Pulpit Rock - Isle of Portland - Dorset
Posted by: 
Norfolk12
N 50° 30.858 W 002° 27.564
30U E 538328 N 5595955
Commonly know as Pulpit Rock at Portland Bill this unusual rock feature is a landmark by the Famous Portland Bill Lighthouse.
Waymark Code: WMHR1Y
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/07/2013
Views: 8
The exposed rock surface around the sea stack of Pulpit Rock is known as Snail Shore. It contains millions of snail, oyster and mollusc shells that was once a Jurassic seabed thriving with marine life around 150 million years ago.
Portland’s dramatic landscape is shaped by the stresses placed upon it by the Weymouth Anticline, a huge fold thrown up during the mountain building period that created the Alps when the continents of Africa and Europe collided around 30 million years ago. The uplifting process tilted the Isle and created cracks and gullies that shape the towering cliffs to the west and the boulder strewn landslides in the east
. The uplifting of Portland has tilted the Isle so the cliffs on the west side are higher than those on the east. This means the western cliffs erode in a completely different way from those on the opposite side. The cliffs of East Weare are subject to large sprawling landslides, such as the Great Southwell Landslip, where the cliffs have fallen “down dip”, while the cliffs on the western side of the Isle tend to topple into the sea where they have fallen “up dip”.
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