Dimlington Cliff
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TA389219 | — | Favourable | 34.15 | 2024-03-12 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Quaternary
Landscape processes: Coastal, Glacial
Description
Area, 54.7 hectares 135.2 ac Description Dimlington is a key site for Quaternary stratigraphy. The cliff section shows a sequence, from the base of the cliffs upwards of, pre late Devensian Basement Till; organic silts and sands Dimlington silts; Late Devension Skipsea and Withernsea Tills, locally with interbedded sands and silts; and a well developed Flandrian weathering profile. The site is important for several reasons. Firstly, organic remains in the Dimlington Silts have yielded radio-carbon dates of 18,500 -6 400 BP before present and 18,240 -6 240 BP and provide not only a record of palaeoenvironmental conditions but also a limiting date for the maximum expansion of Late Devensian ice. Because of good stratigraphic and dating evidence from Dimlington and nearby sites, the term Dimlington Stadial has been proposed recently as a climato-stratigraphic name for the main Late Devensian glaciation and Dimlington Chronozone for the equivalent time period between 26,000 and 13,000 BP. Secondly, Dimlington provides valuable exposures in the Basement Till which includes Scottish and Scandinavian erratics and masses of fossiliferous Bridlington Crag transported from the floor of the North Sea. Thirdly, the site is important from a glaciological viewpoint in providing sedimentary evidence for the superimposition of two till units associated with a single ice sheet. Other Information This site is identified as being of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review.