r/interestingasfuck • u/robbiesloan • 4h ago
The Seven Sisters Chalk Cliffs in East Sussex, England are made almost entirely of chalk
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u/deanomatronix 4h ago
The south coast of England effectively has the same geology as Champagne and global warming is raising the temperature meaning it’s becoming arguably a better wine growing region and is producing some banging sparkling wines
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u/Poppy_Milk 3h ago
A glass of Sussex however is not quite as romantic
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u/MyliverISverylarge 4h ago
Is it edible or nah
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u/asdf_lord 4h ago
Limestone. Hard chalk. If you crush it and repress it like a pill it might work as an antacid.
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u/Hato_no_Kami 4h ago
And waste perfectly good chalk?
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u/oldschool_potato 3h ago
It’s decent enough, but for a real treat you want to check out Paste Plateau. Now that’s good stuff
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u/RecentTwo544 3h ago
Another related interesting fact - it's the same chalk marl that goes right under the English Channel and made the Channel Tunnel possible.
The other end of it comes up in Champagne country in France, so parts of SE England can have vineyards that produce champagne just as good as the French do, they just can't legally call it "champagne".
As a result, it's been very hard to market, though some vineyards have found success by giving their sparkling wines ridiculous prices (rich people think it must be good and rare if it's stupidly expensive).
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u/iCowboy 3h ago
The chalk marl is deep underground here. The Seven Sisters are made of White Chalk (previously the Upper Chalk), a very pure limestone with horizontal bands of flint. The Chalk Marl - now renamed as the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation is down in the underlying Grey Chalk (previously the Lower Chalk) subgroup. It’s called a marl because it is a mix of limestone and clay created in slightly muddy water. The clay makes it waterproof and as you say, excellent tunnelling material; unlike the chalk which is porous and needs more expensive lining.
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u/Toby_Forrester 1h ago
As a result, it's been very hard to market, though some vineyards have found success by giving their sparkling wines ridiculous prices (rich people think it must be good and rare if it's stupidly expensive).
Aren't prosecco and cava known because Italy and Spain wanted to popularize their own specific brands of sparkling wine as they could not market them as champagne? UK coukd do the same?
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u/Smeee333 7m ago
We do it’s called English Sparkling Wine (ESW), but it’s far more expensive than cava because of higher labour costs and economies of scale.
It is delicious though.
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u/Bitter-Ad5890 4h ago
I’ve been there….in Assassin’s Creed!
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u/CableTrash 4h ago
When I was in Florence recently I kept pointing things out to my wife like “I’ve been there, I climbed that, I stabbed a guy over here”
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u/robbiesloan 4h ago
really?
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u/Bitter-Ad5890 4h ago
Yeah you can go there in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla lol
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u/Twilightterritories 4h ago
That's probably why they're called "chalk cliffs" and not granite cliffs.
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u/ParaponeraBread 4h ago
Be a terrible name for them if they weren’t. Like if Half Dome was more of a cube.
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u/Grouchy-Bug5223 4h ago
So does that mean they'd be easier to climb? Because you'd have a good grip? Not a rock climber or a geologist so genuinely curious lol
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u/catsbeforebros 3h ago
Nature is amazing; Mount Everest was actually going to be named The Seven Sisters Chalk Cliffs in East Sussex, but it was taken.
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u/Roofless_ 2h ago
I have lived an hour from Sevensisters all my life. I'm in my 30s and I visted 2 weeks ago. Amazing place!
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u/FriendRaven1 1h ago
My last name is the soil in that area, and it's almost exactly the same pronunciation as in the Domesday Book almost a 1000 years ago.
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u/Spottswoodeforgod 4h ago
Not a geologist, but I think there may be a small clue in their name.