(Geological succession) - 2008

Burton Cliff is similar to East Cliff at West Bay but in its middle part the Bridport Sands are succeeded by the full thickness (3.7m) of Upper, Middle and Lower Inferior Oolite and a little of the Fuller's Earth. The Inferior Oolite is not safely accessible in the cliff, but large fallen blocks are present on shore, in these almost the full thickness of the unit can be studied. There is access to the beach near to the stream, the River Bride or Bredy, and 155m east of this point a fault down throwing eastwards cuts the cliff, dropping the Inferior Oolite capping sufficiently to bring in Fuller's Earth in a cliff top outcrop. Beyond the fault are the large fallen blocks of Inferior Oolite.

(Inferior Oolite) - 2000


(Bridport sands) - 2000

The sandstone is blue-grey when unweathered but has a think weathered surface layer of yellow. Here, fine-grained pyrite is oxidised to limonite or goethite. The sands contain Belemnites and trace fossils and occasional moulds of Ammonites . Aragonite shells have been dissolved away.

(Frome clay) - 2000

There is a smaller cliff just after these high cliffs at Burton, which is made of Forest Marble and Frome Clay, but it is much degraded at its base, as it is protected by a stretch of shingle, part of the Chesil beach. In this cliff, 200m east of the car park the Boueti Bed can be traced in eroded ground between the footpath and the cliff top. It yields the brachiopods Goniorhynchia boueti, Avonothyris, Digonella with bivalve and other fossils. In the cliffs below the Frome clay can be examined and it crops out in the low cliffs at Burton Common and Cliff end.

Jurassic	Late	Volgian	Portlandian		142 to 147
			Tithonian
					147 to 150
		Kimmeridgian		Late	150 to 154
				Early
		Oxfordian	Corallian		154 to 159.4
			Late Oxford Clay
	Middle	Callovian	Middle Oxford Clay		159 to 165
			Early Oxford Clay
			Kellaways
			Late Cornbrash
		Bathonian	Early Cornbrash		165 to 170
			Forest Marble
			Frome Formation
			Wattonensis Beds
			Fullers Earth
			Zigzag Beds
		Bajocian	Late Inferior Oolite		170 to 177
			Middle Inferior Oolite
		Aalenian	Early Inferior Oolite		177 to 180.1
			Scissum Beds
			Bridport Sands
	Early	Toarcian (Late Lias)			180 to 190
		Pliensbachian (Middle and Early Lias)			190 to 195
		Sinemurian (Early Lias)			195 to 201
		Hettangian (Early Lias)			201 to 205.7

Bathonian 165 to 170 MYA
FORMATIONS AND DEPOSITS	LOCATIONS

Brora Coal Formation	Brora Coal	Brora Brora River Balintore
	Bituminous Shale	Brora Brora River
	Clays, Brecciated Sands and Cementstones
	White Sandstone

Early Cornbrash
Forest Marble			Burton Bradstock
Frome Formation			Burton Bradstock
Wattonensis Beds
Fullers Earth			Burton Bradstock
Zigzag Beds
Lealt Shale Formation		Lonmfearn Member	Elgol
		Dark grey fissile mudstone	Elgol
		Kildonnan Member	Elgol
		Gey fissile siltstone	Elgol
		Stromatolitic algal limestone	Elgol
Elgol Sandstone Formation			Elgol
Ravenscar Group	Scalby Formation	Long Nab Member	Scalby Ness

Bajocian 170 to 177 MYA
FORMATIONS AND DEPOSITS	LOCATIONS

Late Inferior Oolite			Burton Bradstock Bearreraig Bay
Middle Inferior Oolite			Burton Bradstock
Ravenscar Group	Scalby Formation	Moor Grit Member	Gristhorpe Scalby Ness
	Scarborough Formation		Cloughton Wyke Gristhorpe
	Cloughton Formation	Gristhorpe Member	Cloughton Wyke Gristhorpe
		Lebberston Member	Cloughton Wyke
		Yons Nab Member	Gristhorpe
		Sycarham Member	Cloughton Wyke Gristhorpe
Dogger Formation			Saltwick Bay Whitby Sandsend Ravenscar
Bearreraig Sandstone Formation		Garantiana Shale Member	Glasnakille Faoilean
		Dark grey fissile mudstone

Aalenian 177 to 180.1 MYA
FORMATIONS AND DEPOSITS	LOCATIONS

Early Inferior Oolite		Burton Bradstock
Scissum Beds		Burton Bradstock
Bridport Sands		Burton Bradstock
Bearreraig Sandstone Formation	Druim an Fhuarain Sandstone Member	Glasnakille Faoilean
Ravenscar Group	Eller Beck Formation	Hayburn Wyke Ravenscar
	Saltwick Formation	Saltwick Bay Whitby Hayburn Wyke Sandsend Ravenscar

1:250 000 Geological Map of Burton Bradstock Geological Maps are sold either Flat or Folded for Solid, or Seabed geology. Special editions may be available for certain locations. For a complete list click the link below. Click here to BUY ONLINE from our Store

1: 50 000 Geological Map of Burton Bradstock Geological Maps are sold either Flat or Folded for Solid, Drift or combined geology. Special editions may be available for certain locations. For a complete list of 1: 50 000 maps, click the link below. Click here to BUY ONLINE from our Store