Earthwatcher's photos with the keyword: geo:lon=-3.100398

Pavey Ark - very strange rocks

12 Jul 2010 198
These rocks are on Pavey Ark in the Lake District National Park, England, about 350 m ENE of the summit cairn. The grid reference of the camera location is NY 28768 08076, close by the North Rake footpath. The rocks in this photo belong to the uppermost part of the Dungeon Ghyll Member in the Borrowdale Volcanic Group (Ordovician). They are coarse, crudely bedded volcaniclastic pebbly sandstones, probably resulting from ash-fall into water, with accompanying andesite lava spatter; the whole lot subsequently disrupted by slumping and mass movement (Millward et al, 2000). The 'strangeness' is due to the presence of curious, concentric ring-like structures which appear to be secondary (i.e. later) concretions - expanding growths of secondary minerals (epidote?) to form spheroidal masses, which are easily discernible in the main photo (zoom in). The origin of these structures is unclear, and they do not seem to be documented from anywhere else in the district, although I have seen similar but less well developed structures on Side Pike in Great Langdale and near Levers Water in the Coniston Fells. Reference: Millward, D. et al. 2000. Geology of the Ambleside district, British Geological Survey Memoir for 1:50000 Geological Sheet 38, London HMSO.