North Yorkshire Geodiversity Partnership

Ingleton Quarry, Precambrian
Malham Cove Carboniferous
West Burton Falls Carboniferous
Cleave Dyke Quarry, Jurassic
Geology

Geology

Geological Sites

Geological Sites

Rocks for us

Rocks For Us

Devonian – Tropical Desert

diagram-03diagram-04diagram-05The end of the Silurian saw a dramatic change in the local environment. The sea shallowed, and during a major mountain building interval (the Caledonian), the rocks were uplifted, folded (3), intruded by the Wensleydale Granite (4), and, eroded under tropical desert conditions. By the end of the Devonian, weathering and erosion had worn the rocks flat (5) before they were swamped by the tropical seas of the Carboniferous period. Around the town of Sedbergh, remnants of this eroded surface, are believed to be represented by the Sedbergh Conglomerate (Upper Old Red Sandstone Group), but over most of the area 80 million years of Earth history are missing.

Sedbergh-ConglomeratePhoto: Devonian Conglomerate – Sedbergh Conglomerate

Blocks-BasinsFigure: Blocks and basins © BGS (NERC)