The evidence for the glaciation of Dartmoor includes landforms relating to both glacial erosion and deposition. Glacial erosional features include incipient or grade 4/5 cirque basins (cf. Evans and Cox, 1995).
How are Dartmoor tors formed?
The processes resulting in the formation of the Dartmoor tors started about 280 million years ago as the granite forming Dartmoor cooled and solidified from molten rock at a temperature of 900 – 1000˚C. The minerals which make up granite crystallised as closely interlocking grains forming the hard rock.
What are Clitter slopes?
The “Clitter” (Celtic, clegyr, rock), which is the name given to the, collection of boulders and stones, the debris of what was formerly the higher part of the tor, the disintegration of the granite leaving this harder and indissolvable material strewn on the slopes and at the base of the tors in immense quantities.
What type of rock is Dartmoor tors?
Most of Dartmoor consists of a single type of rock – granite. This granite was intruded during the late Carboniferous/ early Permian Period (around 280 million years ago) into the area we now know as Devon and Cornwall.
Which is aerially the most extensive glaciation of the British Isles?
Glaciation and interglacials of Fenland. In lowland south and eastern Britain, two major glaciations have been identified during the Middle Pleistocene, the earliest and most extensive of which occurred during the Anglian Stage (= Elsterian).
Why does Dartmoor have tors?
Dartmoor’s tors are rocky granite outcrops created by erosion. Some 65% of Dartmoor is made of granite – rock which was created around 295 million years ago. Tors are where the granite rock that is underneath Dartmoor shows through.
What are the Tors called on Dartmoor?
Staple Tors or Steeple Tor – see Little Staple Tor, Middle Staple Tor and Great Staple Tor.
What is the sticklepath fault?
The Sticklepath fault runs NW to SE in direction, and is thought to start at near Bideford in the North, running across the NE corner of Dartmoor and through to Torquay in the South. It is thought to be responsible for the earth tremors that were felt throughout the region in November 1955.
Was Dartmoor volcanic?
Dartmoor is the remains of a huge volcano that erupted several hundred million years ago. When the eruption was over, the magma chamber deep underground began to cool, and the lava in it turned to granite.
Was Dartmoor a volcano?
What is Dartmoor known for?
Dartmoor is famous for its wide open spaces, the tors, Dartmoor Prison, Bronze Age archaeology, ponies, Sherlock Holmes, myths and legends and for having the worlds largest land slug!
What are tors in Dartmoor?
Dramatic rocky outcrops, known as tors, aredistinctive features in the Dartmoor landscape.They have been sculpted by weathering intostrange shapes. The formation of tors has beenthe subject of considerable debate. Someobservers have noted their resemblance to thegranite kopjesfound in the tropical Africansavanna.
How were Dartmoor tors and clitter slopes formed?
Tors and clitter slopes, which are characteristic of Dartmoor, have been formed through the weathering of the granite over at least the last ten million years.
What are the different types of Dartmoor granite?
Some geologists have identified three major types of Dartmoor granite – the contact granitecontaminated by minerals from the surrounding rocks; the tor granitewhich contains the large megacrysts typical of many of the tors, and the finer grained blue granite.
