Ellis, N.V. (ed.), Bowen, D.Q., Campbell, S., Knill, J.L., McKirdy, A.P., Prosser, C.D.,Vincent, M.A. & Wilson, R.C.L. 1996. An Introduction to the Geological Conservation Review. GCR Series No. 1, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.
The original source material for these web pages has been made available by the JNCC under the Open Government Licence 3.0. Full details in the JNCC Open Data Policy
N.V. Ellis (Editor)
D.Q. Bowen S. Campbell J.L. Knill A.P. McKirdy C.D. Prosser M.A. Vincent R.C.L. Wilson
Published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee Monkstone House City Road Peterborough PE1 1JY
First edition 1996
© 1996 Joint Nature Conservation Committee
ISBN 1 86107 403 4
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Recommended citation for this volume:
Ellis, N.V. (ed.), Bowen, D.Q., Campbell, S., Knill, J.L., McKirdy, A.P., Prosser, C.D., Vincent, M.A. and Wilson, R.C.L. (1996) An Introduction to the Geological Conservation Review. GCR Series No. 1, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.
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Acknowledgements
Foreword
Chapter 1 The subject and purpose of this volume
Chapter 2 The need for earth heritage conservation
The international significance of Earth heritage sites Exceptional Earth heritage sites
Earth science research
Environmental forecasting
Earth heritage sites in education and training
The Earth heritage as a cultural and ecological resource
Chapter 3 An introduction to the geological history of Britain
The importance of sites
Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh
Barton Cliffs, Hampshire
Islay and Jura, the Inner Hebrides
The geology of Britain
Introduction
The origin of rocks
Sedimentary rocks
Igneous rocks
Metamorphic rocks
Geological time
Some geological patterns
Mountain building episodes
Mountain building and plate tectonics
A geological history of Britain
The Precambrian rocks of Britain
The Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian rocks of Britain
The Devonian and Carboniferous rocks of Britain
The Permian and Triassic rocks of Britain
The Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks of Britain
The Tertiary rocks of Britain
Quaternary sediments and landforms of Britain
Britain after the last ice age
Present-day Britain
The importance of Britain in the development of geology
Chapter 4 The Geological Conservation Review
Principles of site selection
Aims of the Geological Conservation Review
The first component — international importance
The second component — exceptional features
The third component — representativeness
Geological Conservation Review blocks
Stratigraphy blocks
Palaeontology blocks
Quaternary blocks
Geomorphology blocks
Igneous petrology and structural and metamorphic geology blocks
Mineralogy blocks
Geological Conservation Review networks
Marine Permian Geological Conservation Review block
Durham Province network: the western edge of an inland sea
Yorkshire Province network
Igneous rocks of South-west England Geological Conservation block
Pre-orogenic volcanic network
Cornubian granite batholith network
Post-orogenic volcanic network
Lizard and Start complexes network
Palaeozoic palaeobotany Geological Conservation Review block
Silurian network
Devonian network
Lower Carboniferous network
Upper Carboniferous network Permian network
Quaternary Geological Conservation Review networks: English lowland valley rivers
The coastal geomorphology of Scotland Geological Conservation
Review block
Beach complexes of Scotland
Beaches of the Highlands and Islands networks
Beach–dune–machair system
Beach and dune coasts of lowland Scotland networks
Rock coast geomorphology networks
Saltmarsh geomorphology networks
The Geological Conservation Review site series
Chapter 5 Practical geological conservation review selection methods
Site selection criteria
Minimum number and minimum area of sites
Methods and working practice
Site selection procedures within the Geological Conservation Review
Stage 1: Building and briefing the block team
Stage 2: Literature review and site shortlisting
Stage 3: Field visits and detailed site investigation
Stage 4: Final assessment and preparation of Geological Conservation Review site documents
The study of the Earth — continuing developments
Chapter 6 Earth heritage conservation
Threats to the earth heritage
Quarrying and earth heritage conservation: threats and benefits
The history of Earth heritage conservation in Britain
Earth heritage site protection
The legal framework
Earth heritage conservation in practice
Conservation strategy
Classification of site types
Earth heritage conservation in practice — some examples
Fossil and mineral collecting and conservation
Coastal sites
Conservation of the Barton Geological Conservation Review site
Active quarries
Conservation at Shap Granite Quarry
Disused quarries
Conservation at Ercall Quarry, Shropshire
General considerations at disused quarries
Disused quarries as landfill sites
Cave conservation
Road construction
Conservation of Claverley Road Cutting
Site excavation and specimen curation
The excavation in Brighstone Bay, Isle of Wight
Conservation of active geomorphological process sites
Conservation of the River Dee: a mobile meander belt
Mine dumps
Writhlington Rock Store SSSI
Site 'burial'
Publicity and public awareness
Advice on conservation of Earth heritage sites
Chapter 7 The Geological Conservation Review in the context of the wider earth heritage conservation effort
Earth heritage conservation strategy
Progress and developments in Earth heritage conservation
Maintaining the SSSI series through the mechanism of the Geological Conservation Review
Expanding the RIGS network
Developing conservation techniques Improving documentation
Increasing public awareness
Developing international links
Earth heritage and nature conservation
Appendix
References and further reading
Glossary
Index
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee wishes to acknowledge the contribution made by the late Chris Stevens. His guidance and enthusiasm provided a valuable impetus during the early stages of text writing.
