Barricane Beach
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS453442 | — | Favourable | 8.24 | 2011-11-07 |
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: Devonian
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Barricane Beach SSSI Description The Upper Devonian (Frasnian-Fammenian) Morte Slates exposed here were-deposited in a shallow marine environment and are richly fossiliferous. This is the best fossil locality in the Morte Slates. It is of historic interest because it had formerly been proposed that the Devonian succession in North Devon had been repeated by faulting and that the Morte Slates were identical with the Lower Devonian Lynton Beds. This question was only resolved after fossil collections from Barricane Beach had been described, conclusively demonstrating that the Morte Slates are Upper Devonian and in sequence.