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Car Park - The Trap
N53 10 645
W003 04 821
From Mineral Information Institute
Is accessible to wheel chair users though some assistance maybe helpful.
The fishing peg (GZ) is near the waters edge please be careful with children.
- CLAYS -
MII Photos
Claystone
Kaolinite
Kaolinite
Background
Clays are usually the products of weathering. Clay minerals occur widely in such sedimentary rocks as mudstones and shale’s, in marine sediments, and in soils. Different geologic environments produce different clay minerals from the same parent rock. They are used in the petroleum industry (as drilling mud’s and as catalysts in refining) and in the processing of vegetable and mineral oils (as decolorizing agents).
The term clay refers to a number of earthy materials that are composed of minerals rich in alumina, silica and water. Clay is not a single mineral, but a number of minerals. When most clays are wet, they become "plastic" meaning they can be formed and moulded into shapes. When they are "fired" (exposed to very high temperatures), the water is driven off and they become as hard as stone. Clay is easily found all over the world. As a result, nearly all civilizations have used some form of clay for everything from bricks to pottery to tablets for recording business transactions.
The minerals that make up clay are so fine (less than 0.005 mm or microscopic),that until the invention of X-ray diffraction analysis, these minerals were not specifically known. Under extremely high magnification, one can see that clay minerals can be shaped like flakes, fibres, and even hollow tubes. Clays can also contain other materials such as iron oxide (rust), silica, and rock fragments. These impurities can change the characteristics of the clay. For example, iron oxide colours clay red. The presence of silica increases the plasticity of the clay (that is, makes it easier to mould and form into shapes).
Clays are categorized into six categories in industry. These categories are ball clay, bentonite, common clay, fire clay, fuller’s earth, and kaolin.
Ball clays are good quality clays used mostly in pottery but are also added to other clays to improve their plasticity. Ball clays are not as common as other clay varieties. One third of the ball clay used annually is used to make floor and wall tiles. It is also used to make sanitary ware, pottery, and other uses.
Bentonite is formed from the alteration of volcanic ash. Bentonite is used in pet litter to absorb liquids. It is used as a mud in drilling applications. It is also used in other industrial applications such as the "pelletizing" of iron ore.
Common clay is used to make construction materials such as bricks, cement, and lightweight aggregates.
Fire clays are all clays (excluding bentonite and ball clays) that are used to make items resistant to extreme heat. These products are called refractory products. Nearly all (81%) of fire clays are used to make refractory products.
Fuller’s earth is composed of the mineral palygorskite (at one time this mineral was called "attapulgite"). Fuller’s earth is used mostly as an absorbent material (74%), but also for pesticides and pesticide-related products (6%).
Kaolinite is a clay composed of the mineral kaolin. It is an essential ingredient in the production of high quality paper and some refractory porcelains.
Locally
Boulder clay or Till - unstratified soil deposited by a glacier which consists of sand / clay / gravel and boulders mixed together forms a plain separating the hills of North Wales and the Peak District of Derbyshire. This was formed following the retreat of ice age glaciers
The glaciers that originated in the Snowdonia mountains travelled northwards towards the Irish Sea. In the Ice Age, sea levels would have been much lower than they are at present, in fact, so low that Ireland was joined onto mainland Britain. The Snowdonia glaciers made their way out towards what is now the Irish Sea and deposited large amounts of boulder clay or till across the landscape.
As the climate cooled even more, the Irish Sea Ice travelled south west covering the deposits dropped by the Welsh glaciers. They too smeared large quantities of glacial Till over the landscape. This now overlies the Welsh glacial drift along the coastal plain.
Buckley was a popular location for mining, as there were many faults in local rock formations that allowed seams of coal to be mined directly from the surface. Its heavy, clay soil also allowed for excellent pottery and bricks to be manufactured. Potteries, Brickworks and Collieries: these three industries powered the engine of the town’s prosperity and fashioned the Buckley landscape. These industries have been determined by a corridor of clay and coal which runs across the district from Ewloe in the north to Padeswood in the south. Coal and clay were extracted from the surface in medieval times.Bricks from Buckley were transported all across the United Kingdom and as far as the United States, as Buckley became a brickworking centre.
The gradual demise of the brickworks left various clay holes, most of them huge and eventually filled with water. Some of these were landfilled with domestic rubbish (e.g. Belmont, Etna, Standard, The Trap, and, latterly, Brookhill). Etna has now been transformed into part of a heritage park and trail. The Standard is at the time of writing being capped in preparation for its transformation from quarry to disused clay hole to landfill to parkland for public access. Lane End Brickworks site is destined to become a housing estate and nature reserve. The Brookhill site is still being filled. Many of the old industrial sites have been built on, mainly by housing developments. The Trap clay hole has been managed for many years by the Buckley Angling Association and is now a beautiful pool.
BEFORE LOGGING THE FIND PLEASE WAIT FOR CONFIRMATION FROM THE CO THAT YOUR ANSWERS ARE CORRECT - Thank You.
To log this Earthcache please upload a photo of yourself or your GPSr including the Clay Cliff - optional as of 01.01.11(ALRs) and email the answers to the following questions to the cache owner via GC.com..
#1 – What is the number of the fishing peg at GZ
#2 – Using the Waypoint facility on your GPSr calculate the width of the trap between GZ peg and peg 37
#3 – How deep is the Clay Pit at it's deepest point.
Whilst in the area you may combine this with another cache close by - It's a Trap GC20ARW
Congratulations to MoldMonsters on being FTF / FTD
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Crt ybpngvba naq qrcgu vasbezngvba ninvynoyr ba Genc Znc