When Mammoths Roamed Warrington EarthCache
When Mammoths Roamed Warrington
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At the listed coordinates you should find a large object believed to have been deposited by a glacier at a time when woolly mammoths still roamed the earth.
The objective of this earthcache is to demonstrate that this is a glacial erratic - a term referring to a rock that differs in size and type to the rock native to the area and transported by ice.
The last ice age in Britain is referred to as the Devensian Age which started around 110,000 years ago and ended 12,500 years ago. The name is derived from the Latin Dēvenses, people living by the Dee, near which river deposits from the period are particularly well represented. The maximum extent of this glaciation occurred around 20,000 years ago. At this time approximately 10,000 square miles of the earth was covered by ice and over Cheshire the ice was up to 400m thick.
Glacial deposits suggest the ice radiated outwards and extended southwards through Lancashire from local accumulation centres in the Lake District and the Western Penines reaching as far south as the Whitchurch area. This would explain the occurance of a boulder consisting of a rock type native to the Lake District and not Cheshire where the solid geology is dominated by large tracts of mainly red Triassic sediments laid down in semi-arid desert conditions between 225 and 195 million years ago.
This red sandstone is extremely soft, easily dug out and worked. While 'green', ie before hardening in the atmosphere, it can be cut with a knife, but hardens reasonably quickly. It was used from Roman times for building works of all types, from the bridges on the Bridgewater canal to churches and retaining walls. An example of this building stone can be seen by walking east down Buttermarket Street to N53 23.390 W002 35.340. Here you will see St Mary's Church, built in the 1870's from pale Pierpoint stone and more importantly, local red Runcorn Sandstone.
To log this earthcache please contact us via email using the link at the top of the page and tell us what you think the answers to these questions are -
1. Describe the differences in appearance (colour and texture) between the erratic boulder and the local sandstone used in the church.
2. Describe the colour of the erratic, what type of stone do you think the boulder is made of?
3. What shape is the erratic (angular or rounded)? What do you think has caused this?
As an optional task it would be nice if you could upload a picture of yourself at the site.
Please feel free to log the cache before receiving a reply to your answers, but logs that are not followed up by emailed answers may be deleted.
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