Burrs Rock EarthCache
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A walk through The Burrs Country Park.
Burrs Country Park lies on the River Irwell covering an area of 36 hectares of scenic countryside, one mile north west of Bury town centre.
By Metrolink and bus: the Metrolink and buses stop at Bury Interchange, buses 475 and 477 run to Burrs (not Sundays). Travel information is available from GMPTE's website.
By car: Follow the brown Burrs Country Park signs from Bury Bridge (A58).
By bicycle: Burrs is signposted on National Cycle Route 6 and Bury Tourist Information Centre can recommend cycle routes throughout Bury. Ask for the "Bike rides around Bury" leaflet.
Free car park
Now for the Science.
Sedimentary rocks are created by a variety of processes but usually involving deposition, grain by grain, layer by layer, in water or, in the case of terrestrial sediments, on land through the action of wind or sometimes moving ice. Erosion later exposes them in their current form. • Metamorphic rocks are created by rocks that have been transformed into another kind of rock, usually by some combination of heat, pressure and chemical alteration. • Igneous rocks are created when molten rock cools and solidifies, with or without crystallization. They may be either plutonic bodies or volcanic extrusives. Again, erosive forces sculpt their current forms.
Colour is a useful criterion to consider when identifying unknown rocks. While colour alone does not often provide a positive identification, it is helpful when considered along with the unknown rock’s hardness, geographic origin or structure.
The exterior colours of rocks can become altered by erosion, so it is best to break open a rock and observe the colour of the inside. It may also be helpful to observe the colour while the rock is both wet and dry.
Aside from erosion, a process called chemical weathering may also cause the colour of rocks to change. For example, rocks containing iron tend to rust when they come into contact with oxygen or water, when they begin to rust, they turn reddish-brown.
Rocks that contain Sulphur will show a yellowish colour to their appearance.
When copper is present in rocks you will more often notice a green colour to the rock.
Regardless of their colour and chemical composition, all earthly rocks are formed in one of three ways. Sedimentary rocks are formed from compressed sand and dust, while igneous rocks are volcanic in origin and are composed of cooled magma. Metamorphic rocks are named because they changed states in the past due to high temperature and pressure.
Weathering is the process where rock is dissolved, worn away or broken down into smaller and smaller pieces. There are mechanical, chemical and organic weathering processes.
Mechanical weathering physically breaks up rock. One example is called frost action or frost shattering. Water gets into cracks and joints in bedrock. When the water freezes it expands and the cracks are opened a little wider. Over time pieces of rock can split off a rock face and big boulders are broken into smaller rocks and gravel. This process can also break up bricks on buildings.
Organic weathering happens when plants break up rocks with their growing roots or plant acids help dissolve rock.
Chemical weathering decomposes or decays rocks and minerals. An example of chemical weathering is water dissolving limestone.
To qualify as a find you must answer some very simple questions for me and send them to me via my profile Email address.
1) Describe the effect that is visible on the rocks here and using the information provided, tell me what kind of effect are we looking at?
2) On the lower rock visible you can see a varying array of colour, what has caused this and what colours can you see?
3) using your GPS, take a reading of altitude at the listed coordinates and a second reading by the river. Now tell me what the difference is between the two readings.
Finally as an optional task.
Take a photograph of yourself or your GPS at GZ facing away from the Rocks to avoid any spoilers.
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Treasures
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