Chine forming on soft cliffs at Compton, Isle of Wight

Shanklin Chine c1910 - Project Gutenberg eText 17296

A chine () is a steep-sided coastal

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

s. The word is still in use in central

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

—notably in East Devon,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

—to describe such topographical features. The term 'bunny' is sometimes used to describe a chine in Hampshire. The term chine is also used in some

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

suburbs in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

to describe similar features.

Formation and features

Chines appear at the outlet of small river valleys when a particular combination of geology, stream volume, and coastal recession rate creates a knickpoint, usually starting at a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

at the cliff edge, that initiates rapid erosion and deepening of the stream bed into a

gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

leading down to the sea. All chines are in a state of constant change due to erosion. The Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight, for example, has been destroyed by landslides and

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

during the 20th century. As the walls of the chines and cliffs are so unstable and erode continually, particularly those of the south coast of the Isle of Wight, the strata are clearly visible. Chines are, therefore, very important for their fossil records, their archaeology and the unique flora and fauna, such as invertebrates and rare insects, for which they provide shelter.Modelling flow, erosion and long-term evolution of incising channels: managing hydrology and geomorphology for ecology, Norton, Leyland & Darby, ''Sediment Dynamics and the Hydromorphology of Fluvial Systems'', International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 2006,
Google Books, retrieved 3 August 2008
/ref>

On the UK mainland

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, Sherbrooke Chine is west of

Budleigh Salterton Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...

, and Seaton Chine is at the western end of the West Walk esplanade, Seaton. In Dorset, west of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

are found Flaghead Chine, Branksome Chine, Alum Chine, Middle Chine and Durley Chine, and east towards Boscombe, Boscombe Chine and Honeycombe Chine. Bournemouth Town Centre itself is built in the former Bourne Chine (the Pleasure Gardens being the original valley floor), although

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

since the late 19th century has altered the topography somewhat. Becton Bunny and Chewton Bunny are other examples of chines near Barton on Sea, Hampshire ("Bunny" being the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

equivalent to "Chine"). In

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...

, Kent, there is Courtstairs Chine, leading from the cliff top to the undercliff promenade. A rare example of the use of 'Chine' in a non-coastal setting is

Chineham Chineham ( ) is a civil parish on the outskirts of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It is situated about northeast of central Basingstoke, just north of the A33 road between Basingstoke and Reading. Demography Population The population of Ch ...

, a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

On the Isle of Wight

There are twenty chines on the

, to which fascinating folklore is attached because of their history with local smuggling, fishing and shipwrecks. The popular tourist attraction of Shanklin Chine is also famous for its involvement in the Second World War, when it was used to carry one of the

Operation Pluto Operation Pluto (Pipeline Under the Ocean or Pipeline Underwater Transportation of Oil, also written Operation PLUTO) was an operation by British engineers, oil companies and the British Armed Forces to construct submarine oil pipelines un ...

pipelines and as training area for the 40 Royal Marine Commando battalion before the 1942

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, s ...

. Geologically, the chines in

Alum Bay Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within close sight of the Needles rock formation. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs. The waters and adj ...

, in Totland (

Widdick Chine Widdick Chine is a geological feature on the west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It is west of the village of Totland. It is a steep coastal gully, which is overgrown with vegetation. The water that used to flow down the slope has been re ...

), and the three in

Colwell Bay Colwell Bay () is a bay in the west of the Isle of Wight. It is located between the towns of Totland and Yarmouth. The bay's northernmost point is Cliff's End ( Fort Albert) the closest point of the Island to the British mainland, with Hurst Ca ...

( Colwell Chine, Brambles Chine and Linstone Chine) are in

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

rocks. The remainder on the island's south coast are in

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

rocks. An inventory of chines on the Isle of Wight follows, listing chines clockwise from Cowes: * Shanklin Chine * Luccombe Chine * Blackgang Chine * New Chine * Walpen Chine or Old Walpen Chine * Ladder Chine * Whale Chine * Shepherd's Chine * Cowleaze Chine * Barnes Chine * Grange/Marsh Chine *

Chilton Chine The Chilton Chine is a geological feature on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the west of the village of Brighstone. It is a small coastal gully, one of a number of such chines on the island created by stream er ...

Brook Chine Brook Chine is a geological feature on the south west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies just to the west of the village of Brook. The hamlet of Brookgreen runs along its southern edge. It is a small coastal gully, one of a numbe ...

* Churchill Chine * Shippards Chine * Compton Chine * Alum Bay Chine *

* Colwell Chine * Brambles Chine * Linstone Chine

In Canada

The

suburb of Coquitlam has a neighbourhood called ''Harbour Chines'' that was built in the 1950s, along with the adjoining neighbourhood of ''Chineside'' to the east. Both are situated upon the tops of cliffs that overlook a large number of streams flowing down to the adjoining suburb of Port Moody's ''Chines Park'', from where they flow to

Burrard Inlet french: Baie Burrard , image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet , image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg , alt_bathymetry ...

, onwards out to the

Georgia Strait The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coas ...

of the Salish Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Map of Harbour Chines and Chineside neighbourhoods, Coquitlam, BC, Canad

/ref>

Formation and features

On the UK mainland

On the Isle of Wight

In Canada

See also