Soudley Valley Geology Trail EarthCache
Soudley Valley Geology Trail
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A lovely short walk in the Soudley Valley, with some of Earth's history exposed by man.
TO CLAIM THIS CACHE YOU MUST SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO THE CO (see main description).
The Soudley Valley in the Forest of Dean, near Cinderford, exposes nearly 100 million years of Earth's history in the rocks that were tilted by powerful Earth movements and now exposed in quarries and cuttings on either side of the valley. Rocks range from Devonian sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates, to carboniferous coal seams, containing well preserved plant fossils.
Before you set off from the suggested parking spot at N51° 47.479' W002° 30.099', have a look at the information board near by, this has a schematic of the local geological structure and has pictures of interesting points to look for in the area. One of these you will need to identify to answer one of the questions about this Earth cache. If you are interested in the whole suggested trail, there is a very good leaflet available (there is a small charge for it) from the Dean Heritage Centre at N51° 47.583' W002° 29.331' or via the Gloucestershire Geology Trust website.
The oldest rocks are the Brownstones, of the Lower Old Red Sandstone, about 370 million years old, which are exposed in the old railway cutting which you, will pass through at the start of the walk at N51° 47.497' W002° 30.132'. These Devonian rocks were deposited by a large river system flowing southwards from the uplands in North Wales and England. The cutting was dug in the 19th century to service the local mining and quarrying industries.
You will pass on the right hand side at N51° 47.642' W002° 30.246', an old sand quarry which was worked from around 1850 and exposes the Tintern Sandstone, the top part of the Old Red Sandstone.
Now continue on to the Earth cache site, turning right at N51° 47.690' W002° 30.284' and head up the steps. Be careful as the ground is uneven after this turn point and the steps can be slippery.
To claim this Earth cache you need to complete the following:
Please ONLY email me via my profile the answers to:
1) At the cache site, approximately how high in feet is the rock face?
2) What are the rocks made of here? (the site is easily identified on the information board at the parking spot)
And it would be great (optional) if you took a photo of yourself at the site with your GPS or just your GPS if you are on your own (there is a GPS holder at the site!!!) and upload the picture into your log.
TO CLAIM THIS CACHE YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ABOVE, IF YOU DO NOT YOUR LOG WILL BE DELETED. These requirements are due to the educational emphasis that the Earth cache type has been designed for.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)