The
cliff sections along Marine Drive show us what large parts of the
Isle of Man would look like if all the vegetation and soil were stripped
away. The exposed rocks, such as those shown in the photograph,
are composed of hundreds of beds of sandstone and mudstone that have
been tilted and folded by the effects of continental collision
410 million years ago. The sandstones are made up of sand grains
cemented together to form a rock. However, the type of sand varies
along Marine Drive, ranging from pure quartz (white beds known as
quartzite) to a mixture of quartz, feldspar, small rock fragments
and mica (brown-grey beds known as greywacke).
