This is an EarthCache which is wheelchair accessible despite it being well out of the moors.
In order to claim a find on this cache you will need to visit the location given, make some observations and send me the answer to the two questions below.
You can send your answers via email (for an immediate reply) or use the message system which I check about once a week. I will reply to EVERY submission but you may log your find before you get authorization.
There is safe parking on the road close to the cache.
The focus of this cache is the bedding planes in the rock face.
But before I get to that I need to tell you a little history of the rock outcrop and how it formed.
Gritstone
During the late Carboniferous geological period which was from around 325 to 310 million years ago the area around this cache was situated approximately at the equator of Earth. The whole area was filled with a shallow sea, tropical in nature and the sea levels were slowly decreasing due to geological movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. There were highlands of some significance to the north and south of this sea,which were the source of rivers which flowed into the shallow sea and because of the terrain this resulted into huge slow flowing deltas. As the rivers entered these deltas they deposited massive amounts of mud and coarse sand and grit, which under the gravitational pressure and aeons of time eventually hardened to form the famous 'Millstone Grit that was utilised by many of the mills of the Pennines.
This rock is a very robust rock which is ideal for buildings and grinding because of its resistance to wear and has a distinctive grey and rough appearance.
Bedding Planes
One of the reasons that this is such a robust rock is that the slow flowing nature of the delta it was laid down in, means there was a very consistent material deposition. This meant that the rock has deep layers of stable rock deposition with few lines of weakness. However it is inevitable that from time to time a different mix of material would be washed down and this resulted in lines of weakness in the rock. These lines are called bedding planes and eventually I've got the the focus of this EarthCache. You can tell where the bedding planes are in this rock because the weather has had the greatest effect on these areas resulting in deep fissures in the rock face. Generally the longer the period of stability of flow into the delta the deeper will be the layer of rock and the shorter the periods between the flow of different material the thinner the layers.
The picture attached courtesy of Wikipedia shows different thicknesses of bedding planes in sandstone and how the softer material has been washed away.
OK so if you have read the information above you now have some knowledge about how this rock was formed, why it has weathered lines in it and what the slab layers are called.
Questions
You are to look at the rock face closest to the road, if you are able to get close to the rock that would be great but it is possible to gather the info whist still on the road.
1) Please describe the rock structure and appearance, concentrate on the colour, texture (if you are able to get close) and bedding planes.
2) Please tell me when were the shortest and longest periods of stability in the formation of this rock (i.e. towards the top//middle/bottom). You should include estimated measurements of the bedding planes and reasons to support your answer.
You may include photos of in you log if you wish, because there are plenty of views to include without spoilers.
Thanks for attempting this cache, I hope you chose a good day to enjoy the vista.
treboR