PLEASE ONLY ACCESS THIS EARTHCACHE FROM THE BEACH ATTEMPTING TO GET TO THIS CACHE FROM THE CLIFFTOPS COULD CAUSE SERIOUS RISK OF HARM TO YOU AND OTHERS THIS EARTHCACHE IS NOT ACCESSABLE DURING HIGH TIDE PLEASE CHECK TIDE TIMES BEFORE ATTEMPTING
-----------THIS EARTH CACHE IS IN PLACE BY KIND PERMISION OF NATURAL RESOURCES WALES ------------
YOU DO NOT NEED TO CLIMB ON ANY ROCKS AND I WOULD ASK THAT YOU DO NOT DUE TO THE SENSITIVE NATURE OF THE GEOLOGY IN THIS AREA
PLEASE SEND ALL ANSWERS VIA EMAIL TO jones25118416@gmail.com OR THROUGH THE MESSAGE CENTRE PLEASE DO NOT POST ANSWERS IN YOUR LOG THIS MAY GIVE AWAY THE ANSWERS TO OTHERS let us focus on but a small area of this geology and this being the coal measures that ran across the county There are coal-bearing rocks (Coal Measures) in Pembrokeshire. these coal measures can be found near the surface of the ground and can be found over a narrow strip of county from Carmarthen Bay in the east to St Bride's Bay in the west. Nearest to Carmarthen Bay, this strip of county is about 4 miles wide. It narrows towards the west and towards St Bride's Bay assumes a northerly trend along the coast to end at the flank of the St David's peninsula. All parts of the coal measures in Pembrokeshire have, at various times, been worked for coal but, west of Johnston, there has only been surface mining and no exploitation of the lower seams by deep shafts. The type of coal found in Pembrokeshire is anthracite - of high quality. It was exploited at least from the beginning of the 14th century. The quality of the coal and the facility of transport by sea led to the expansion of the trade, so that by 1800, despite the small extent of the coal deposits, Pembrokeshire coal mining had attained prominence. The coal was at that time shipped to many parts of England and Wales and to several European countries. Later, Pembrokeshire coal mining was overshadowed by that of the main South Wales coalfield where new mining methods were more easily introduced. However, some deep mining was undertaken in Pembrokeshire - but even the largest of its collieries were only of medium size compared with those developed in Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire. Coal mining remained rural in character. Its decline in relative importance began in the 19th century and was more rapid after 1900 when one after another colliery was abandoned. The output of coal continued to drop until nationalisation of the industry in 1947, after which the last remaining colliery closed down.
IN ORDER TO PROVE YOU HAVE BEEN TO THIS LOCATION I ASK A FEW QUESTIONS
1. at your feet there begins a slope of rock and contained in that slope is ball shape inclusions visable on the surface of this slope using the identification details below identify what are those inclusions made from?
2. at the cliff side at GZ you will see layers of different rock clearly visable one of these layers being a coal seam with a lighter line of rock below it how wide approximatly across is the hole in the cliff face where the coal has been removed or eroded
3. at what angle from vertical do the layers run approximatly
the rocks of pembrokeshire have excited the attention of geoligists for a long time and this earthcache brings you to but a small part of the complex geology that can be found within pembrokeshire.
GNEISS (nice)What Type of Rock Is It?: Metamorphic
What Does It Look Like?: Gneiss is usually light in color, but it can be quite dark. It looks like it has ribbons or stripes of minerals running through the rock. The grain size is usually fairly coarse. Gneiss usually breaks into blocky pieces, not along the layers. Unlike granite, in which the crystals are randomly arranged, the crystals in gneiss are lined up and in layers. Gneiss is a tough and hard rock.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock?: Almost always: feldspars, quartz, and mica. Sometimes: kyanite, garnet, hornblende, tourmaline, magnetite, and many others.
How Was It Formed?: Gneiss is formed from another metamorphic rock, called schist. The schist formed from fine grained sedimentary rock (often a shale). Gneiss can be formed also from some igneous rocks, especially granite. It is usually formed under great pressure from moving plates of the earth's crust.
