COMPTON BAY. 213 



the summit of the cliff; it is situated to the 

 west of the Blockade-station. 



The footpath to the shore slopes along the face 

 of the crumbling cliffs of greensand strata, which 

 rise from beneath the upper divisions of the creta- 

 ceous system, as is shown in lign. 16. The succes- 

 sion of the beds from Freshwater to Compton Bay, 

 i. e. from west to east, is as follows : — 



1 . Upper or flinty chalk. 



2. Lower chalk. 



3. Firestone, comprising the chalk marl. 



4. Gait. 



5. Greensand, consisting of beds of ferruginous saDds, clays, 



sandstones, and layers of very compact ironstone grit. 



6. AVealden clays, sands, shales, and limestones. 



Geological sections of the southern 

 coast. — The strata incline to the west, as is 

 shown in lign. 16, to beyond Brook Chine, 

 where the eastern side of the anticlinal axis 

 begins, and the dip is to the east, as represented 

 in the continuation of the coast, in lign. 17. 



This line of cliffs is, in fact, the counterpart of 

 that of Sandown Bay {ante, p. 134, lign. 9) ; but 

 the wealden deposits are here more developed, 

 and extend between six and seven miles along 

 the shore. As these cliffs consist of clays, 

 sandy marls, shales, and other materials that offer 



