Alum Shale occurs within the upper 35 metres or so of the Whitby Mudstone Formation. A suite of rocks that originated as soft sediment accumulating on the floor of an ancient sea (the Tethys) which occupied this area between c.188 million and c.182 million years ago during the late Lower Jurassic phase of Earth’s geological [...]
Tag Archives: Jurassic
March – Ironstone
Iron makes up a full 35% of the whole Earth, though most is sequestered within the metallic core, with the crust containing around 6%. It is an important rock commercially, being smelted to make iron and steel. High grade deposits, often comprising more than 70% iron, were laid down in the Precambrian, around 2 billion [...]
on March 8, 2009 Leave a comment
A Geological Timescale
GEOLOGICAL TIMESCALE
Shown below is a representation of the rocks underlying the Tees Valley and Darlington districts in Northeast England. The diagram depicts the relative thickness of the different systems. Absolute ages are given alongside. Click on the different areas to view more details about a particular time period.
Geological column showing the relative thickness and absolute [...]
Home page
Welcome to the Tees Valley RIGS Group Website.
The place for you to find out more about the geology and industrial heritage of Redcar & Cleveland, Middlesbrough,
Stockton, Hartlepool and Darlington.
Alum, Alchemy and Ammonites Page
Future Events Page
Past Events Page
Why not check out our new site description pages and geo-trails
Boulby – Cowbar Hummersea Loftus [...]
Ironstone
The history of local ironstone mining and the development of the Tees Valley are intimately linked.
The History of Ironworking in The Tees Valley
The earliest smelting of ironstone in the area is traceable to c.400BC, and the Iron Age, [...]
Alum
The Alum Trade
The Alum Shale Member forms the upper part of the Whitby Mudstone Formation and was deposited in a reasonably well-oxygenated marine environment around 186 million years ago.The shales were extensively quarried between c.1604 and 1871 for the Alum trade which flourished here on the coast [...]
Jurassic
Rocks of Jurassic age crop out exclusively south of the River Tees, with both Lower and Middle Jurassic successions well represented. The rocks indicate an episode of marine sedimentation, represented by the Lias Group, followed by alternating cycles of deltaic and marine sedimentation represented by the overlying Ravenscar Group.
Marker on the Cleveland Way east of [...]
Geological periods
The word Geology comes from the ancient Greek, Ge (γη) meaning Earth (not to be confused with Gaia (Γαια) the Greek Earth goddess) and Logos (λογος) meaning word or study of, amongst other things. So Geology literally means Study of the Earth.
The the addition of the letter ‘o’ to spell geo was simply to [...]
Slapewath
Grid Reference NZ 643 158
BGS Sheet 34
OS Sheet 94
Forwarded as RIGS 30/09/2003
Site Description
Site Status
Description of Geodiversity Exposures of Main Seam Cleveland Ironstone Formation (bottom block) beside bridge footings below Fox & Hounds public house. A small waterfall immediately upstream may exist due to presence of the Pecten Seam. The area has [...]
on September 24, 2003 Leave a comment
Woodhill Gill
Grid Reference NZ 655 132
BGS Sheet 34
OS Sheet 94
Forwarded as RIGS
Site Description
Site Status SNCI
Description of Geodiversity Upland stream-side escarpment revealing deltaic sandstones specifically the Moor Grit member of the Scalby formation
Literature References
Site Map
Site Assessment
Access and Safety
Comments
Rating
Safety of access
Along designated footpath
10
Safety of exposure
Steep slopes obscured by vegetation
5
Restricting conditions
Vegetation growth in summer [...]
on September 20, 2003 Leave a comment