Durdle Door
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Durdle Door (sometimes spelt Durdle Dor) is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near West Lulworth in Dorset, England.
Geology
The arch has formed on a concordant coastline where bands of rock run parallel to the shoreline. Here the rock strata are nearly vertical, and the bands of rock are quite narrow.
Originally a band of resistant Portland limestone ran along the shore, the same band which can be seen two miles down the coast forming the narrow entrance to Lulworth Cove. Behind this is a 400 ft (120 metre) band of various weaker rocks which are easily eroded, and behind this is a stronger and much thicker band of chalk, which forms the Purbeck Hills. The limestone and chalk are much closer together here than at Swanage, ten miles to the east, where the distance between them is over two miles. There are at least three reasons for this. First, the beds are highly inclined here, and more gently angled at Swanage. Secondly, some of the beds have been cut out by faulting at Durdle Door; and thirdly, the area around Durdle Door appears to have been unusually shallow, so a much thinner sequence of sediments were deposited here.
At Durdle bay all except a short stretch of the limestone has been completely eroded away by the sea and the remainder forms a small headland where it has protected the clay behind. At the western end this band of limestone has been eroded through, creating the natural arch.
The 400 foot isthmus which joins the limestone to the chalk is made of a 50 metre band of Portland limestone, which is less resistant than the Purbeck beds, a narrow and compressed band of Cretaceous clays—Wealden Clay, sands and chert beds—and then narrow bands of Greensand and sandstone. In Man o' War bay, the small bay immediately east of Durdle Door the Portland stone has not been entirely eroded away, and at low tide the band of Portland stone is partially revealed.
Tourism
Durdle Door is a popular tourist "honeypot," as it is a short walk from the equally popular Lulworth Cove, and lies on the South West Coast Path. Within walking distance of the car park at Lulworth are these two unique landforms, the remnants of a fossilised forest and examples of common rock types from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The area is part of the 95 mile World Heritage Site because of its geology, and these factors make the site one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in the country, with the National Trust estimating the number of hiking journeys across Hambury Tout between Lulworth and Durdle Door as being over a million annually.Trivia
Parts of the Tears For Fears videoclip for Shout were filmed at Durdle Door.Also part of the film Pirates of the Caribbean opening sequence was filmed here.
References
- Arkell, W.J., 1978. The Geology of the Country around Weymouth, Swanage, Corfe and Lulworth, 4th pr.. London: Geological Survey of Great Britain, HMSO.
- Davies, G.M., 1956. A Geological Guide to the Dorset Coast, 2nd ed.. London: Adam & Charles Black.
- Perkins, J.W., 1977. Geology Explained in Dorset. London: David & Charles.
- West, I.W., 2003. "Durdle Door; Geology of the Dorset Coast". Southampton University. Version H.07.09.03. http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/durdle.htm
See also
- Bat's Head, to the west
External links
- Flickr: Photos tagged with ["Durdledoor"]
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