Chapter I: Preface

No better district could be chosen to begin the study of Geology than the Isle of Wight. The splendid coast sections all round its shores, the variety of strata within so small an area, the great interest of those strata, the white chalk cliffs and the coloured sands, the abundant and interesting fossils to be found in the rocks, awaken in numbers of those who live in the Island, or visit its shores, a desire to know something of the story written in the rocks. The Isle of Wight is classic ground of Geology. From the early days of the science it has been made famous by the work of great students of Nature, such as Mantell, Buckland, Fitton, Sedgwick, Owen, Edward Forbes, and others, who have carried on the study up to the present day. Many of the strata are known to geologists everywhere as typical; several bear the names of the Island localities, where they occur; some--and those not the least interesting--are not found beyond the limits of the Island. Though studied for so many years, there is no exhausting their interest: new discoveries are constantly made, and new questions arise for solution. To those who have become interested in the rocks of the Island, and the fossils they have found in them, and who wish to learn how to read the story they tell, and to know something of that story, this book is addressed. It is intended to be an introduction to the science of Geology, based on the Geology of the Isle of Wight, yet leading on to some glimpse of the history presented to us, when we take a wider outlook still, and try to trace the whole wondrous path of change from the world's beginning to the present day.

I wish to express my warmest thanks to Miss Maud Neal for the beautiful drawings of fossils which illustrate the book, and to Professor Grenville A. J. Cole, F.R.S., for his kindness in reading the manuscript, and for valuable suggestions received from him. I have also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. H. J. Osborne White's new edition of the _Memoir of the Geological Survey of the Isle of Wight_, 1921; and to thank Mr. J. Milman Brown, of Shanklin, for the three photographs of Island scenery, showing features of marked geological interest, and Mr. C. E. Gilchrist, Librarian of the Sandown Free Library, for kindly reading the proofs of the book.

J. CECIL HUGHES.

Mar., 1922.

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

I. The Rocks and Their Story 1

II. The Structure of the Island 10

III. The Wealden Strata: The Land of the Iguanodon 15

IV. The Lower Greensand 23

V. Brook and Atherfield 29

VI. The Gault and Upper Greensand 37

VII. The Chalk 42

VIII. The Tertiary Era: The Eocene 54

IX. The Oligocene 63

X. Before and After: The Ice Age 70

XI. The Story of the Island Rivers; and How the Isle of
Wight Became An Island 86

XII. The Coming of Man 97

XIII. The Scenery of the Island: Conclusion 105

ILLUSTRATIONS OF FOSSILS

_PLATE I.--Facing page 20._

Wealden Cyrena Limestone
Vertebra of Iguanodon

Lower Greensand Perna Mulleti
Meyeria Vectensis (Atherfield Lobster)
Panopaea Plicata
Terebratula Sella

_PLATE II.--Facing page 23._

Lower Greensand Trigonia Caudata
Trigonia Daedalea
Gervillia Sublanceolata

Upper Greensand (Ammonite) Mortoniceras Rostratum
Nautilus Radiatus

_PLATE III.--Facing page 45._

Lower Greensand Thetironia Minor
Rhynchonella Parvirostris

Upper Greensand (Pecten) Neithea Quinquecostata

Chalk (Ammonite) Mantelliceras Mantelli
(Sea Urchins)
Micraster Cor-Anguinum
Echinocorys Scutatus
(Internal cast in flint)

_PLATE IV.--Facing page 61._

Eocene Cardita Plarnicosta
Turritella Imbricataria
Nummulites Laevigatus
(Fusus) Leiostoma Pyrus

Oligocene Limnaea Longiscata
Planorbis Euomphalus
Cyrena Semistriata

DIAGRAMS

Facing page

1. Coast, Sandown Bay 10

2. Coast, Atherfield 29

3. Coast, Whitecliff Bay 56

4. Section Through Headon Hill and High Down.
(Strata Seen at Alum Bay) 58

5. St George's Down 79

6, 7. Development of River Systems 86

8. The Old Solent River 94

9. Shingle at Foreland 79

PHOTOGRAPHS

Facing page

1. Gore Cliff. _Frontispiece._

2. Chalk at the Culver Cliffs. 46

3. Chalk at Scratchell's Bay. 51

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT 112