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Hunstanton Red Cliffs

Cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk, UK, illuminated by the late afternoon sun shining through shower clouds offshore. This is probably the best exposure of the Red Chalk in the UK.

The top-to-bottom sequence is:

Cenomanian (White) Chalk
-- disconformity -- (~ 2 million year time gap)
Hunstanton Formation ('Red Chalk')
Carstone Formation ('Lower Greensand' - brown!)
Visible by: Everyone
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Visible by: Everyone

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2 comments

Amelia said:

The cliffs look even better with the dark sky behind and sun on the layers. When I first saw the colours, they took my breath away! Was the tide low enough to find the shipwreck?
8 years ago

Earthwatcher replied to Amelia:

Thanks, Amelia! Yes - it was quite spectacular lighting. The sun had just come out from behind quite dark rain clouds, so the contrast was suddenly amazing.

I confess I never noticed the shipwreck. Perhaps the tide was not low enough, but probably I was just concentrating on the geology. More photos here:

Striped cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk.
Lower Greensand
8 years ago