School of Ocean and Earth Science , Southampton University,
Southampton Oceanography Centre

Home and Index | Field Guides Introduction| Lulworth Cove | West Bay, Bridport | Isle of Portland | Durlston Bay
Selected external links: | Dorset Coast - World Heritage Site | BBC Education - Rocks |

These geological field guides have hundreds of good quality, geological photographs. There is geological and geomorphological information on most the cliff exposures of the Jurassic Coast, World Heritage Site, which is centred on Dorset, southern England. There are also guides and bibliographies on parts of Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight and it is intended to expand into new areas of the south coast of England. Webpages on a few other field-geology and bibliographic topics are also provided.

In addition to the guides, which also have some historical, topographic and natural history notes, there are bibliographies of the geological literature with internet links. The guides and bibliographies are intended to be as reliable, accurate and detailed as possible. They are largely in university scientific style and guides are as far as possible cross-referenced by internal links to literature in the bibliographies. This set of webpages was commenced in 1997 and is intended for geologists, geomorphologists, fossil collectors, university students and school students, walkers, naturalists and anyone interested in the magnificent coasts of southern England. The guides are intended to be permanent, reference resources on the geology of the south coast and not ephemeral websites. They are subject to regular expansion and revision; they are unfinished and are developed further almost daily. Use is very heavy, and with more than 150,000 page requests to the server per week, they comprise one of the most visited geological websites in the world.

Other Field Guides, Field Topics and Bibliographies etc

Staithes - Lower Jurassic, Yorkshire Coast
Sabkhas Sedimentology, Middle East and N. Africa
Eastern Pyrenees Bibliography

Disclaimer

Geological fieldwork involves some level of risk; one part of this may come from chance events that are unpredictable and little can be done about it; another part of the risk, however, can be greatly reduced by awareness of hazards and good judgement based on experience. Persons undertaking field work must assess the risk, as far as possible, and this will vary in accordance with weather, cliff and sea conditions on the day and the experience, age, fitness and other characteristics of the persons. In providing field guides on the Internet no person is advised or recommended here to undertake geological field work in any way that might involve them in unreasonable risk from cliffs, ledges, rocks, sea or other causes. Individuals and leaders should carefully consider the safety aspects on the occasion of their visit and in bad conditions be prepared to cancel or modify part or all of the field trip as is necessary for safety. Appropriate safety and first-aid equipment should be taken, and ideally mobile phones should be available. Permission should be sought for entry into private land and clearly no damage should take place. Attention should be paid to weather warnings, local warnings and danger signs. No liability for death, injury, damage to, or loss of property in connection with a field trip is accepted by providing these websites of geological information. See the Safety Guidance .

Copyright © 2007 Ian West and Tonya West. All rights reserved. This is a purely academic website and images and text may not be copied for publication or for use on other webpages or for any commercial activity. A reasonable number of images and some text may be used for non-commercial academic purposes, including field trip handouts, lectures, student projects, dissertations etc, providing source is acknowledged. No permission can be given for reproduction of any images of the Lulworth Cove area in books or in other websites, for special reasons.

Disclaimer: Geological fieldwork involves some level of risk, which can be reduced by knowledge, experience and appropriate safety precautions. Persons undertaking field work should assess the risk, as far as possible, in accordance with weather, conditions on the day and the type of persons involved. In providing field guides on the Internet no person is advised here to undertake geological field work in any way that might involve them in unreasonable risk from cliffs, ledges, rocks, sea or other causes. Not all places need be visited and the descriptions and photographs here can be used as an alternative to visiting. Individuals and leaders should take appropriate safety precautions, and in bad conditions be prepared to cancell part or all of the field trip if necessary. Permission should be sought for entry into private land and no damage should take place. Attention should be paid to weather warnings, local warnings and danger signs. No liability for death, injury, damage to, or loss of property in connection with a field trip is accepted by providing these websites of geological information. Discussion of geological and geomorphological features, coast erosion, coastal retreat, storm surges etc are given here for academic and educational purposes only. They are not intended for assessment of risk to property or to life. No liability is accepted if this website is used beyond its academic purposes in attempting to determine measures of risk to life or property.

Webpage - written and produced by:

Ian West, M.Sc. Ph.D. F.G.S.

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at his private address, under the auspices of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS),and web-hosted by courtesy of the Information System Services (ISS) of Southampton University.