Why are some bits of the earth higher than others? Finding mountains near plate boundaries is easy to explain – various forms of plate collision cause the crust to thicken and the surface to rise. What about Southern Africa? Reaching a high point of 3473m, most of Southern Africa is a high plateau. It is… Continue reading Mantle support of topography – a swell idea
Category: England
Charnwood forest – misty traces of ancient landscapes
Precambrian rocks are fairly uncommon in England so I jumped at the chance to visit some with the friendly folk of Reading Geological Society. They were found in Charnwood Forest. The pattern of rocks in England and Wales is broadly one of younging to the south east. A journey from London to Anglesey takes you… Continue reading Charnwood forest – misty traces of ancient landscapes
Ecton – copper, limestone and folds
England’s Peak District is made almost entirely from Carboniferous sediments, in a broad anticline. On the outside edges, mid to late Carboniferous rocks are dominated by sandstone, with subsidiary mudstone and coal. The core is an area known as the White Peak where lower Carboniferous limestones form a gentle landscape. It’s a working landscape though, with a… Continue reading Ecton – copper, limestone and folds
Ludchurch – sandstone, landslips and a beheading game
The ‘Dark Peak’, the land to the south and east of Macclesfield rising up above the Cheshire plain, is a wild place. We are in England though, and even here in the North, things are only mildly wild. This is no wilderness, we are only 25 miles from Manchester, once the ‘workshop of the world’.… Continue reading Ludchurch – sandstone, landslips and a beheading game