Brinscall View EarthCache
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This earthcache location was discovered whilst roaming Withnell Moor and the surrounding area.
Please take care near quarries as they can be dangerous places.
The co-ords should provide a safe view of the quarry and the earthworks.
Gritstone quarrying has been carried out at Brinscall Quarry since 1947 and the site occupies approximately 14.5 Ha of land. Surrounding the quarry to the south is grazed heathland. Tips from previous workings left to the west and north-east of the site, have become colonised by birch and heather and now screen parts of the quarry.
The quarry was left unmanaged following its closure in the early 1970's, leaving areas to become overgrown with birch regeneration. The site was reopened in 1994 to provide aggregate materials for the M65 motorway link.
The quarry is still active for Gritstone.
Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is often applied to sandstones composed of angular sand grains. It may commonly contain small pebbles
Brinsall Quarry also contains Mudstones needed for the construction industry.
Mudstone (also called mudrock) is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm (0.0025 in) with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the appearance of fissility or parallel layering. This finely bedded material that splits readily into thin layers is called shale, as distinct from mudstone. The lack of fissility or layering in mudstone may be due either to original texture or to the disruption of layering by burrowing organisms in the sediment prior to lithification. Mud rocks, such as mudstone and shale comprise some 65% of all sedimentary rocks. Mudstone looks like hardened clay and, depending upon circumstances under which it was formed, it may show cracks or fissures, like a sun-baked clay deposit
To claim the cache, please answer the following question via email.
Observe, Describe and Explain the difference between Gritstone and Mudstone Rocks at the location.
Optional post a pic of you or your GPS with the quarry in the background.
If emails are not received with the correct answers logs will be removed.
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