Bran Point is a small headland on the Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 coast in southern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about half way between the small villages of Ringstead to the east and Osmington Mills

Osmington Mills

Osmington Mills is a coastal village situated between Ringstead Bay and the town of Weymouth in Dorset, England. It is located within the civil parish of Osmington.- Tourism :...

 to the west. There is a picturesque cliff-top path between the two villages via Bran Point.

The name derives from the brown colouring of the rock forming the cliffs of the headland, caused in part by residual oil deposits. The geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 of the area is particularly interesting. The coastline in the area is formed from rocks and shingle with exposed cliffs behind. The Middle White Oolite

Oolite

Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...

 of the Osmington Oolite more visible to the west has descended to beach level here. At the middle of the cliff, there is nodular rubble consisting of calcitized

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

 sponge spicule

Spicule

Spicules are tiny spike-like structures of diverse origin and function found in many organisms, such as the copulatory spicules of certain nematodes or the grains on the skin of some frogs.In sponges, spicules perform a structural function....

s. Higher in the cliff are reddish brown beds containing Trigonia clavellata

Trigoniidae

The Trigoniidae represent a large and morphologically interesting family of highly ornamented non-siphonate bivalves. They originated from the Myophoriidae in the Triassic and underwent an explosion of diversity in the Jurassic, reaching an acme in the Cretaceous, although most genera became...

 fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s .

See also

• Geology of Dorset
  Geology of Dorset
  Dorset, England, rests on a variety of different rock types which give the county its interesting landscapes and habitats. Dorset is particularly noted for its coastline, the Jurassic Coast, which in 2001 was designated a World Heritage Site because of the variety of landforms and fossils...
  
  
• List of places on the Jurassic Coast
  Jurassic Coast
  The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
  
  
• Black Head
  Black Head, Dorset
  Black Head a headland on the south coast of England, to the east of Weymouth in Dorset. It lies on the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape known for its geology. Fossils can be found in the area.The headland faces out over to the Isle of Portland...
  
  
• Redcliff Point
  Redcliff Point
  Redcliff Point is on the south coast of England, to the east of Weymouth in Dorset. It lies just past the eastern end of the sweeping Weymouth Bay on the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape known for its geology. Fossils can be found in the Upper Oxford Clay in this area.The cliff...
  
  
• White Nothe
  White Nothe
  White Nothe is a chalk headland on the English Channel coast at the eastern end of Ringstead Bay, east of Weymouth in Dorset, England. The area is well-known for its geology and fossils...
  
  

External links

• Ian West's Geology of the Wessex Coast Field Guide, including photographs