Hi
😃😃😃😃😃This is a monument that i thought deserved an EarthCache. 😃😃😃😃😃
History of the monument
The Martyrs' Memorial was erected almost 300 years after the event it commemorates, and says as much about the religious controversies of the 1840s as those of the 1550s. It commemorates three Protestant martyrs (Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer) who were burnt at the stake in Oxford in 1555.
William Hunter is recorded on the Monument to have been condemned by Bishop Bonner and to have been martyred nearby at the age of 19 years. It is also recorded that the monument was restored in 1910 after being defaced by fire.. He refused to accept the Catholic dogma of transubstantion according to which the bread and wine of the communion-become the body and blood of jesus
Now to the geology.
Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of small particles or organic particles on the floor of oceans.
Metamorphic rocks form when rocks are subjected to high heat, high pressure, hot mineral-rich fluids or, more commonly, some combination of these factors.
The upper part of the monument is of fine polished granite. This is Peterhead granite from Aberdeen. Granite consists of three main Minerals, Granite has a minimum of 20% Quartz with up to 65% of the rock being Feldspar. There are also other minerals present such as biotite (group of black micas) or Amphibole are usually present and can make up to 25% of the total volume. Plagioclase is a term used instead of one of the more specific names: Albite, Oligoclase, Andesine, Labradorite, Bytownite and Anorthite . This is because the minerals of the plagioclase series are very similar and difficult identify.
Quartz is transparent, Feldspar brown, pink and mostly white in Granite, and Micas black/ grey/silver/white flakes.
Feldspars crystallize from magma as both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock.
Quartz is the most abundant mineral found at Earth's surface, and its unique properties make it one of the most useful natural substances.
Mica is a group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having nearly perfect basal cleavage.
Granite is classed as an igneous rock which means that it was once molten and on cooling the constituent chemicals crystallised as distinct minerals.
Weathering
Chemical weathering is the erosion or disintegration of rocks, building materials, etc., caused by chemical reactions
Physical weathering is a term used in science that refers to the geological process of rocks breaking apart without changing their chemical composition. Over time, movements of the Earth and environment can break apart rock formations.
Biological weathering is weathering caused by plants and animals. Plants and animals release acid forming chemicals that cause weathering and also contribute to the breaking down of rocks and landforms.
Base of the monument
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments or organic material. They make up about 20 to 25 percent of all sedimentary rocks.
An example of Sandstone is Yorkstone, which is specifically quarried in Yorkshire. Yorkstone is tightly grained and Carboniferous , which is the Period that lasted from about 359.2 to 299 million years ago during the late Palaeozoic Era. The stone consists of mica, quartz, clay, mica and iron oxide.
Another example is of sandstone is gritstone. Gritstone is a hard, coarse-grained, sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material.
😃😃😃😃😃😃😃now to the EarthCache😃😃😃😃😃😃
As this is an EarthCache you will need to answer the following to log as a find. I will accept answers through the message centre or via my email. Warning ⚠️ ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ if your find it log doesn't come with a corresponding set of answers i will have to delete your log. Good luck with the EarthCache and you don't have to wait a response from me to log your find.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
1. What are the approximate sizes of the biggest feldspar, mica and Quartz minerals you can find at the monument?
2. Observe the minerals on the monument. Which of the minerals has weathered the most and which one has do you think has weathered the least. Explain why you think this and what type of weathering do you think is responsible?
3. At the base of the monument. Do you think the base of the monument is made up of Yorkstone/ sandstone or Gritstone ? Explain your answer?
4. The monument was erected in public subscription in what Year?
5. An optional but desirable. task is if you could take a photo of yourself at the monument or your GPS that will be great, but do so without giving the answers away. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
😃😃😃😃😃😃Thanks for visiting hope you enjoy the EarthCache 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃
😀😀😀😀😀😀 well done AliceSmith907 for the FTF, Well deserved. 😀😀😀😀😀😀
This is part of a geotrail around Brentwood high street. There's four other earthcaches and a lab cache you can visit
- Brentwood high street ROCKS by Gceyre
- Church micro 11655...Brentwood-St Thomas Chapel GC7JYTN
- War Memorial#372Brentwood-geology GC7JVMB
- Church Micro 11539...Brentwood-ST Thomas Beckett GCAGPF8
- Historic Brentwood- adventure lab
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