THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE V. VOL. VI. 



No. II.— FEBRUARY, 1909. 



OI?.IC3-IISr^^ILi J^I^TICLES. 



I. — On the Geologic Conditions affecting the Coasts of England 

 AND AVales, with spkcial keference to the Coast-line from 

 Lynn to Wells (Norfolk) and from Yarmouth to Eastbourne 

 (Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex). 



By W, Whitakek, B.A., F.R.S. 



"Written for the Royal Comraission on Coast Erosion and the Reclamation of Tidal 

 Lands, and printed in its Report, 1907, vol. i, pt. ii, Appendices, pp. 141-5. 



IN reprinting this article some slight changes and corrections have 

 been made, but it remains substantially the same, perhaps with 

 trifling improvements. [Any notable addition is included in brackets 

 of this kind.] 



During a long series of years I have examined a large amount 

 of the English coast, either in the course of my work on the 

 Geological Survey or in my holidays. This includes walking along 

 the whole or nearly the whole coast of the following counties : — 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, and 

 Cornwall ; a continuous series from tlie east to the south-west. To 

 these may be added the small amount of coast possessed by Cheshire. 

 I have also examined a considerable part of the coasts of Durham 

 and Yorkshire as well as parts of the coasts of Somersetshire, 

 Glamorganshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland. Generally speaking, 

 every chance of seeing our coast has been taken. In some cases my 

 walks were along the foot of the cliffs, in others along the top, often 

 along both, and to many parts repeated visits have been paid. These 

 facts are noticed in order to show that I have some experience of the 

 subject. 



General Statement as to the Sea-bord Counties. 



It is clear that the form of a coast must depend on its geologic 

 structure, and therefore so also must the rapidity of coast-erosion. 

 Hard and fii-m rocks will resist the various eroding powers, whether 

 from above or at the sea-level ; soft and loose rocks will yield more 

 readily. 



It is not, however, altogether a question of mere hardness or firm- 

 ness ; many rocks of good character in that respect are seriously 

 affected by structural planes, by which they are more or less readily 



BECADE v. — VOL. VI. — NO. II. 4 



