Hidden deep in the wilds of Thurstaston Common stands a mysterious landmark Gnome Mountain, known to you mortals as Thor’s Rock. This feature is one of the highest places in our homeland and although it is well concealed by the trees and marshes of the common, its presence dominates the surroundings.
Thor’s Rock is made of sandstone, which is a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are made when rivers, millions of years ago, have carried pieces of broken rock in its flow and as the river reaches a lake or sea, the load of transported rocks are deposited at the bottom. The deposited rocks build up in layers, called sediments; this process being known as sedimentation. The weight of the fresh sediments on top squashes the sediments at the bottom, and water is squeezed out from between the different layers and crystals of different salts form. Sedimentary rocks may also contain fossils, which are formed when animals or green plants are trapped in the sediments as the rock is formed.
Thurstaston Common (where Gnome Mountain is located), is full of sandstone, with much of the reserve carpeted with the red rock that came to be here from the Triassic Era (251 to 199 million years ago)
To claim Gnome Mountain for mortal-kind and to log your find, we would like you to email us with the answers to the questions below:
1. Name the type of rock that Gnome Mountain is made of and explain how it will have been formed
2. Estimate the overall length, width and height of Gnome Mountain.
3. Describe why the rock is soft/rounded in appearance at Point A (see waypoint below).
4. Optionally, take a picture of yourself with a gnome, GPS or just yourself at Gnome Mountain.
Extra Gnomie Points if you go to the top and conquer it.
