Coasts - Cliffs and Rocks

1. Much of Britain’s coastline is made up of cliffs.

2. The cliffs may be hard rock cliffs, or soft clay cliffs.

3. The harder rock cliffs are more difficult to erode and often have dramatic shapes as a result.

4. The hard cliffs are usually vertical, or steep sloping.

5. The soft clay cliffs erode quickly, unless they are protected.

6. Cliffs provide an important habitat for a variety of plants and animals.

7. Hard cliffs have ledges where sea birds such as kittiwakes and guillemots can nest.

8. Soft cliffs attract burrow-nesting birds including puffins and sand martins.

9. Holes sometimes form in coastal rocks due to erosion caused by wind, rain and waves.

10. An area of softer rock may be worn away, leaving the harder rock around it.

11. Eventually the hole gets bigger and the rock above it collapses.

12. Many stretches of coastline are composed of rocks, such as boulders that have broken away from cliffs.

13. The rocks are eroded by the action of the sea and wind and are often smooth and rounded in shape as a result.

14. There are three types of rocks igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

15. Igneous rocks are formed when magma, the molten rock beneath the earth’s crust, cools down.

16. This type of rock includes granite and flint.

17. Sedimentary rocks are formed when dead plants, animals, particles of eroded rocks and other matter fall to the bottom of the sea.

18. They settle in layers and are pressed down over millions of years.

19. This type of rock, which includes sandstone, limestone and chalk, commonly contains fossils.

20. Metamorphic rocks are formed from a combination of igneous and sedimentary rocks.

21. These rocks have been subjected to great pressure over a long period of time.

22. This type of rock includes slate and marble.

23. Many coastlines have shingle beaches.

24. Shingle is made up of small and medium-sized pebbles.

25. The pebbles are normally rounded, having been worn smooth by the action of the waves

26. The Giant’s Causeway, made up from forty thousand basalt columns, is a well-known rock formation.

27. The Needles, made of chalk, is another well-known rock formation.