Portland pebbles at Chesil Beach

Portland pebbles along Chesil Beach

I can't believe i've spent the whole afternoon getting awed by these stones. They were all amazingly smooth and well rounded, and they have different colors as well. How was that even possible?

From the highest point of Portland overlooking Chesil Beach. 

Chesil Beach  forms part of the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site, known as the JURASSIC COAST. It is made up almost entirely of pebbles of various rock types. These pebbles are mainly a mix of flint and chert, with some quartzite from Buddleigh Salterton.

Looking towards Isle of Portland.

Is this a CHERT?

Accordingly, they are often fairly clear and translucent with a pink or bluish tinge. Holding it against the sun certainly gives that impression. It is said that the chert pebbles are extremely hard and harder even than steel.

Some more shots.

Removal of pebbles

For commercial purposes, pebbles have been removed from Chesil for much of the last century. Amounting to 10,000 tonnes have been removed  from near Chiswell and a much larger amount was removed from the area between Abbotsbury and West Bay, possibly as much as 1.1 million tonnes.

This extraction has now ceased and even  casual removal is being discouraged to assist the long term survival of the beach.

An afternoon fun spending all those time looking for that "perfect stone". Or perhaps a jurassic fossil? 

Oh so little time!

www.chesilbeach.org/Chesil/pebbles.html

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/chespeb.htm

All images are mine, taken with my Samsung Galaxy S7.