Editing West Sussex (section)

===Physical geography===
{{See also|Geology of West Sussex|List of hills of West Sussex}}
[[File:West Sussex general map.svg|thumb|left|General map of West Sussex.]]

West Sussex is bordered by Hampshire to the west, Surrey to the north and East Sussex to the east. The [[English Channel]] lies to the south. The area has been formed from [[Upper Jurassic]] and [[Lower Cretaceous]] rock strata, part of the [[Weald–Artois Anticline]]. The eastern part of this ridge, the [[Weald]] of Kent, Sussex and Surrey has been greatly eroded, with the chalk surface removed to expose older Lower Cretaceous rocks of the [[Wealden Group]].<ref>Gallois R.W. & Edmunds M.A. (4th Ed 1965), ''The Wealden District'', British Regional Geology series, British Geological Survey, {{ISBN|0-11-884078-9}}</ref> In West Sussex the exposed rock becomes older towards the north of the county with [[Lower Greensand Group|Lower Greensand]] ridges along the border with Surrey including the highest point of the county at [[Blackdown, West Sussex|Blackdown]]. Erosion of softer sand and clay strata has hollowed out the basin of the Weald leaving a north facing [[Escarpment|scarp slope]] of the [[chalk]] which runs east and west across the whole county, broken only by the valleys of the [[River Arun]] and [[River Adur]].<ref name="MantellJones">{{cite book|last=Mantell|first=Gideon Algernon|author2=Jones|others=Thomas Rupert|title=The Wonders of Geology|publisher=Henry G. Bohn|location=London|year=1857|edition=7th|volume=I|pages=371|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uh0OAAAAQAAJ&q=Wealden+geology&pg=PA370|access-date=27 October 2013|archive-date=21 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421175920/https://books.google.com/books?id=uh0OAAAAQAAJ&q=Wealden+geology&pg=PA370|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to these two rivers which drain most of the county a [[winterbourne (stream)|winterbourne]], the [[River Lavant, West Sussex|River Lavant]], flows intermittently from springs on the dip slope of the chalk downs north of Chichester.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/documents/hydrometricregister_final_withcovers.pdf |title=UK Hydrometric Register |last=Marsh |first=Terry |author2=Hannaford, Jamie |year=2008 |publisher=Natural Environment Research Council |pages=122 |isbn=978-0-9557672-2-7 |access-date=27 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005215639/http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/documents/hydrometricregister_final_withcovers.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> Some intermittent streams are known in the local dialect as "rifes".<ref name="rife">{{cite web|title=British Government catchment planning|url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/OperationalCatchment/3534|access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref>

The county makes up 1.52% of the total land of [[England]], making it the 30th [[List of counties in the United Kingdom|largest county in the country]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barrow|first1=Mandy|title=Project Britain British Life and Culture|url=http://projectbritain.com/counties.html|website=Project Britain|publisher=Mandy Barrow|access-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006235530/http://projectbritain.com/counties.html|archive-date=6 October 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

{{climate chart
| [[Bognor Regis]]
|3.1|7.8|76.2
|2.7|7.9|49.6
|4.3|10.2|56.1
|5.8|12.8|46.8
|9.0|16.0|44.4
|11.7|18.6|44.0
|14.0|20.9|40.9
|13.9|21.0|51.3
|11.9|18.8|58.9
|9.3|15.3|91.9
|5.8|11.3|83.4
|3.6|8.6|81.8
|float  = right
|units  = 
|source = Met Office<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/bognor-regis-west-sussex#?tab=climateTables|title=Bognor Regis Climate|publisher=Met Office|access-date=8 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213150855/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/bognor-regis-west-sussex#?tab=climateTables|archive-date=13 December 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
}}