SCHIST (sh-ist)What Type of Rock Is It? Metamorphic
What Does It Look Like? Top and bottom layers are usually a silvery, to green, to brown, to black mica, or a green to very dark green chlorite. The micas are often in small flaky crystals. Layers are usually thin, often with lens like layers of quartz between the mica layers. Layers may be somewhat wavy. Grain size varies from medium to coarse. Schist usually splits easily along the layers of mica, unlike gneiss.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz, feldspar, mica (muscovite, biotite). Sometimes: chlorite, garnet, hornblende, actinolite, kyanite, magnetite, pyrite, staurolite, tourmaline, and many others.
How Was It Formed? Schists are usually formed from shales that were formed from clay or sandy clay, sometimes with a little lime, sometimes from rocks and sediments from volcanoes. Schists are most often formed when plates of the ocean floor push under, into, or up onto a continent. It is the sea floor rocks that get crunched to form schists.
MARBLE (mar'-bul)What Type of Rock Is It? Metamorphic
What Does It Look Like? Often pure white. It may be streaked or patchy gray, green, tan, or red. Marble is fine grained to very coarse grained and crystals are usually easy to see. The rock is soft; it will not scratch glass (quartzite may look like a fine grained marble, but easily scratches glass). The powdered marble will often fizz with white vinegar. If it does not fizz, it may be dolomitic marble.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? calcite, or dolomite (dolomitic marble); Sometimes: graphite, pyrite, mica, tremolite, and a few others
How Was It Formed? Marble forms from the metamorphism of limestones.
QUARTZITE (kwart'-zite)What Type of Rock Is It? Metamorphic
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz; Sometimes, a little: mica, feldspar, magnetite, pyrite, ilmenite, garnet, and any of a few others.
What Does It Look Like? If the quartzite is pure quartz it is white. It may have a yellowish to reddish color if it contains iron minerals. Rarely, it is black if it contains a lot of magnetite. Sometimes, using a magnifier, the grains of sand from which it formed can be seen. The rock breaks through the grains, not around them (sandstone breaks around the grains). Quartzite often shows lighter colored flakes on a broken surface, where air is behind a very thin chip. Unlike marble, quartzite is very hard and easily scratches glass.
How Was It Formed? Most quartzite is metamorphosed sandstone.
SLATE (sl-ate)What Type of Rock Is It? Metamorphic
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? micas, feldspars, quartz (but they can not be recognized because the grains are so small you would need a microscope to see them); Sometimes contain: pyrite
What Does It Look Like? Slate can be black, gray, brownish red, bluish gray, or greenish gray. It is very fine grained and has thin, quite smooth, flat layers. Unlike shale, slate easily splits into thin flat pieces. It often will scratch glass, with a little difficulty.
How Was It Formed? Slate is usually formed from clay sediments or shale that has been heated and put under pressure by plate collisions. The pressures and temperatures that form slate are lower than those that form schist.
SERPENTINITE (Sir'-pen-tin-ite)What Type of Rock Is It? Metamorphic
What Does It Look Like? Serpentinite feels very slippery. It is more a broken rock than it is a layered rock. The "layers" are sort of flat plates of green rock. They may be thin or more than 2cm thick. Serpentinite is usually green to grayish-green. The flat plates may have long scratch like grooves in them. It may be dull or nearly glassy looking. When serpentine is dull it may be fine to coarse grained. When it is glassy it looks very smooth and has no visible grains.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Mostly antigorite, amesite, and lizardite. Sometimes: chrysotile (a type of asbestos), brucite, magnesite, chromite, magnetite and garnets. Talc is often found because serpentine alters to talc.
How Was It Formed? When an ocean floor plate collides with a continental plate, giant slices of the oceanic crust are pushed up into the rocks of the continent. A rock, called peridotite, at the bottom of the oceanic plate is changed to serpentinite because there is less weight on it, the temperature is lower, and water circulates through it. Serpentinite is usually found in mountains that were once at the edge of a continent. Another way serpentinite can form is from peridotites that crystallize deep in the earth's crust from magma. The peridotites are gradually uncovered by erosion, and as they get close to the surface, they alter to serpentinite.
RHYOLITE (rye'-o-lite)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz, feldspars; Sometimes contain: biotite, diopside, hornblende, zircon
What Does It Look Like? Usually light colored; light gray, tan, reddish, greenish, brown. Fine grained, but often contains scattered larger crystals. May contain small pockets that were gas bubbles. Sometimes shows flow lines or bands.
