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
Oceanic crust – that sinking feeling
Some rocks lead a quiet life. Stable parts of continental crust just sit there for billions of years, doing nothing. In the oceans things are much more dynamic. Live fast, die young, stay pretty is the motto of oceanic crust. It goes on one of the most amazing journeys rock can take. Along the way… Continue reading Oceanic crust – that sinking feeling
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
A year of metageologising
It’s been a year since I started this blog and tradition dictates I do a spot of navel-gazing – talk about this blog and the process of blogging, that sort of thing. Over the past year I’ve published 58 posts, received nearly 200 comments and received over 20,000 page views. It’s been fun, exciting and… Continue reading A year of metageologising