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    AQA GCSE Geography - Rock Types

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    MisterBlueSky
    The document summarizes key information about five common rock types in the UK: granite, carboniferous limestone, chalk, clay, and their characteristic formations, landscapes, and case studies. Granite formed underground from cooling magma 280 million years ago. It is found in areas like the Cairngorms and forms exposed outcrops. Carboniferous limestone was deposited in warm seas 340 million years ago from calcium carbonate and accumulates in bands in areas like the Mendips. It forms karst landscapes including caves and sinkholes. Chalk was deposited in shallow seas 145-65 million years ago from crustacean shells and is found alongside clay in downs and wolds, forming aquifers

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    AQA GCSE Geography - Rock Types

    Uploaded by

    MisterBlueSky
    184 views1 page
    The document summarizes key information about five common rock types in the UK: granite, carboniferous limestone, chalk, clay, and their characteristic formations, landscapes, and case studies. Granite formed underground from cooling magma 280 million years ago. It is found in areas like the Cairngorms and forms exposed outcrops. Carboniferous limestone was deposited in warm seas 340 million years ago from calcium carbonate and accumulates in bands in areas like the Mendips. It forms karst landscapes including caves and sinkholes. Chalk was deposited in shallow seas 145-65 million years ago from crustacean shells and is found alongside clay in downs and wolds, forming aquifers

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    Description of Chalk, Limestone, Clay and granite, their distribution in the UK and a case study.

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    The document summarizes key information about five common rock types in the UK: granite, carboniferous limestone, chalk, clay, and their characteristic formations, landscapes, and case studies. Granite formed underground from cooling magma 280 million years ago. It is found in areas like the Cairngorms and forms exposed outcrops. Carboniferous limestone was deposited in warm seas 340 million years ago from calcium carbonate and accumulates in bands in areas like the Mendips. It forms karst landscapes including caves and sinkholes. Chalk was deposited in shallow seas 145-65 million years ago from crustacean shells and is found alongside clay in downs and wolds, forming aquifers

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    184 views1 page

    AQA GCSE Geography - Rock Types

    Uploaded by

    MisterBlueSky
    The document summarizes key information about five common rock types in the UK: granite, carboniferous limestone, chalk, clay, and their characteristic formations, landscapes, and case studies. Granite formed underground from cooling magma 280 million years ago. It is found in areas like the Cairngorms and forms exposed outcrops. Carboniferous limestone was deposited in warm seas 340 million years ago from calcium carbonate and accumulates in bands in areas like the Mendips. It forms karst landscapes including caves and sinkholes. Chalk was deposited in shallow seas 145-65 million years ago from crustacean shells and is found alongside clay in downs and wolds, forming aquifers

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    GCSE Geography: Rock types

    Rock Type

    Formation

    Characteristics

    Landscape

    Case study

    Granite:
    intrusive
    igneous

    280 million years ago in subduction


    zones (meeting of continental shelves)
    where batholiths/plutons (giant
    masses of magma) cool underground.

    - Hard & durable


    - Criss cross joints
    - Contains quartz, black mica

    Found in Cairngorms, Lake


    District, Devon, Cornwall and
    the Scilly Isles.
    - Marshy, wet climate
    - Acidic soil
    - Tors (exposed outcrops)

    Dartmoor
    - Ten tors
    - Livestock farming
    - Military training
    - Meldon resevoir
    - Granite & china clay quarries

    Carboniferous
    limestone:
    sedimentary

    340 million years ago in warm,


    tropical seas where calcium carbonate
    (CaCO3)from dead crustaceans
    accumulated on the seabed.

    - Physically strong but

    Found in Penine Hills and the


    Mendips, distributed in bands.
    - Karst scenery
    - Gorges and dry valleys
    - Asymmetric valleys
    - Limestone pavement (clints
    and grykes)
    - Caverns and caves
    - Stalactites, stalagmites,
    pillars and curtains
    - Swallow/sink holes
    - Resurgent streams
    - Alkaline soil (good pasture)

    Cheddar Gorge
    - 500,000 tourists p.a
    - 350 graded rock climbing
    passages.
    - Whatley Quarry & other
    quarries employ 2000 and
    150 mill. profits p.a
    - Stone used in Bath and Bristol
    and roads in SW
    - Pastoral farming in Mendips on
    calcareous grassland.
    - Cheddar Yeo river feeds
    Cheddar reservoir, holding 135
    million gallons.
    - Mendip forestry ltd (ash trees)

    Chalk:
    sedimentary

    Cretaceous period (145-65 million


    years ago) in shallow, tropical seas
    where crustaceans rich in calcium
    carbonate accumulated in beds. A
    purer form of limestone.

    Permeable
    White
    Heavily jointed and porous
    Physically weak
    Chemically vulnerable
    Contains deposits of Gypsum
    and Flint

    Clay:
    sedimentary

    Mainly Jurassic and Cretaceous


    periods (199-65 million years ago)
    as a result of the chemical
    decomposition of other rocks like
    granite or the disintegration of shale.

    Weak
    Impermeable
    Contains kaolinite.
    Contains tiny pores that are
    easily water logged

    Clay is very common. It exists


    alongside chalk in the North
    and South Downs around
    Sussex, the Chilterns and the
    Yorkshire Wolds.
    - Chalk aquifers
    - Clay vales
    - Springs
    - Dry valleys (from ice age)
    - Synclines and antilines
    - Escarpments (with scarp &
    dip slopes)
    - Rendzina soil

    Sussex Downs
    - Naturally filtered water used for
    watercress and paper
    production.
    - Horse racing (Epsom)
    - Water pumped from chalk
    aquifers to service London.
    - Cretaceous meadowland hosts
    rare wildlife such as the Bee
    Orchid and the Adonis Blue
    butterfly.
    - Lack of vegetation and gentle
    slopes allow paragliding and
    hang gliding.
    - The Icknield Way (E. Thomas)

    and pink feldspar

    - Impermeable
    - Decays via hydrolysis

    chemically weak
    Carbonation
    Fossils
    Horizontal bedding planes
    Blocky appearance
    Permeable but non-porous
    (water passes through joints)

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