Otter Cove

Otter Cove is a small secluded cove on the eastern side of Straight Point between the coastal towns of Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton, in Devon, on the south coast of England.

Location

Otter Cove lies about sixteen kilometres south of the city of Exeter, four kilometres southeast of Exmouth and about eleven kilometres southwest of Sidmouth. The top of the headland Straight Point is used as a firing range by the Marines. Due to a landslip Otter Cove is no longer accessible from the headland.

Jurassic Coast

The Jurassic Coast stretches over a distance of 153 kilometres (95 mi), from Orcombe Point in the west to Old Harry Rocks on the Isle of Purbeck in the east^[1].

The coastal exposures along the coastline provide a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning approximately 185 million years of the Earth's history. The rocks dip gently to the east. Due to this tilting and erosion the oldest exposed rocks are found here to the west, between Exmouth and Sidmouth, with progressively younger rocks forming the cliffs further east. Straight Point and Otter Cove are part of the Jurassic Coast.

• See also List of places on the Jurassic Coast

Geology

Predominantly the cliffs in this area are composed of mudstone sediments from the "Aylesbeare Mudstone Group" and additionally of layers of red sandstone. These rock formations are from the Triassic period and date from about 245 million years ago. Both sediments are markedly red, which indicates that they were formed in a desert.

The cliffs to the east side of Straight Point show an interesting sequence of “Exmouth Formation” sandstones. However only a small part of the coast line is accessible and solely at low tide by walking along the wave-cut ledges from Littleham Cove. These ledges are full of pot-holes and there is a cave near Otter Cove.

In the corner of Littleham Cove there is a fault and a drastic change in the character of the cliffs. Otter Cove is south of this fault and here are fluvial sandstones with beds of coarser dark subangular grains (i.e. beginning to resemble a fine-grained fluvial breccia).

References

1. ^ "Dorset and East Devon Coast". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2001. http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1029. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 

Coordinates: 50°36′41″N 3°21′31″W / 50.61127°N 3.35868°W / 50.61127; -3.35868