Limestone

Limestone scenery Attermire scar, north Yorkshire

Scars and plateau

Plateau

Malham, Yorkshire

Limestone pavement

Malham, Yorkshire

Clints and Grykes

FORMATION OF LIMESTONE PAVEMENTS

Swallow holes

Underground featuresUnderground features

• Malham cove

Re-appearance stream

• Malham cove

WATLOWES VALLEY, MALHAMDALE

Dry Valley

GORDALE SCAR, nr Malham, Yorkshire

Dry Valley, Castleton, Derbyshire, Peak District National Park

Italian Limestone- the Dolomites

• Capri

Australian limestone

• Jenolan Caves • Just 30km from Oberon, has the most spectacular and

best-known Limestone caves in Australia

• caigana Blow hole nullarbor Australia

Limestone in Thailand

• Limestone in Pang Nga A Famous mark in Pang Nga, deptly named Kui Lin of Thailand

Label the diagram of Limestone features

Choose fromCavern, Scar, Stalagmite, Limestone plateau,reappearance stream, pot hole,Stalactite, scree, pillar, Swalow hole, clints and grykes, well jointed rock

1 Limestone pavement 7 Stalagmite

2 Scarr 8 Pillar

3 Scree 9 Swallow hole

4 Reappearance stream 10 Well jointed rock

5 Cavern 11 Pot hole

6 Stalactite 12 Clints and Grykes

Clints and Grykes

Label the diagram

2. Which UK National parks are dominated by limestone scenery? Yorkshire dales and Peak district

3. Describe a carboniferous limestone area. High plateau’s dissected by deep valleys. There is very little vegetation on the high plateau’s and there is exposed limestone pavement. On the edges of the plateau are scarrs (cliffs). At the bottom of these are scree slopes. The valleys are either dry gorges or have rivers running in them. The vegetation is lush around the rivers.

1. Describe the main properties of carboniferous limestone

A hard white or grey rock. It is pervious but not porous.It is well jointed. It dissolves in weak acid (rain water)

Grykes Clints

Limestone – Peak district

• Boulder clay Dumped by ice during the ice age

• Shake holes Boulder clay sinks into hollows as limestone dissolved away

• Dry Gorge Formed by meltwater at end of last ice age

• Dry river bed Left as the river changes course in the valley floor

• Rising/ reappearance stream Stream re-appears at the surface

• Sink hole/ swallow hole Stream disappears down a crack in the limestone

Label the diagram

Definitions

Boulder clay

Shake holesDry gorge

Dry river bed

Swallow hole

Re-appearance stream

Cave

Limestone

Impervious rock

Pavement

Impervious

rock

Underground features

Label the diagram

Acid rain

Abrasive stream action

percolation

Dissolving action

Dripping action

Ingleton Mapwork: Limestone scenery

1. What evidence is there that this is a limestone area? 2. Find and give grid references for the following: 3 pot holes (look for words ‘hole’ or ‘pot’2 disappearing streams4 scars (limestone cliffs)2 limestone pavements (look for rocky outcrops –check map key)

3. Describe the relief and drainage of this area of map

69 75

80

72

4. What facilities have been provided for tourists and/ or visitors in the area covered by the map (give map evidence)

5. Suggest why tourists and visitors are attracted here.

Relief

Drainage

Limestone Features

Complete the features from the board

Limestone pavement

Underground tunnels and caves

Re-appearance stream

Stalactites and stalagmites

Dry valleys and gorges

At the end of the last ice age all the cracks and joints in the limestone were filled with frozen water.This prevented water passing through the limestone.At this time the melting glaciers produced lots of water which passed over the landscape eroding deep river valleys .As the temperatures continued to rise the underground water melted, which meant surface water could pass through the cracks and joints in the limestone.This left the valleys as dry valleys.

Theory 1

Theory 2The roof on a series of underground caves collapses and leaves a gorge.

Summary of Peak district features

Complete the diagram from the power point

‘Dark Peak’‘White Peak’Sheep grazing

Crags

(edges) Desolate rollingmoorland

Peat bog

Peat bogHard

millstone

Limestone

shale

Dairying

Underground caves and caverns

Dry stone walls

Limestone pavement

Deep narrow gorges

Treeless rollingPlateau dissectedBy gorges

limestone

Climate and veg Soils/ physical features

Land use

High plateau •Exposed rock and limestone pavement.•Very little vegetation.• Not a severe climate as it is not that high

•Thin soils. Flat topped•Pot hole/ shake holes•Disappearing streams•Limestone pavement

Recreation (walking, pot holing, mountain

biking)

Plateau edges

Less exposed not very much veg because of the

thin soils

•Steep cliffs on the edges of the plateau called scars with large scree slopes.•Thin soils

•Climbing and abseiling, hang gliding).•Water storage in the Dark Peak•Quarrying

Lower slopes valley floor

•Warmer and less harsh climate.•Deciduous woodland, Oak and Beech but has mainly been cut down now.

