Earthwatcher's photos with the keyword: karst

A view of Smoo Cave from the footpath on the east side of the Geodha Smoo inlet.

A view of Smoo Cave entrance taken from the footbridge over the Allt Smoo.

A view of Smoo Cave entrance from the east side of the Geodha Smoo inlet.

A view of Smoo Cave entrance from the east side of the Geodha Smoo inlet.

A closer view through the 'window' in the side of a sink hole showing the Allt Smoo cascading down a second sink hole into Smoo Cave.

View southwards showing the northerly flowing Allt Smoo disappearing down a sink hole (beneath the bridge) into Smoo Cave. In the foreground a nearer sink hole has a 'window' connecting to the other sink hole down which the river cascades.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. Along the western flank of Mam Tor and Rushup Edge are a series of sink holes where surface waters and streams flowing off the relatively low-permeability Mam Tor Beds and Edale Shales encounter the underlying Carboniferous Limestone. This one is near the old Windy Knoll Quarry. The water disappears underground and flows through an extensive network of cave passages before emerging at Peak Cavern and Russet Well in Castleton.

A rare patch of evening sun illuminates the limestone scenery south of Mam Tor in the Peak District National Park.

The upper portion of Winnats Pass viewed from the summit of Mam Tor in the Peak District National Park.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. This is Patching Pond, near Worthing, Sussex and is a good example of a doline (sinkhole or solution hollow). The bedrock is Chalk, but covered at this location by a thin veneer of solifluction deposits ('Head').

The Roßzähne ('Pink Teeth') Ridge at the eastern end of the Schlern high plateau.

This photo shows part of the modern open quarrying for fluorite and barytes along the line of Dirtlow Rake near Castleton, on the site of the former Hollandtwine Mine. This is a rather special place. On the far north-west wall, the quarrying has cut a perfect cross section through a cave system. There are vertical vein cavities with horizontal fluting. These lead down to a meandering horizontal passage about 20 m below the original ground level. This passage must have been a phreatic tube at one time - entirely below the water table. The scalloping seen in the supplementary photos is a typical solution feature seen in these sort of tubes. Finally, there is a lot of fine yellow-ochrous loose sediment infilling some of the swallets and partially choking up the phreatic tube. I think this is a loess deposit - a fine wind-blown dust originating from rock 'flour' ground up by ice-age glaciers. In the last glacial period (the Devensian) the Peak District was largely free of ice, although it was under cold, permafrost conditions. Strong winds around the periphery of the ice sheets blew all the dust around which accumulated in pre-existing hollows and fissures on the formerly glaciated surface. So, this quarry has enabled us to see karst (solution) and periglacial features that would normally only be accesible to cavers. I would hope that some of this quarry face would be preserved, but my understanding is that the whole lot will be backfilled and grassed over, so we will end up with a tidy, bland, green grassy area which tells us nothing at all. :-( But I suppose it will keep the planning authorites happy.

This photo shows part of the modern open quarrying for fluorite and barytes along the line of Dirtlow Rake near Castleton, on the site of the former Hollandtwine Mine. This is a rather special place. On the far north-west wall, the quarrying has cut a perfect cross section through a cave system. There are vertical vein cavities with horizontal fluting. The photo shows a portion of one of these. The vein cavities are associated with a meandering horizontal passage about 20 m below the original ground level. This passage must have been a phreatic tube at one time - entirely below the water table. The scalloping seen in the supplementary photos is a typical solution feature seen in these sort of tubes. This quarry has enabled us to see karst (solution) and periglacial features that would normally only be accesible to cavers. I would hope that some of this quarry face would be preserved, but my understanding is that the whole lot will be backfilled and grassed over, so we will end up with a tidy, bland, green grassy area which tells us nothing at all. :-( But I suppose it will keep the planning authorites happy.

