Rock bedding in a cliff. The vertical lines seen in this cliff-face show how sediments of chalky rocks (of a type known as marls) have been moved over

---

Rock bedding in a cliff. The vertical lines seen in this cliff-face show how sediments of chalky rocks (of a type known as marls) have been moved over time by tectonic forces. Intersecting this vertical plane is a more diagonal fault pattern (running from upper left to lower right), known as a schistosity. This is due to the rock reacting to the stress exerted on the rock by the same tectonic forces. These rocks date from the Miocene (around 23 to 5 million years ago).

---

Size: 5167px × 3445px
Photo credit: © DIRK WIERSMA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bedding, broken, chalk, cliff, deformation, earth, fault, forces, fractured, geological, geology, geomorphology, lines, marl, miocene, plane, planes, prehistoric, prehistory, rock, rocks, rocky, schistosity, science, sedimentary, strata, stratum, tectonic, uplift