Gad Cliff
Geographical location
Gad Cliff is a south-facing partially eroded cliff on the English Channel coast between Worbarrow Bay and Kimmeridge on the Isle of Purbeck Peninsula, in the county of Dorset in England.
Location
Gad Cliff is located about one kilometer south of the ghost village of Tyneham and about six kilometers south of Wareham. Gad Cliff is approximately 13 km directly east of Swanage.
The highest point of Gad Cliff is approximately 134 meters above sea level. The westernmost part of the cliff is known as the gold down. Wagon Rock is a large boulder that has fallen from the upper parts of the cliff out.
Access to Gad Cliff is only possible if Lulworth Military Range is open to the public. Gad Cliff is accessible only on foot, either via the coastal path or from the parking lot Tyneham. The land is owned by the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom and is part of the training school for armored fighting vehicles ( Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School). The wall and the coastal paths are open on weekends. Visitors are warned to stay on the sidewalks, they will be cleared of unexploded ordnance.
Jurassic Coast
The coast and cliffs along the English Channel coast in East Devon and Dorset are among the outstanding natural monuments in the world. From Orcombe Point to Old Harry Rocks extends a 155 km long coastline, which has been declared as the first natural landscape in England by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The rock formations along the coast are slightly inclined to the east. Therefore, the oldest part is in the western area, progressively younger rocks form the cliffs to the east. The nature of revelations along the rock walls reveal a continuous sequence of the resulting in Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geological deposits, representing about 185 million years of Earth's history. The cliffs of gold down and Gad Cliff and Wagon skirt are part of the so-called Jurassic Coast.
- See also list of places on the Jurassic Coast
Geology
The geology of the Isle of Purbeck is very complex and is shown very clearly in this stretch of coast. Due to the effects of Purbeck monoclinal the rock layers formed are complex folds. Was causing the whole, about 30 million years ago, collided with the tectonic pressure when the continents of Africa and Europe and the Alps mountain range formed. When Gad Cliff, the sediments tend between 25 and 35 degrees towards the interior. As a result of earth movements, the uppermost layers are bent in the shape of a giant S.
There are four layer sequences along Gad Cliff. The top layers are the Purbeck beds, which was formed about 147 million years, and the Portland limestones, about 150 million years old. These lie on a bench Portland Sands. The underlying calcareous clay mineral ' Kimmeridge Clay ' has been formed about 155 million years ago. The upper layer of the Kimmeridge Clay heard Anglico sensu to Kimmeridgian stage. These layers dip about 10 to 20 degrees north.
The flat ridge below the cliffs is Long Ebb reef named. From there to the northwest, the following rock layers are present: Washing Ledge ( dolomite ), Maple Ledge ( also dolomite ), Cattle Ledge, Grey Ledge, Blackstone ( oil shale) and Whitestone band ( coccolith ).
Due to the fact that the harder limestone and sandstones are backed by an unstable clay minerals, Gad Cliff landslide prone.