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| Weathered dolomitic limestone at Warmsworth Park |
On both
days of fieldwork for the XP School “Rock On!” project, when 3 sites would be visited,
Warmsworth Park was chosen for its suitability as a place to take lunch, apart
from the interesting geology that can be seen here.
Delays
at Cedar Road Quarry on the first morning, due to the overgrown condition of
the site, meant that we arrived in Warmsworth much later than planned. Without
any leading, our group descended into the landscaped quarry and took up various
positions on the walls of the small amphitheatre like area - to eat their lunch.
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| Dolomitic limestone at Warmsworth Park |
Except
for the ivy, which had further encroached on the rock faces, it was
as I had remembered it on the previous occasions that I had visited.
Not
long after we arrived, the other group turned up and it
seemed that the trip to Barnburgh Cliff had not quite gone as planned either.
Nonetheless, with the first stage of the project completed, both
groups enthusiastically explored the various rock faces that can be seen in
Warmsworth Park.
With
large expansive outcrops and no nettles, brambles or obstructions, they
soon completed their measuring task. Using a ranging rod and a tape measure, the
students were encouraged to make actual and estimated measurements and include
these in an annotated drawing of the rock face.
Before
they commenced, I outlined the basic geology found here and pointed out some of
the structural and physical features that they could see, such as bedding
planes, joints and fractures. The students were also encouraged to closely study the rock face, looking closely at the colours and textures.
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| On the way back to the minibus |
Using
a piece of stone that had long since fallen from the quarry face, the
students were shown how to take a small rock sample using a geology hammer, taking care to wear
goggles.
They then used a hand lens and grain size scale to closely examine the limestone and
to note the differences between this rock and the sandstone that they had seen earlier – and many made comments on the mineral pyrolusite,
which they had noticed...
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| A geology hammer |