How Was It Formed? Rhyolite is a volcanic rock. It forms from the rapid cooling of a magma or lava that contains a lot of silica (quartz). The molten material often contains gas bubbles which freeze into the rock. Pumice is a kind of rhyolite that has really a lot of tiny gas bubbles in it.
GRANITE (gran'-it)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz, feldspars (microcline, orthoclase, albite), biotite, muscovite; Sometimes contain: hornblende, augite, magnetite, zircon
What Does It Look Like? The feldspars give granite most of its color, which may be white to light gray, yellowish, or pink. The quartz is usually smoky gray or white. Black specks of biotite, or sometimes hornblende, are common. So is silvery to brownish muscovite. Granite is coarse grained to very coarse grained. The crystals are randomly arranged (unlike gneiss where they are in lines or layers).
How Was It Formed? Granite forms deep in the earth's crust from cooling magma. The magma contains a lot of silica (quartz). Slow cooling produces the large crystals in granite.
DIORITE (die'-or-ite)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Dark colored plagioclase, hornblende, pyroxene, and sometimes a little quartz. May contain: light colored plagioclase feldspars, but only a little.
What Does It Look Like? Mostly it looks like a dark colored granite. The dark colored plagioclase feldspars and pyroxenes give it a darker color. It is usually medium to dark gray. Unlike granite, diorite has no mica, or very little, and those are dark colored. It is coarse grained (larger than rice).
How Was It Formed? Diorite forms deep in the earth's crust from cooling magma - just like granite. But, the magma does not contain a lot of quartz or the light colored minerals that make up the granite. Instead it contains only dark colored minerals.
BASALT (buh-salt')What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? Basalt is dark gray to black. When exposed to the weather, it may turn yellow or brown on its surface. Basalt is fine grained rock You may or may not be able to see crystals with a hand magnifier. The crystals are often microscopic. Basalt is a hard, tough rock. It is difficult to break. Sometimes, basalt contains gas bubbles. It is then called vesicular basalt.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? plagioclase feldspars, augite, hypersthene, olivine
How Was It Formed? Basalt is a volcanic rock. It is formed from a magma that is rich in iron and magnesium, and poor in silica (quartz). The magma erupts from a volcano or a fissure (a crack in the earth's surface) as lava. Because the lava cools rather quickly, basalt is fine grained. there is not time enough for the grains to become larger.
DIABASE (die'-uh-base)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? Diabase is dark green to black, sometimes with some white crystals scattered through it. When exposed to the weather its surface often turns brown. It has a medium grain size (you can see them without a magnifier, but they are smaller than rice). It is a tough, hard rock.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? plagioclase feldspars, augite; Sometimes contains: hornblende, magnetite, olivine, glass
How Was It Formed? Diabase forms from a magma that is rich in iron and magnesium, and poor in silica (quartz). The magma is forced into cracks or between layers of rock near the earth's surface. Diabase is from the same kind of magma as basalt, but because it cools more slowly, it develops slightly larger crystals.
GABBRO (gab'-row)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? Gabbro is dark green to black. When exposed to the weather its surface often turns brown. It has a large grain size (most of the rock is grains larger than rice).
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? plagioclase feldspars, augite, hypersthene, olivine; Sometimes contains: magnetite, chromite, titanite, ilmenite.
How Was It Formed? Gabbro forms from a magma that is rich in iron and magnesium, and poor in silica (quartz). The magma cools and crystallizes deep below the earth's surface. Gabbro is from the same kind of magma as basalt and diabase, but because it cools more slowly, it develops larger crystals.
PUMICE (pum'-iss)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? Pumice is very light gray to a medium gray in color. It contains a large number of gas bubbles, each surrounded by a thin layer of volcanic glass. Pumice looks something like a sponge. It is very light in weight. Most pieces of pumice will float on water. Flow lines or bands may show.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? glass, any mineral grains are unusual.
How Was It Formed? Pumice is explosively blown out of volcanoes. It comes from a highly silicic magma that is thick and sticky. The gases that are trapped in the bubbles are the same that cause the explosive eruption. It is the same kind of magma which would form rhyolite or granite.
SCORIA (score'-ee-uh)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? The color is usually black, dark gray, brown, or dark green. Scoria is glassy, smooth to rough, and contains gas bubbles. Unlike pumice, it has many fewer, usually larger bubbles, and is moderately heavy.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? mainly a glass
How Was It Formed? Scoria usually is from the top of a lava flow, so it is volcanic. It forms from a somewhat sticky lava. Because it is on the top of the flow, it cools rather quickly, before many crystals start to form.
