Download Pendower Beach, Cornwall

Pendower Beach,
Cornwall
Pendower Beach
forms a bay on the
Southern coast of
Cornwall and exhibits
a number of different
features of coastal
landforms.
Pendower beach is in
the bay between the
two headlands of
Nare Head and St
Anthony’s Head.
 The Bay contains the
small settlements of
Pendower and Carne
as well as the
picturesque fishing
village of Portscatho.

Portscatho
Pendower
Beach
Nare Head
Pendower Beach,
Cornwall
Geology of Pendower.
The main rocks of the
area are of the Devonian
period and are mainly
mudstones that have
been altered into weak
slates, they are strongly
inclined and to the east
of the beach a fault
divides the rocks
between the Portscatho
formation in the west
and the Pendower
formation to the east.
Pendower
Pendower Beach,
Cornwall
Running along the back of
the bay is a fine example of
a raised beach. This was
formed relatively recently
within the last 2 million
years and shows that the
sea levels were once higher
than at present.
This raised beach sits
directly upon the Devonian
rocks and is a classic
example of unconformity,
as the rocks that span the
period in between (approx.
350 million years) have
completely disappeared.
What is unconformity?
An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two
rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment
deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was
exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of
the younger, but the term is used to describe any break in the
sedimentary geologic record.

A closer look
at the cliffs
shows that
they are
made up of
weak
materials.
The rock has
been
undermined by
waves at high
tide leading to
the formation
of caves.
 What processes
are at work in
this photo?

Pendower Beach,
Cornwall
The Nare Head
hotel is an 5*
hotel on the cliffs
on Pendower. Its
owners are in a
tricky situation as
a result of recent
cliff recession.
What are they
doing to protect
their property?
Pendower Beach,
Cornwall.
Can you identify a
significant depositional
feature in this picture?
The distance between the beach
and climatic climax is very short in
this psammosere. Can you spot any
other features from the photos?