Stevns Klint, known as the Cliffs of Stevns in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, is a white chalk cliff located some southeast of Store Heddinge on the Danish island of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

. Stretching along the coast, it is of geological importance as one of the best exposed Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundaries in the world. Subject to frequent erosion, the cliff rises to a height of up to . Because of its exceptional fossil record, Stevens Klint was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 2014.

Geology

The cliff reveals sections from the uppermost part of the

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval ...

stage (72 to 66 million years ago), known as the Tor Formation and from the lowermost part of the

Danian The Danian is the oldest age or lowest stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series, of the Paleogene Period or System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginning of the Danian (and the end of the preceding Maastrichtian) is at the Cretace ...

stage (66 to 62 million years ago); the Danian-aged rocks are known as the Rødvig Formation and the Stevns Klint Formation. The lower strata from the cliff are from the Cretaceous and are composed of soft

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

, indicating a relatively deep marine depositional environment. The dark layer of , mainly five to ten centimeters thick, clearly marks the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. The is enriched in

iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

, a fact used as an argument for the

Alvarez hypothesis The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth. Prior to 2013, it was c ...

that the worldwide Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction was caused by the impact of an asteroid. Following the boundary is a layer of darker clay and chalk between 10 and 30 cm thick, corresponding to a period of low biological diversity on the sea floor immediately after the K-Pg Boundary. The layers can also be seen deep in the tunnels of Stevnsfortet, a cold-war fortress constructed in 1953. The upper layers of the cliff consist of

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...

and were deposited during the early Paleogene. The

in the cliff is highly shock resistant to both conventional and nuclear weapons.

Paleontology

Stevns Klint contains a remarkably detailed and complete fossil record of the biota in Northern Europe during the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene. The Cretaceous chalk at Stevns Klint contains more than 450 species of macrofossils and hundreds more species of microfossils. The lower Paleogene layers are similarly rich in microfossils, containing many species of millimeter-long suspension feeders. A wide variety of benthic

foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...

species have been identified from the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with significant differences in abundance across the K–Pg boundary demonstrating the biotic turnover that occurred during the mass extinction event. '' Corbulamella'', a bivalve known as a pioneer species, dominate the strata immediately after the boundary layer. In total, over 830 species of macrofauna have been identified from Stevns Klint. These include

bryozoans Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, wh ...

ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttl ...

corals Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secr ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

, and the remains of some larger animals like

sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

. Stevns Klint was the first known site to document the short-term survival of ammonites into the Paleogene, when they were originally thought to have gone extinct at the K-pg boundary.

Cold War museum

In 2008 Cold War Museum Stevns Fortress opened to the public. It features a large exhibition of military equipment and a 1.5-hour guided tour in the large underground system of the fortress. The underground system of the fortress features of tunnels, living quarters and command centers, including a hospital and a chapel. There are also two ammunition depots for its two cannons. The tunnels are below the surface, dug deep into the chalk of Stevns. The top-secret fortress was built in 1953 and remained operational until 2000.

Højerup Church

The old Højerup Church (''Højerup Gamle Kirke'') which stands at the top of the cliff dates from the year 1200. As a result of erosion, a landslide in 1928 caused the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

to collapse and fall to the shore below. The cliff can be accessed via steps from the church. A new church completed in 1913 is located back from the cliff.

UNESCO listing

On 23 June 2014 it was announced that Stevns Klint and the Wadden Sea had been added to the UNESCO list of

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s in Denmark.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Cliffs of Denmark Coastline of Zealand Geology of Denmark Museums in Region Zealand Stevns Municipality Tourist attractions in Region Zealand World Heritage Sites in Denmark