceous strata, 

 are in juxta-position. 



The magnificent chalk cliffs of Culver can only 

 be seen to advantage from the sea (see PI. XIV.) ; 

 the dip of the beds is about 70° to the north, and 

 is well defined, even from a distance, by the layers 

 of flints. Most of these siliceous nodules, though 

 imbedded in the chalk, and still retaining their 

 original forms, are splintered to atoms, probably 

 from the concussion produced by the upheaval of 

 the strata ; this phenomenon was first pointed out 

 by Sir Henry Englefield.* 



Whitecliff Bay, though destitute of those re- 

 markable characters which have rendered Alum 

 Bay so attractive to the tourist, is highly interest- 

 ing to the instructed observer. From the period 

 when Sir H. Englefield and Mr. Webster first 

 directed attention to the phenomena here exhi- 

 bited, this locality has been explored by many 



* See Linna;an Transactions, vol. vi. p. 108; also, Fossils of the South 

 Downs, p. 151. 



G 2 



