Dorset a number of small rivers run into the sea along the Dorset coastline; most notable of these are the Char, Brit, Bride and Wey. Most of Dorset's coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, which stretches for between Studland and Exmouth in Devon. This coast documents the entire Mesozoic era, from Triassic to Cretaceous and is noted for its geological landforms. The Dorset section has yielded important fossils, including Jurassic trees and the first complete Ichthyosaur, discovered near Lyme Regis in 1811 by Mary Anning. The county features some notable coastal landforms, including examples of a
Coastline of the United Kingdom the coastline of the main island, Great Britain, as 11,072.76 miles rounding to 11,073 miles (17,820 km). The British Cartographic Society points out that "The true answer is: it depends!". If the larger islands are added, the coastline as measured by the standard method at Mean High Water Mark rises to about 19,491 miles (31,368 km). According to the "CIA Factbook", the length of the UK coastline is around 12,429 km or 7,723 miles, although no details are provided about how this figure was calculated. On the basis of EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive boundaries, the UK coastline can be