Jurassic Coast cliffs, spanning the Mesozoic, documenting 185 million years of geological history. The site can be best viewed from the sea, when the dipping nature of the rock strata becomes apparent. In East Devon, the coastal cliffs consist of steep cliffs of red sandstone from the Triassic, and at Budleigh Salterton, the gravel cliffs contain red quartzite pebbles which accumulate on the beach below as Budleigh pebbles, locally protected.Further east at Ladram Bay, more sandstone cliffs give rise to spectacular red sandstone stacks. Around Lyme Regis and Charmouth the cliffs are of Jurassic clays and shale, and landslips are common. Chesil
Late Jurassic Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, this name was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: