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Limestone Pavements & Glacial Erratics

17 images Created 3 Dec 2013

Limestone pavements & glacial erratic boulders. Karst landscapes and details. Abstracts.

Any image from the relevant galleries in my Photo Archive can be added to this selection at high-resolution for downloading. Please email me:
rebradfordharris@hotmail.com

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  • The incredible sheet of inclined limestone pavement known as Farleton Knott in South Cumbria. The summit affords breathtaking 360 degree views encompassing Ingleborough to the east, the Cumbrian mountains to the north and Morecambe Bay to the west. Remarkably, prostrate native Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) bushes thrive atop the bare rock and on this glorious day in early Autumn, glowing red with a mass of berries.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
The inclined pavements of Farleton Knott form a 'karrenfeld' - a solid sheet of ice-scoured limestone dissected by few grikes.<br />
<br />
(One of a sequence of 6 images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Farleton Knott (2b).jpg
  • Berry-laded Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) bushes growing in the narrow grikes of the limestone pavement of Farleton Knott in South Cumbria.  <br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a sequence of 3 images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Farleton Knott limestone pavement (...jpg
  • Looking across a well-developed limestone pavement at Holme Park Fell, South Cumbria to the spectacularly inclined limestone pavement of Farleton Knott (far right), with glacial erratic boulders scattered across the landscape.<br />
<br />
On Farleton Knott and the surrounding Holme Park Fell, the erratic boulders are of the same material as the limestone pavements on which they sit. They were transported some distance by a glacier during the last Ice Age, smoothed and rounded by the ice before being deposited on another limestone outcrop.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Holme Park Fell & Farleton Knott.jpg
  • A perfect field maple (Acer campestre) tree growing in limestone pavement and surrounded by glacial erratic boulders at Holme Park Fell, South Cumbria.<br />
<br />
On Farleton Knott and Holme Park Fell, the erratic boulders are of the same material as the limestone pavements on which they sit. They were transported from a neighbouring outcrop by a glacier during the last Ice Age, smoothed and rounded by the ice before being deposited atop this limestone pavement.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a pair of images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 26 September 2014.
    Holme Park Fell, limestone pavement ...jpg
  • Trees growing in an inclined limestone pavement, surrounded by glacial erratic boulders at Holme Park Fell, South Cumbria.<br />
<br />
On Farleton Knott and Holme Park Fell, the erratic boulders are of the same material as the limestone pavements on which they sit. They were transported from neighbouring outcrops by a glacier during the last Ice Age, smoothed and rounded by the ice before being deposited atop this pavement.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 26 September 2014.
    Holme Park Fell, limestone pavement ...jpg
  • Dramatic cumulonimbus storm clouds billow from a deep blue sky over Penyghent, viewed from the sunlit limestone pavement of Thwaite Scars near Clapham, North Yorkshire.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
On Thwaite Scars, some areas of high-level pavement consist of a 'sea' of frost-shattered rock fragments known as 'felsenmeer' or clitter.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 30 April 2013.
    Thwaite Scars & Penyghent (1).jpg
  • A solitary Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) tree, heavily grazed by cattle into a standard, on the limestone pavement at Newbiggin Crags, South Cumbria. This well-developed pavement features rounded-edged blocks known as 'rundkarren', with prominent drainage runnels and small rounded dissolution pits known as 'trittkarren'.<br />
<br />
This pavement affords far-reaching views towards Ingleborough (the violet-hued peak on the horizon at the far left of this photograph) and the hills around Dent, North Yorkshire.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a pair of images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Newbiggin Crags, limestone pavement ...jpg
  • A wind-sculpted Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) tree in the limestone pavement at Newbiggin Crags, South Cumbria. This well-developed pavement features rounded-edged blocks known as 'rundkarren', with prominent drainage runnels and small rounded dissolution pits known as 'trittkarren'.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a pair of images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Newbiggin Crags, limestone pavement ...jpg
  • Ingleborough (far right) and the hills around Dent seen from the cliffs of the limestone pavement of Newbiggin Crags, South Cumbria. The foreground clint features an extraordinary pattern of dendritic and centripetal drainage runnels in formation.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a pair of images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 26 September 2014.
    Newbiggin Crags (1b).jpg
  • The much-weathered, deeply-fissured area of limestone pavement above Malham Cove, seen here in early morning light, with the eastern rim of the cove cliffs in the background. <br />