OBSIDIAN (obb-sid'-ee-an)What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Does It Look Like? Obsidian is a glass and is usually black, although sometimes it may be slightly grayish or greenish. It may include some white crystals that look like snowflakes (snowflake obsidian). It may include swirls of a red color. Obsidian breaks and chips like glass. The location where the chip came out is scoop shaped, like the inside of a clam shell. The chip often has ridges that that are semicircular. This kind of break is called a conchoidal fracture.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? black glass
How Was It Formed? Obsidian is volcanic. It forms from rapid cooling lava that has a lot of silica. The lava cools so fast that crystals do not have time to form.
SANDSTONE (sand'-stone)What Type of Rock Is It? Sedimentary
What Does It Look Like? Sandstone is often red to brown, light gray to nearly white. Sometimes it is yellow or green. It usually is composed of rounded grains that are all of the same size; and it is usually medium grained. Some sandstones show slight color variations in layering.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz; Sometimes contains: feldspars, mica, glauconite (in green colored sandstone), magnetite, garnet, rutile, ilmenite
How Was It Formed? quartz sand that is produced by the weathering of other rocks (such as granite, gneiss, and other sandstones) is deposited by rivers, waves, or wind. The sediment may have been a sand bar, an ocean beach, or desert sand dunes. The sand is buried under other sediments, compacted by the weight of those sediments, and cemented by material dissolved in water that seeps through it.
Related Rocks: Arkose: Usually red or pink, may be gray. Grains are angular. Arkose contains more than 25% feldspar with quartz. Medium to coarse grained. Greywacke: Black or dark green. Usually contains coarse angular grains included with fine grains.
SHALE (sh-ale)What Type of Rock Is It? Sedimentary
What Does It Look Like? Shale may be black, gray, red, brown, dark green, or blue. It is fine grained, so particles usually can not be seen. When moistened, shale usually smells like wet mud. What Minerals Make Up the Rock? clay minerals; Sometimes with some quartz sand, pyrite, gypsum
How Was It Formed? Clay sediments settle in quiet lakes, lagoons, bays, or off-shore areas. When buried and compacted the clays become shale. Iron oxides often help to cement the particles together.
LIMESTONE (lime'-stone)What Type of Rock Is It? Sedimentary
What Does It Look Like? Limestone is usually white, gray, tan, or yellow. It may contain impurities to make it red or black. Fossils are often found in limestone. It may be very smooth or even sugary, fine grained, or medium grained. The powdered rock will usually fizz in white vinegar. Unlike marble, limestone is not composed of visible crystals. What Minerals Make Up the Rock? mostly calcite
How Was It Formed? Most limestone is formed by a chemical reaction in sea water. The reaction makes a lime mud which sinks to the bottom to for the limestone. Some limestones are formed from buried coral reefs.
Related Rocks: Dolostone (doe'-low-stone) looks like limestone, but is composed of the mineral, dolomite. Powdered dolostone does not fizz with white vinegar. Dolostone forms on the ocean floor.
CONGLOMERATE (cun-glom'-er-at)What Type of Rock Is It? Sedimentary
What Does It Look Like? Conglomerate looks like a mixture of sand and different sizes of rounded pebbles. The pebbles are the important observation.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? mostly quartz
How Was It Formed? Sand and pebbles collect along sea shores, lake shores, or river banks. They are compacted by the weight of sediments that collect above them and cemented by material dissolved in the water that seeps through them.
Related Rocks: Breccia (brech'-ee-uh) looks like conglomerate, but the "pebbles" in it are jagged and blocky, not rounded.
BRECCIA (brech'-ee-uh)What Type of Rock Is It? Sedimentary
What Does It Look Like? Like conglomerate, but the "pebbles" in it are jagged and blocky, not rounded.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? The "cement" holding the rock together is mostly quartz, but the pebbles can be almost any kind of rock - often quartzite, granite, or another tough rock that does not easily erode into sand or silt.
How Was It Formed? Where the environment is dry - like in deserts. When mountains erode broken pieces of rock don't get carried away be streams. They just pile up. When they get deep enough, the weight above compresses them and they get cemented together.
Compare To: Conglomerate