Thanks go to those individuals who have written text and made editorial contributions to this volume: Dr P.H. Banham, Mr J.H. Bratton, Dr K.L. Duff, Dr J.L. Eyers, Dr N.F. Glasser, Dr J.E. Gordon, Dr J.G. Larwood, Dr R.G. Lees, Professor J. McManus, Dr T. Moat, Dr D.P.A. O'Halloran, Dr K.N. Page, Dr L.P. Thomas, Mr D.A. White, Dr W.A. Wimbledon and Ms F.J. Wright.
The help of the consultees to the draft of the volume is gratefully acknowledged. Those who commented are too numerous to mention individually, but their contributions proved invaluable in the preparation of the final typescript.
In the rocks and landscapes of Britain lies the evidence for ancient events which fashioned the small but complex part of the Earth's crust that we now call the British Isles. By piecing together this evidence, it is possible to construct the geological history of Britain. Magnus Magnusson, the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage and one of my colleagues on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, said that:
'Our geological past involves a barely believable story of whole continents moving around like croutons floating on a bowl of thick soup, of great oceans forming and disappearing like seasonal puddles, of mighty mountains being thrown up and worn down, of formidable glaciers and ice caps advancing and retreating behind mile-thick walls of ice as they melted and reformed again. Scotland has been a desert, a tropical rain forest and a desert again; it has drifted north over the planet with an ever-changing cargo of lizards, dinosaurs, tropical forests, giant redwoods, sharks, bears, lynx, giant elk, wolves and also human beings.
'There is a fascinating story to tell that is of profound relevance to the world.'
What Magnus Magnusson said about the geological history of Scotland is also true for Britain as a whole. There is indeed a fascinating story to tell, although some of the chapters are still far from complete. For the full story to unfold it is vital that the important rocks and landforms of Britain must be protected so that they can provide the necessary scientific resource for future work. And this may well utilise new scientific techniques yet to be discovered.
Britain was the cradle of modern geology, and observations made by British geologists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries laid the foundations of the science as we know it today. Many of the sites at which these observations were made continue to be conserved as a part of our national Earth heritage. The contribution that the geology of Britain has made to international science is as important today as it has ever been. British sites are world-renowned for providing the milestones that mark geological time and the benchmarks that define geological principles. There is every reason for us to take a special pride in this unrivalled Earth heritage.
Since the heady, pioneering days in the early development of the Earth sciences, the study of the geology of Britain has continued to provide evidence to construct, and then test, theories about the development of the Earth and the processes that take place within its interior and on its surface. Geology today is as much about the future as it is about the past. By learning about past climates we can understand our present climate system better and thus how to evaluate the impact of future climatic changes.
The geology of Britain has contributed to our national wealth and so influenced our archaeological and industrial inheritance, from the Phoenicians trading for Cornish tin, to the coal and iron which created the Industrial Revolution and, now, to the oil and gas below our coastal seas which is essential to our economic well-being. The geologists of tomorrow, who will discover new economic resources and locate sites for new engineering works all over the world, are being trained in an environment of extraordinary geological quality.
Natural landforms create the environments within which the diverse flora and fauna of Britain live. Rocks provide the soil and influence the drainage conditions of biological habitats. Biological and geological forms and functions are inextricably linked to create a series of natural systems of immense richness and diversity.
Active conservation measures are required to protect the geology and landforms of Britain as an important and irreplaceable scientific, educational, cultural, aesthetic and potentially economic resource. If irreparable damage or loss was to occur then it is our own society that would be impoverished.
Conservation of geological and geomorphological sites has always been part of the responsibilities of the statutory nature conservation agencies. A major initiative to identify and describe the most important geological sites in Britain began in 1977, with the launching of the Geological Conservation Review. This book provides a description of the methods and practice of the Review, as well as a background account of the geological history of Britain which demonstrates clearly why the Earth heritage of this country is so important.
I am confident that this book will be an invaluable reference for those who wish to understand the Geological Conservation Review and for those who need to manage our extraordinarily diverse Earth heritage.
Selbourne [signature]
The Earl of Selborne KBE FRS
Chairman, Joint Nature Conservation Committee
The purpose of this book is to explain why Britain's Earth heritage is important and how the national series of Earth heritage sites was identified in the Geological Conservation Review. It also describes how these sites are protected by law and how they are conserved.
This volume is intended primarily for all those with an interest in managing the land: owners and occupiers, managers, planners and those involved in the waste disposal, mineral extraction, construction and coastal engineering industries. It will also be of interest to professional and amateur Earth scientists, conservationists, and teachers, lecturers and students of the Earth sciences.
The aim of the Geological Conservation Review Series is to provide a public record of the features of inter est an importance at localities already notified, or being considered for notification, as 'Sites of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSIs). All 42 volumes in the series are written to the highest scientific standards and incorporate the cumulative insights of generations of leading Earth scientists, in such a way that the assessment and conservation value of the sites is clear. This volume is the introduction to the Series.
The geology of south-west England gives rise to some of Britain's most spectacular landscape and rich miner al resources, ranging from tin to china clay and building stones. The scientific study of the rocks in this region has yielded greater understanding of how northern Europe underwent a period of mountain building some 300 million years ago. These immense earth movements were accompanied by the emplacement into the existing country rocks of vast bodies of molten igneous rock which cooled to form granite. The photograph shows Haytor Rocks, Dartmoor, an excellent area in which to examine the textural and compositional variations in the main suite of Dartmoor granites. This is the reason for the selection of the site as a Geological Conservation Review site. The Dartmoor granite is also renowned for dramatic tor scenery and Haytor is widely visited as a classic example of such a landscape. Photograph by: S. Campbell
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough
ISBN 1 86107 403 4
References and further reading