Layered Cliffs Facing the North Atlantic

Layered Cliffs Facing the North Atlantic is an original illustration set in Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is oceanic — mild, wet through the year.

Long dark cliffs step away along the County Clare coast, their horizontal bands dropping almost vertically into restless blue-gray Atlantic water. Bright green grass reaches the cliff edge, a detached sea stack stands below, seabirds wheel against the rock face, and tiny O'Brien's Tower marks the distant headland.

Why do dark horizontal rock layers end in such an abrupt Atlantic wall?

Alternating beds of sandstone and softer shale accumulated as sediment before uplift exposed them to the ocean. Waves exploit joints and undercut the weaker layers, causing repeated collapses that keep the cliff face steep and move the edge inland. Salt spray, strong wind and thin wet soils favor low grass above rather than trees, so the abrupt wall, visible banding and treeless green cap all follow from continued Atlantic erosion of layered rock.

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