Geology of the Isle of Wight

The geology of the Isle of Wight is dominated by sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous and Paleogene age. This sequence was affected by the late stages of the Alpine Orogeny, forming the Isle of Wight monocline, the cause of the steeply-dipping outcrops of the Chalk Group and overlying Paleogene strata seen at The Needles, Alum Bay and Whitecliff Bay.

The Isle of Wight exhibits considerable geological variety in a relatively small area, and has attracted interest from geologists from the early days of the science up until the present. The Island has been described as "one of the most significant of the classic areas of British geology" and "a 'mecca' for geological studies since the early 1800s".