Photo 7 (Return)
Whitecliff Bay, 20.09.00.
The sandy beach is protected from south westerly prevailing waves by the Chalk headland and shore platform of Culver Cliff. This headland acts as a barrier and prevents shoreline drift of sediments into or out of the southern part of Whitecliff Bay. Net shore drift is believed to be northward so that most material delivered from the eroding cliffs of the bay is exported. The cliffs in the north are composed of clays with thin limestone layers. They degrade readily forming landslide complexes with distinctive scarps and terraces. In central parts of the bay, the cliffs are predominantly sandy and degrade by falls and gullying. To the south against the steeply dipping chalk of Culver Down, the cliffs are formed of Reading and London Clay in which major mudslides are developed within distinctive elongated basins.