Stonebarrow is a coastal hill and sea cliff in the county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

on the south coast of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a well known fossil hunting location, close to the coastal village of

Charmouth Charmouth is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England. The village is situated on the mouth of the River Char, around north-east of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimated that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 1,31 ...

Geography

Stonebarrow is located about east of Charmouth and west of the hamlet of Seatown. Stonebarrow Hill reaches an elevation of about 155 metres. The cliff face, part of which is known as Cain's Folly, is about 140 metres high, which is about 50 metres lower than the neighbouring

Golden Cap Golden Cap is a hill and cliff situated on the English Channel coast between Bridport and Charmouth in Dorset, England. At , it is arguably the highest point near the south coast of Great Britain (although the highest point is set back some fr ...

, the highest cliff on the South Coast of England. Rock falls occur on the cliff face very frequently, continually exposing new fossils. There are a couple of examples of biological weathering, especially on the sandy-soils on lower-lying cliffs.

Geology

The Stonebarrow cliffs are of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

age, becoming geologically younger further east (the rocks of Golden Cap are early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

). The bottom of Stonebarrow is home to the Black Ven Marls a layer of rocks similar to those of Black Ven. Slightly higher are the Belemnite Marls, where a number of

belemnites Belemnites may refer to: *Belemnitida, an extinct order of cephalopods commonly known as "belemnites" *Belemnites (genus), ''Belemnites'' (genus), a belemnite genus from the Early Jurassic {{disambiguation ...

can be found. Slightly higher up is the Green Ammonite beds, where fossils of a species of

ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

exist. Higher still are

Eype Eype ( ) is a small village in southwest Dorset, England, situated southwest of Bridport. It lies on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site on the English Channel and is within the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Symondsbury. Eype m ...

Clay, Upper

Greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

and younger Cretaceous rocks.

References

*Clarke, Nigel J. (2004) ''Lyme Bay Fossils: Jurassic Beach Guide.'' Nigel J. Clarke Publications. {{ISBN, 978-0-907683-01-8 Geology of Dorset Jurassic Coast

Geography

Geology

See also

References