 <br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
At Malham Cove, this area of limestone pavement has been shaped by the erosive action of past soil cover into highly-sculptural organic forms which resemble walnuts. The network of short, parallel drainage runnels with sharp crests between is known as 'rinnenkarren'.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 01 May 2013.
    Malham Cove, limestone pavement (4).jpg
  • Unusually zig-zagging, short, deep runnels and long, deep grikes characterize the limestone pavement at Lancelot Clark Storth, adjacent to Hutton Roof, South Cumbria. Deep dissolution hollows or 'kamenitzas' are forming across the surface.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 26 September 2014.
    Lancelot Clark Storth & Burton F...jpg
  • Deeply incised, densely-packed parallel drainage runnels in an inclined limestone pavement at Holme Park Fell, South Cumbria. The runnels dissect the clints at right angles to the grikes. <br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
(One of a sequence of 9 images in this gallery).<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Holme Park Fell, limestone pavement ...jpg
  • A huge glacial erratic boulder of greywacke ('Millstone Grit') perched on a few remaining 'stilts' of un-eroded limestone. Norber boulder field above Austwick, North Yorkshire.<br />
<br />
Glacial erratic boulders were transported sometimes great distances by a glacier during the last Ice Age and deposited on top of the very different local rock as the ice sheet started to melt. As such, they stand out as alien to the surrounding landscape and they serve as reminders of the sheer power of glaciers.<br />
<br />
On Norber, much of the local limestone rock has been eroded away, but a little survives under the protection of the much harder greywacke boulders where it acts as a pedestal or - more spectacularly - as individual stilts or legs as seen here.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 05 May 2013.
    Glacial erratic boulder on stilts, N...jpg
  • Following a storm, dramatic low sunlight illuminates the limestone of Moughton Scars near Austwick, North Yorkshire. In the foreground are glacial erratic boulders of greywacke ('Millstone Grit') of the Norber boulder field.<br />
<br />
Dales sheep graze on the hillside amongst the rocks, with the lavender-hued hills of Moughton Scars beyond.<br />
<br />
Glacial erratic boulders were transported sometimes great distances by a glacier during the last Ice Age and deposited on top of the very different local rock as the ice sheet started to melt. As such, they stand out as alien to the surrounding landscape and they serve as reminders of the sheer power of glaciers.<br />
<br />
On Norber, much of the local limestone rock has been eroded away, but a little survives under the protection of the much harder greywacke boulders where it acts as a pedestal as seen here.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 30 April 2013.
    Glacial erratic boulders, Norber (3).jpg
  • Ingleborough mountain (one of the 'Three Peaks'), from the limestone pavement of White Scars, with glacial erratic boulders of greywacke (Millstone grit) in the foreground.<br />
<br />
Glacial erratic boulders were transported sometimes great distances by a glacier and deposited on top of the very different local rock as the ice sheet started to melt. As such, they stand out as alien to the surrounding landscape and they serve as reminders of the sheer power of glaciers.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
In White Scars, the high level of erosion of the thin, platy Yoredale Group limestone caused by long-term burial under soil permeated by rainwater has led to some fantastical shapes and very visible layering.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 02 May 2013.
    Ingleborough & glacial erratic b...jpg
  • Glacial erratic boulders and a cairn on Holme Park Fell, South Cumbria, seen in profile against the violet-hued Cumbrian Fells - the mountains of the Lake District.<br />
<br />
On Farleton Knott and the surrounding Holme Park Fell, the erratic boulders are of the same material as the limestone pavements on which they sit. They were transported some distance by a glacier during the last Ice Age, smoothed and rounded by the ice before being deposited on another limestone outcrop.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Holme Park Fell 2014.09.24 (8c).jpg
  • A view over Farleton Fell from the top of the incredible sheet of inclined limestone pavement known as Farleton Knott in South Cumbria. The summit affords breathtaking 360 degree views encompassing Ingleborough to the east, the Cumbrian mountains to the north and Morecambe Bay to the west. Remarkably, prostrate native Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) bushes thrive atop the bare rock and on this glorious day in early Autumn, glowing red with a mass of berries.<br />
<br />
Limestone pavements were formed during the last Ice Age in the Pleistocene period when moving glaciers scoured bare the surface of the underlying limestone bedrock. The classic pattern of clints (blocks) and grikes (fissures) was produced by the erosive action of overlying soil - such as the moraine deposited by the glacier - and the rainwater that permeated it, enlarging the natural faults in the limestone rock.<br />
<br />
Date taken: 24 September 2014.
    Farleton Knott, view (1).jpg
View: 25 | All
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Photography by Ruth Bradford-Harris

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