Diamonds Aren't Forever - Erosion and the Isle of Wight

Erosion is a problem all around the world; acid rain can damage buildings and soil, floods, blizzards or other extreme weather can do the same. In deserts, sand or snow storms, where tiny particles are picked up by incredibly fast and strong winds, will tear past anything, slowly but surely smoothing them down.

Another problem is whole islands eroding, which is exactly what is happening to the Isle of Wight. It's not directly the weather that wears away the island though; instead it is the way the ground has formed over millions of years.

Many parts of the island, mostly on the West coast, are made of layers of hard rock with soft, Gault clay between them. The Gault clay is not nearly as firm and strong as the layers on either side of it, and when it gets wet, due to altered drainage or heavy rainfall, it can simply slip away, carrying layers on top of it away with it.

When this happens, it is called a land slip, due not only to the way it happens, but also the formation of earth that these acts create. It looks as if the land has slid down the cliff side then solidified again. Because of its effects and colour, the Gault clay is locally known as blue slipper.

This has a disastrous effect on the island, with some areas losing as much as three metres of land a year. Footpaths, parks, beaches, and even roads have been destroyed by these landslips.

Unlike normal erosion, the cost, scale and effort involved in preventing landslips is too high to make it worthwhile, on top of which the measures to stop it would ruin the landscape themselves.

Visitors to the island needn't worry; signs of landslips show themselves days, or even weeks before the landslip actually occurs. Some of the landscapes that the landslips create are fantastic and worth visiting anyway.

The other forms of erosion are, as mentioned, not much of a problem. Though the methods used to halt or slow them do cost money, it is a manageable amount. Shoring up collapsing cliffs and the construction of sea defences are the most common solutions.

This article was written by Tom Sangers for Gurnard Pines, providers of Isle of Wight breaks and Isle of Wight weekend breaks.