Island Geology

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The geology of the Isle of Wight demonstrates three distinct periods:Cretaceous (120-70 million years ago)
The Wealden sands along the southern side of the Island are a rich source of dinosaur remains. There are high Greensand cliffs and Gault clay beds which produce unstable areas of erosion. The centre of the Island has a chalk ridge which extends to the western extremity and is seen as the famous Needles rocks. Palaeogene (70-30 million years ago)
The sands and clays of this period are marked by the undulating landscape of the northern coastal plain. Quaternary (since 2 million years ago)
The Isle of Wight was never covered with glacial ice but the flooding of the Solent river valley during the melting periods eventually created a breach to the sea between Dorset and the Island, creating the Isle of Wight about seven thousand years ago.