he north coast. This southerly aspect helps the cultivation of early potatoes and tomatoes in the open air. Jersey also raises and exports the dairy cattle named after it. The chief town of the island, St.Helier, is on the south coast. (53,000) slopes gradually downwards in the opposite direction, the plateau descending from the cliff-lined south coast to the north. Market gardening is largely carried out under glass. Tomatoes and flowers are leading crops. Guernsey is famous for its native breed of cattle. The chief town is St. Peter Port on the east coast.islands include Alderney (2,000) and Sark (600)-the islands without motor-cars.Seas and CoastlineBritish Isles are of the continental origin. Situated off the north-west coast of Europe, they once formed part of that continent. The only became islands when they were separated from it. The separation took place thousands of years ago, after the last Ice Age. When the ice melted, the level of the oceans rose and drowned the low-lying coastlands round the continents. This was when the English Channel, which was formerly a westward extension of the North European Plain, became a shallow stretch of sea. It was a change which greatly affected the history as well as the geography of these islands.seems probable that the last glacial advance was at its maximum about 20,000 years ago. Since then a general warming of the climate has caused the glaciers to shrink, until today they have disappeared entirely from the British Isles. The withdrawal of the ice had an influence on the development of coastal features, for with the melting of the ice much water "locked up" in the glaciers was returned to the sea. As a result, sea-level during the post-glacial period rose by over 60 m. It was during this rise in sea-level that Britain was separated from the continent of Europe by the formation of the Strait of Dover. Other coastal areas suffered "drowning" with various results. In western Scotland glaciated valleys were flooded to form sea-lochs, the smaller islands were separated from Great Britain and Ireland, and in England the lower parts of many river valleys were submerged to form deeply penetrating inlets.the coasts of north-west Europe the land slopes gently down into the sea. At a certain depth of sea the slope becomes steeper, and the sea bed descends to much deeper levels. This change of slope takes place at a sea depth of about 200 m.zone of shallow water which at present surrounds the continent thus resembles a shelf above the really deep water of the oceans: it is called the continental shelf. A line joining points at a depth of 200 m shows the approximate boundary of the continental shelf. The British Isles lie entirely on the shelf.fact that the British Isles were once part of the European mainland means that their rocks often resemble those of the closest parts of the continent. The ancient hard rocks of the Scottish Highlands, for example, such as granite, are similar to those of Scandinavia. Then there is the chalk of south-east England, seen in the white cliffs of Dover and across the Strait of Dover in northern France. The limestone ridge, or escarpment that crosses England from north-east to south-west also has its counterpart in northern France. And one more important example is the way in which the European Power Belt is continued into Britain.the European continent the British Isles are separated by the English Channel and the North Sea. The English Channel, in its widest part in the west is 220 km wide, and in the narrowest, what is called the Strait of Dover, only 32 km. The average depth of the Channel is 60 m, and that of the Strait of Dover - 30 m. Here the two opposite coasts of 'England and France come so near, that on a clear day the cliffs of each side can be quite well seen from the opposite shore.were a number of schemes in the past how to connect the two coasts. Were Napoleaon alive today, he would be gratified that an idea he contemplated almost two centuries ago is to be translated into reality.the fact that the people in Kent, the south of England, were not enthusiastic about the venture as they feared damage to the environment, the old idea prevailed and major industrial and financial corporations swung into action. The final decision was made. Meeting at Lille, France, on January 20, 1986, the President of France and the Prime Minister of Great Britain chose one of the four projects which had been submitted. scheme, put forward by the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel - France Manche consortium, envisaged the construction of two rail tunnels 40 metres under the Channel bed. The tunnels are 7,3 metres in diameter and about 50 km long, of which 37 km are under the Channel. Cars, trucks and coaches drive into specially built flat-cars and high-speed trains (160 km ph) leave every few minutes, reaching the terminal on the opposite side in 30 minutes.the west the British Isles are washed by the Atlant...