•Rivers cut through the limestone plateaus where the rock is impermeable•The soil either side of the rivers is rich and fertile.•Streams reappear where impermeable rock begins

•Farming (sheep in the Dark Peak and dairying in the Light Peak).•Water sports on the rivers•Settlement and communication links.

•Sight seeing in towns e.g. Castleton

Completethe grid

Peak district-opportunities and conflicts

White Peak

Dark Peak

Mining - Tunstead Quarry

• Largest quarry in Europe, straddles the park boundary

• Limestone is the main mineral extraction

• Extensions to the quarry have been resisted by the park authorities

• Hope Valley cement works provides 700 jobs

Mining employs about 10% of the population of the peak district

Farming

Sheep rearing on the hills of the Dark Peak

Dairying in the valleys of the White Peak (sheep on the hills)

Moorlands are managed by burning the heather to maintain Grouse numbers for shooting

Water storage

Good water retaining quality of the Peat

High rainfall

Close to major urban areas e.g. Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds

Water storage only in the impermeable rock of the Dark peak

E.G. Derwent reservoir and ladybower reservoir

Moorlands are managed by burning the heather to maintain Grouse numbers for shooting

Recreation and tourism

1/3 of the park is moorland. They provide some of the finest grouse shooting in the country

The moors have to close for a few days a year during the shooting season

Walking most popular activity

Old railway lines used e.g. High peak and Tissington and Monsul trails

Cycling along the Tissington and High peak trails

Pennine way (Britains longest distance walk) starts in the Peak district

Tourist caves – e.g. Blue John Mine

Pony treking Hang gliding Climbing on the grit stone edges

Sightseeing in towns like Castleton

Recreation and sightseeing

Woodland

Coniferous forest owned by forestry commission is in and around the reservoirs e.g. Snake valley, Goyt valley.

Broadleaf woodland mainly on private land

Archaeology

3500 sites dating from 1500 AD

Stone age chambered tombs e.g. Taddington

Castles e.g. Peveril castle

Early industrial remains of textile Mills

Settlement and communication

Settlement built on flat land - Castleton

Roads and railways built through lowlands and valleys e.g. A57

Small towns built up around bridging points

Villages and isolated farms spread throughout the landscape

Conservation

Northern limit of Southern species and Southern limit of Northern species

Many areas are SSSI’s e.g. Bleaklow and Kinder Scout

Over 800 listed buildings

Conservation of footpaths anddry stone walls important

Underground features

1. Complete the Diagram from the Resource sheet and slides

Development opportunities

Development opportunity Example

Mining

Farming

Recreation/ sightseeing

Water storage

Settlement and communication

Archaeology

Conservation

Quarrying and farmers

Crops (grass) does not grow as well as it is covered in dust

Animals scared by blasting

Animals scared by noise of trucks

Quarrying and tourists

Noise pollution effecting quiet scenery (blasting and trucks) Air pollution from dust

Air pollution from trucks Trucks block roads and cause traffic tail backs

Causes an ugly scar on the landscape

Tourists and conservationists - footpaths

10,000s of walkers each year erode the footpaths and cause scarring

Paths are closed in order to be reseeded

Pennine Way is attempted by about 10,000 walkers each year

Major erosion on Bleaklow and Kinder Scout

Tourists and conservationists – traffic (Goyt Valley)

Heavy traffic pressure especially at weekends

Soil erosion, litter, damage to vegetation, damage to fences

Solution – park and ride scheme at W/Es

Car parks provided at either end. Only cyclists, pony trekkers, walkers allowed

Picnic sites provided at main car parks and only one in valley itself

Tourists and farmers

• Leaving gates open and letting animals escape• Leaving litter that animals eat• Climbing over walls and fences and breaking them• Taking short cuts through fields • Letting dogs off leads that chase the sheep• parking at field entrances• Accidental fires

Conservationists and farmers

• over grazing on heather moorlands causing soil erosion

Water storage and tourists

Access traditionally limited

Over 50 reservoirs built in the area

Now 11 reservoirs open for fishing and 5 available for sailing and canoeing e.g. Carsington, Rudyard and Errwood reservoirs

Planning permission for sailing on Ladybower reservoir was turned down because of concerns over the rare ducks nesting there

Zoning of the reservoir has helped overcome incompatible users

The Peak district is the busiest of all the national parks. There are many potential conflicts in the area. Usually these are overcome by negotiated agreement on access between all the land users. From readingthe information and watching the slides write down the main conflicts under the following headings.

Land use conflicts

The people involved

The conflict with examples

Quarrying and Farmers

Quarrying and tourists

Tourists and conservationists (footpaths)

Tourists and Farmers

Water storage and tourists

Tourists and conservationists (traffic)

From reading the resource sheet and watching the power point write down the main conflicts under the following headings :