56 GEOLOGY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT 



In the Eocene we shall find marine deposits of a com- 

 paratively shallow sea, and beds deposited at the mouth 

 of great rivers, where remains of sea creatures are mingled 

 with those washed down from the land by the rivers. 

 These strata run through the Isle of Wight from east to 

 west, and we may study them at either end of the Island, 

 in Whitecliff and Alum Bays. The strata are highly 

 inclined, so that we can walk across them in a short walk. 

 Some beds contain many fossils, but many of the shells 

 are very brittle and crumbly ; and we can only secure 

 good specimens by cutting out a piece of the clay or sand 

 containing them, and transferring them carefully to 

 boxes, to be carried home with equal care. Often much 

 of the face of the cliff is covered with slip or rain wash, 

 and overgrown with vegetation. Sometimes a large slip 

 exposes a good hunting ground. 



Now let us walk along the shore, and try to read the 

 story these Tertiary beds tell us. We will begin in 

 Whitecliff Bay. Though easily accessible, it remains still 

 in its natural beauty. The sea washes in on a fine stretch 

 of smooth sand sheltered by the white chalk wall which 

 forms the south arm of the bay. North of the Culver 

 downs the cliffs are much lower, and consist of sands and 

 clays of varying colour, following each other in vertical 

 bands. Looking along the line of shore we notice a band 

 of limestone, at first nearly vertical like the preceding 

 strata, then curving at a sharp angle as it slopes to the 

 shore, and running out to sea in a reef known as Bern- 

 bridge Ledge. This is the Bembridge limestone ; and 

 the beginning of the reef marks the northern boundary of 

 Whitecliff Bay, the shore, however, continuing in nearly 

 the same line to Bembridge Foreland, and showing a 

 continuous succession of Eocene and Oligocene strata. 

 The strata north of the limestone are nearly horizontal, 

 dipping slightly to the north. In the Bembridge lime- 

 stone we see the end of the Sandown anticline, and the 



