KEGS Geology students are now most of their way through the
second day – our full day on this trip. The forecast at the beginning of the
week was for heavy rain almost all day today…we were very relieved to make it
till lunchtime before the rain came! The students worked brilliantly again today which means they will get a lot more out of this trip...and nice to hear a couple of the y13s saying how much they were enjoying it...especially as they understand what they are seeing!
This meant we managed another excellent bout of work at Apes
Tor this morning – taking a large amount of measurements for a number of
anticlines and synclines – which we are going to attempt creating a cross
section for this evening. We’ve also been able to map the observations as we’ve
gone along.
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| Measuring and sketching some of the scree deposits - formed from freeze-thawed limestones during the periglacial period after the last ice age |
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| Lots of dips, strikes and joints measurements - this time in a syncline |
As we were passing it on the way to our second locality, we
conveniently had lunch back at the hostel – enabling some to partake in hot
chocolates (with cream and marshmallows of course!) or cappuccinos alongside
our packed lunches in the warm and dry.
Refreshed, we carried on (into the rain!) to the Litton Mill
and Ravens Tor area to have a look at yet more limestones but also some basalt
pillow lavas on the Monsal Trail. We were able to pick out some lovely formations
as well as some of the features we’d studied in the classroom. This trail was
also a good place to think about the engineering considerations of creating a
railway cutting through such an area….something that could come up in a Y12
paper. Returning down to the road we were able to see some more basalts and
consider the boundary between them and the limestone, as well as being able to
pick up a couple of specimens (unusual on this trip as many places are protected
or inaccessible).
Back at the hostel, with all the waterproofs hung up in the
drying room, the students have some free time before dinner (roast chicken
chosen by almost all!) and then we’ll get some work done after dinner.
Tomorrow we’re onto Park Hall which is an area the y13s have
already studied sediment too in some detail and depth so it will be helpful for
them to see the site. There’ll also be some more features we haven’t seen much
of so far.
