exhibition info

The sea has always held great significance for Sussex and Normandy residents. For our ancestors the sea was the original commons which could provide food, protection, as well as a gateway to different cultures. Today, as then, there is much to celebrate about the bounty, beauty and mystery of the sea.

But there also challenges that are real and urgent:

. We still lack knowledge about marine environments and how they are changing - for example, its only recently that the discovery of deep sea vents has revolutionised our understanding of the origins of life itself.
Although our commons are now heavily regulated, many of our fish stocks are depleted and other species are threatened. Despite tougher laws we still pollute with sewage, chemical and radioactive discharges.
Industrial activities and lifestyles are changing the climate in unpredictable ways.

Many of us today may not work directly with the sea, but nevertheless want to hand on to future generations a sea that can delight, protect and sustain. The goal of this exhibition is to contribute to the debate and the actions that will be needed to realise a sustainable future for our common sea.

The number of known species on our planet is about 1.5 million and were still counting. According to estimates there could be 100 million!!

Many of these new species will be found in the difficult to reach parts of the sea. Deep sea vents were only discovered very recently and have totally transformed our understandings of the very origins of life. There is no doubt that one day new species will be discovered in the Channel. These discoveries have more than academic interest because of the potential medicines, materials or different biological systems that may be down there.

But sadly our track record of living with other species is not good. Humans are responsible for numerous extinctions and we may be about to cause many more through over exploitation, habitat destruction or changing the climate.

We have a responsibility to preserve the diversity of life as a duty to future generations. Also profound moral issues are involved in our relationship with other species. The dodo skeleton in this museum is a poignant reminder of this - are we prepared to manage species by species decline and eventual destruction

Our coastal landscapes have been formed by water. Sedimentary rocks were deposited by water and have been acted upon by rain, river and waves.

About 85 million years ago a huge shallow sea covered the Transmanche region -
Sussex, Kent, Pas de Calais and Normandy. Chalk up to 350 metres deep was formed from the remains of foraminifera, microscopic marine animals which swam in the then tropical sea.

Movements in the earth’s crust caused an uplifting of the chalk in the Miocene period
(5-23 million years ago). The subsequent erosion of the folds forms the basis of today’s land forms. The shape of the coastline has been created by repeated rising and dipping of the land relative to the sea.

Only 10,000 years ago, when Northern Europe went through a very cold climatic period, England was connected to the mainland. But the climate changed and sea levels rose as ice sheets melted. About 5,000 years ago the sea broke through the chalk hills joining the
channel to the North Sea and created an island.
Web Links: www.brighton.ac.uk/environment/ROCC

Ten thousand years ago, as sea levels rose, the chalk Downs and the Weald, bisected by rivers, extended across the site of the Channel. By 5,000 BC, the sea had broken through the river gaps and submerged the clay valleys. Islands of chalk and sandstone were rapidly eroded

Top Next