Still catching up on work after last week’s field course – typical, go away for a week and there is a large European earthquake. Anyway, here is the seismogram of last week’s Italian Earthquake recorded at Keele University …
The Winking Man
Staffordshire
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Apr 132009
After being away in the field for the past week I’m just catching up on things (over a thousand blog posts in my google reader feed for starters). I went for a walk yesterday in the Staffordshire part of the Peak District. This is the “Winking Man” on Ramshaw Rocks near the Roaches. It is so called because as one passes along the A53 from Buxton to Leek the view of the sky though the ‘eye’ gets briefly obscured by the ridge giving the illusion of a wink. Geologically, it is a Marsdenian (Bashkirian, Carboniferous) gritstone.
Also, here is a tree growing in a rock cleft on Hen Cloud.
Cannock Chase Geotrail
geology
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Apr 032009
The Cannock Chase Geotrail which I’ve mentioned before here, here, here, and here has finally gone to print. With thanks to the Staffordshire Aggregates Levy Fund 70,000 copies will be available free from tourist information outlets around the county and is downloadable from the Staffordshire RIGS website.
It has been great fun doing it but I don’t want to see another ‘Bunter’ pebble in a long time thank you very much!
Pebble from Lower Triassic Kidderminster Formation showing pressure solution pits.
P.S. after committing to a 70,000 print run, if you find any errors I don’t want to know.
Apr 012009
The Manifold Valley is one of Staffordshire’s hidden gems. The valley follows the axis of the Ecton Anticline and it’s narrow valley gorge cutting down through Lower Carboniferous limestones gets deflected by reef knolls and in places disappears down swallets. Last weekend I followed part of the Hamps & Manifold Geotrail which can be downloaded as a pdf from the Staffordshire RIGS website.
Images Source: Hamps & Manifold Geotrail, SRIGS
Nan Tor Cave, Locality 13
Manifold Valley near locality 17.
Thor’s Cave (probably a corruption of Tor’s Cave).
The interior of Thor’s Cave.
View from Thor’s Cave over Manifold Valley.
View over Peak District from Wetton.
Note: Blogging in April will be light as I’m in the field for most of it.