This photo shows part of the modern open quarrying for fluorite and barytes along the line of Dirtlow Rake near Castleton, on the site of the former Hollandtwine Mine. This is a rather special place. On the far north-west wall, the quarrying has cut a perfect cross section through a cave system. There are vertical vein cavities with horizontal fluting. These lead down to a meandering horizontal passage about 20 m below the original ground level. This passage must have been a phreatic tube at one time - entirely below the water table. The scalloping seen in the supplementary photos is a typical solution feature seen in these sort of tubes. Finally, there is a lot of fine yellow-ochrous loose sediment infilling some of the swallets and partially choking up the phreatic tube. I think this is a loess deposit - a fine wind-blown dust originating from rock 'flour' ground up by ice-age glaciers. In the last glacial period (the Devensian) the Peak District was largely free of ice, although it was under cold, permafrost conditions. Strong winds around the periphery of the ice sheets blew all the dust around which accumulated in pre-existing hollows and fissures on the formerly glaciated surface. So, this quarry has enabled us to see karst (solution) and periglacial features that would normally only be accesible to cavers. I would hope that some of this quarry face would be preserved, but my understanding is that the whole lot will be backfilled and grassed over, so we will end up with a tidy, bland, green grassy area which tells us nothing at all. :-( But I suppose it will keep the planning authorites happy. Best viewed large....

This photo shows part of the modern open quarrying for fluorite and barytes along the line of Dirtlow Rake near Castleton, on the site of the former Hollandtwine Mine. This is a rather special place. On the far north-west wall, the quarrying has cut a perfect cross section through a cave system. There are vein cavities with horizontal fluting. These lead down to a meandering horizontal passage about 20 m below the original ground level. This passage must have been a phreatic tube at one time - entirely below the water table. The scalloping seen in this photo is a typical solution feature seen in these sort of tubes. Finally, there is a lot of fine yellow-ochrous loose sediment infilling some of the swallets and partially choking up the phreatic tube. This infill can be seen in the lower part of the photo. I think this is a loess deposit - a fine wind-blown dust originating from rock 'flour' ground up by ice-age glaciers. In the last glacial period (the Devensian) the Peak District was largely free of ice, although it was under cold, permafrost conditions. Strong winds around the periphery of the ice sheets blew all the dust around which accumulated in pre-existing hollows and fissures on the formerly glaciated surface. So, this quarry has enabled us to see karst (solution) and periglacial features that would normally only be accesible to cavers. I would hope that some of this quarry face would be preserved, but my understanding is that the whole lot will be backfilled and grassed over, so we will end up with a tidy, bland, green grassy area which tells us nothing at all. :-( But I suppose it will keep the planning authorites happy.

This photo shows part of the modern open quarrying for fluorite and barytes along the line of Dirtlow Rake near Castleton, on the site of the former Hollandtwine Mine. This is a rather special place. On the far north-west wall, the quarrying has cut a perfect cross section through a cave system. There are vertical vein cavities with horizontal fluting. These lead down to a meandering horizontal passage about 20 m below the original ground level. This passage must have been a phreatic tube at one time - entirely below the water table. The scalloping seen in the supplementary photos is a typical solution feature seen in these sort of tubes. Finally, there is a lot of fine yellow-ochrous loose sediment infilling some of the swallets and partially choking up the phreatic tube. I think this is a loess deposit - a fine wind-blown dust originating from rock 'flour' ground up by ice-age glaciers. In the last glacial period (the Devensian) the Peak District was largely free of ice, although it was under cold, permafrost conditions. Strong winds around the periphery of the ice sheets blew all the dust around which accumulated in pre-existing hollows and fissures on the formerly glaciated surface. So, this quarry has enabled us to see karst (solution) and periglacial features that would normally only be accesible to cavers. I would hope that some of this quarry face would be preserved, but my understanding is that the whole lot will be backfilled and grassed over, so we will end up with a tidy, bland, green grassy area which tells us nothing at all. :-( But I suppose it will keep the planning authorites happy.

Cliffs in the Newhaven Chalk at Birling Gap, Sussex. Taken with an early Kodak 1-megapixel digital camera.

Dry Valley in Chalk, near Ditchling Beacon, South Downs, Sussex. Taken with an early Kodak 1-megapixel digital camera.