Lake District Flashcards
what is the Lake District?
upland landscape in Cumbria
what are the three main groups of rocks found in the lake district?
skiddaw group
borrow dale volcanic
windermere series
the skiddaw group
the oldest, formed as black muds + sands settling on sea bed 500 mill yrs ago -> they have since been raised up + folded by tectonic forces, mainly found in the N + mountains formed = smooth, w many streams occupying deep gorges
borrowdale volcanic rock
consist of very hard lava + ash formed in eruption 450 mill yrs ago that have withstood erosion + make up the highest mountains eg Scafell, Helvellyn + great gable
the windermere series
sedimentary mudstones, sandstones, siltstones + some limestone about 420 mill yrs ago -> later folded + faulted, pushed up + eroded down to their present levels
what other two significant geologies are there?
- huge masses of granite were intruded 400 mill yrs ago -> erosion has revealed outcrops in eskdale, ennerdale + Shap
- shell + skeletal remains as 320 mill yrs ago a tropical sea covered the LD -> huge no.s of small marine animals formed the carboniferous limestone which crops out at whit barrow, scout scar in the south
the present landscape is a result of which glaciation period?
Pleistocene
what is the helvellyn range?
11km long ridge over 600 m high with numerous glacial erosional landforms
what is an example of a pyramidal peak?
helvellyn summit at 950m above sea level
-> lacks more than two corries on its flanks hence has been less sharply eroded on their back walls
what allowed valley glaciers to form ?
corrie glaciers
what is the tarn called?
Red Tarn
what is the very narrow arête called?
Striding edge
what did ice from the red tarn do?
flowed into the valley of glen ridding, forming a valley glacier large enough to create a small glacial trough
this then fed into much larger valley glacier + glacial trough occupied by ullswater today
why is ullswater floor irregular?
volcanic bands of rock
an example of a Roche moutonnee?
Norfolk island -> formed on an outcrop of the volcanic rock in the middle of the lake