Here are some more pictures of the boulders at the eastern end of Charmouth Beach in Dorset, England, all exhibiting natural fracture patterns in sedimentary rock belonging to the Jurassic Charmouth Mudstone Formation. I’m not sure which particular layer they come from but it could be the Black Ven Marl Member. Perhaps someone can help me out with the identification? These images show the boulders at the foot of the cliff adjacent to the landslip or mud slide. In contrast to the dark boulders at the water’s edge shown in the previous post, these are dry and therefore lighter in colour.
I wonder if these boulders could have been the inspiration for an artwork in the sculpture park in Tout Quarry on the Isle of Portland featured in an earlier post.
Jessica's Nature Blog 
Dalinian!
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Surreal?
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Don’t ever remember seeing fracture patterns like those on this side of the pond. Fascinating!
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The rock is made of something like clay, marl, or moisture-bearing shale layers. Once it is exposed to the air, it begins to dry out and shrink and the internal tensions cause the cracks to appear. Presumably, the fracture patterns are related to the physical properties of the particular medium.
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Extraordinary, once again – so old, and yet crumbling away in front of our eyes. Thank you for your fascinating posts and such thorough research! 🙂
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Thank you, Jo. It is a never ending quest to understand – keeps the little grey cells exercised.
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