Everything about Southern England Chalk Formation totally explained
The
Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of
chalk downland in the south of
England. The formation is perhaps best known for
Salisbury Plain, the location of
Stonehenge, the
Isle of Wight and the twin ridgeways of the
North Downs and
South Downs.
Geography
The North Downs are confined chiefly to the counties of
Surrey and
Kent, and the South to
Sussex. Each forms a well-defined long range springing from the chalk area of
Dorset and
Hampshire, to which, though broken up into a great number of short ranges and groups of hills, the general name of the Western Downs is given. The Downs enclose the rich district of the
Weald, where the chalk has eroded to form a much flatter landscape.
In
Wiltshire is
Salisbury Plain, the
Wiltshire Downs and
Cranborne Chase, all three famous for their
archaeology, and it was on these downs that
Augustus Pitt Rivers developed the methods of modern archaeological field work in the
19th century. The
Berkshire Downs and
White Horse Hills adjoin the northernmost part of this formation.
To the north of these downs, mostly in
Buckinghamshire, are the
Chiltern Hills, running north east.
At the far south west of the formation are the
Dorset Downs, notable for their rich
Roman and pre-Roman archaeology, including a number of
Iron Age hill forts. The
Purbeck Hills fork from the Dorset Downs to run on, or near the
Jurassic Coast in south east Dorset, where they form part of
Lulworth Cove,
White Nothe and
Old Harry Rocks, some of the many famous landforms on England's only natural
World Heritage Site.
Smooth convex curves are characteristic of the Downs; their graceful and striking outline gives them an importance in the landscape in excess of their actual height; their flanks are well wooded, their summits covered with close springy turf.
Where the chalk hills meet the sea there are white cliffs such as the
White Cliffs of Dover,
Seven Sisters and
The Needles on the
Isle of Wight The chalk would once have extended across the
English Channel and similar cliff features can be found on the French coast.
Geology
The
Chalk Formation was laid down under the sea during the Upper
Cretaceous period, and was later uplifted at around the same time as the
Alps were formed. In south-east England, the chalk deposits were formed into an elongated
dome, with the long axis in a roughly east-west direction. Erosion along the line of this axis removed the central part of the chalk and revealed the underlying
Wealden deposits. The remaining chalk forms the characteristic
escarpments of the
North and
South Downs.
Stronger uplift and folding occurred in
Dorset and the
Isle of Wight, where the chalk strata are almost vertical in some places, such as
The Needles.
Further Information
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