The Geological Story of the Isle of Wight

Walking along the sea shore, with all its varied interest, many must from time to time have had their attention attracted by the shells to be seen, not lying on the sands, or in...

The best place to begin the study of the Geology of the Isle of Wight is in Sandown Bay. North of Sandown, beyond the flat of the marshes, are low cliffs of reddish clay, which...

The lowest strata in the Isle of Wight are the coloured marls and blue-grey shales we have already observed in Sandown Bay, which run through the Island to Brook Bay. They are k...

For ages the Wealden river flowed, and over its vast delta laid down its depth of river mud. The land was gradually sinking; for continually strata of river mud were laid down o...

To most Sandown Bay is by far the most accessible place in the Island to study the earlier strata; and for our first geological studies it has the advantage of showing a success...

We have seen how the continent through which the great Wealden river flowed began to sink below the sea level, and how the waters of the sea flowed over what had been the delta...

As we have traced the world's history written in the rocks we have seen an old continent gradually submerged, a deepening sea flowing over this part of the earth's surface. Now...

Ages must have passed while the ocean flowed over this part of the world, and the chalk mud, with its varied remains of living things, gradually accumulated at the bottom. At la...

We pass on to strata which used to be called Upper Eocene, but are now generally classified as a period by themselves, and called the Oligocene. They are also known as the Fluvi...

We have read the story written in the rocks of the Isle of Wight. What wonderful changes we have seen in the course of the long history! First we were taken back to the ancient...

We must now consider the history of the river system of the Isle of Wight, to which our study of the gravels has brought us. For rivers have a history, sometimes a most interest...

We have watched the long succession of varied life on the earth recorded in the rocks, and now we come to the most momentous event of all in the history--the coming of Man. The...

After studying the various geological formations that enter into the composition of the Isle of Wight, and learning how the Island was made, it will be interesting to take a gen...