Rock Armour 4 – Jessica’s Nature Blog
Rock Armour 4 – Rock armour (also called rip-rap) is a vital form of sea defence structure on British coastlines, serving to break the force of the waves and prevent erosion of softer substrates along the shoreline thus protecting nearby natural and manmade structures from storm damage. These large rock boulders are often imported from another geographical site and so frequently represent an entirely different geology. The hewn faces display new and contrasting petrological features and fossils compared with the native rocks. The details of them are both fascinating and safely accessible to view compared with the local eroding cliffs which pose a threat of rockfall or mudslide at any time.
The image above is a detail of the natural abstract pattern and texture on one such rip-rap boulder at Seatown in Dorset showing veins of white crystalline calcite and red sediment running through a calcareous sedimentary rock. The small pebbles have been flung up from the beach at the previous high tide to settle in small water-worn hollows. The image below shows the information boards at the entrance to the beach with a warning sign for the dangers posed by rock falls and mudslides.
