Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan Contents
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Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and European Marine Site GEODIVERSITY AUDIT AND ACTION PLAN CONTENTS AONB/EMS Map ...................................................................................................... 2 Summary .................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 AONBs European Marine Sites Purpose of the Plan Geodiversity - what is it and why does it matter? Designated sites Geological time The geological story of the coast .............................................................................. 8 The geodiversity of the coast .................................................................................... 11 Geological maps of the coast .................................................................................. 12 Carboniferous rocks .............................................................................................. 16 Permian rocks ...................................................................................................... 26 Intrusive igneous rocks – the Whin Sill Swarm ...................................................... 27 Metamorphic rocks ................................................................................................ 34 Quaternary deposits .............................................................................................. 36 Geological structures ............................................................................................ 43 Fossils .................................................................................................................. 46 Minerals ................................................................................................................ 48 Mineral extraction .................................................................................................. 50 Building stones and the built environment ............................................................ 54 Action Plan .............................................................................................................. 56 Selected references and maps ................................................................................ 63 Glossary .................................................................................................................. 67 The Northumberland Coast at Longhoughton Steel 2 Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and European Marine Site Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan 3 SUmmARY INTRODUCTION I n t r This Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan focuses on the Northumberland Coast Area of o Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) The AONB/EMS Management Plan d Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and European Marine Site (EMS). It is a companion u c t AONBs were created by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949) and Through the AONB/EMS Management Plan, policies for the better conservation, i document to the AONB/EMS Joint Management Plan. o since 1956 forty AONBs have been designated in England and Wales. The UK’s AONBs enhancement and understanding of wildlife, cultural and historical assets are already in n The area covered by this plan is shown on the map on the inside front cover of this and National Parks are within a worldwide category of protected areas known as place. Included in the management plan is an objective to produce and implement the document. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Catgeory V Protected findings of a geodiversity audit and action plan. The production of this document and the This document comprises an Audit and an Action Plan : G Landscapes, designated so that their qualities can be enjoyed by present and future implementation of its action plan may be seen as a fundamental objective of the AONB e 2 o l The Audit summarises the geological and geomorphological heritage of the area and generations. AONBs range in size from the Isles of Scilly (16 km ) to the Cotswolds and EMS Partnerships over the next five years. o 2 g identifies: (2038 km ). The other Protected Landscapes in the North East region are the North y o Pennines AONB and Northumberland National Park. AONBs and National Parks have the f • the different rock types; t The Purpose of this Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan h same protection in the landuse planning system. e • the importance of the rock types or particular sites in terms of biodiversity and their 2 C The Northumberland Coast AONB was designated in 1958 and covers an area of 138 km The principal aim of this plan is to guide the conservation and interpretation of the o impact on the landscape; a along 64 km of coastline from Berwick to the Coquet estuary. Though nowhere more than geological features of the Northumberland Coast. It is also intended to support the s • the uses of the rocks; and t 2.5 km wide, this area is remarkably rich in natural and cultural heritage. development of sustainable nature-based tourism in the area. • any wider significance of each rock type. G The main objectives of this Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan can be summarised as: e o The Action Plan is arranged under the headings: • to improve knowledge and understanding of the geodiversity resources on the d European Marine Sites (EMS) i v • Understanding more about our geodiversity (addressing the need for continued Coast; e r In 1994 the UK Government incorporated into law as the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) s i research and study); • to identify the main geological formations and features and to evaluate their t y Regulations 1994, the EU Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. This is commonly contribution to local geodiversity; A • Conserving our geodiversity (addressing designations and site-based conservation known as the Habitats Regulations. A European Marine Site is any area designated under u d i work); the Habitats Regulations as Special Protection Area of Special Area of Conservation that • to identify linkages between the area’s geodiversity and its landscape character, t • Interpreting our geodiversity (addressing how people might be guided towards includes a marine area. biodiversity, economic and cultural history; • to identify threats to geological features and opportunities for their conservation and greater enjoyment and understanding of the coast’s geological heritage); and The EMS covers 115 km of coastline over 635 km 2 of shore and sea, from Fast Castle enhancement; and A • Education and lifelong learning about our geodiversity (addressing how programmes Head to Alnmouth and includes the Farne Islands and Lindisfarne. c t • to identify a network of individual sites which encapsulate the essential features of i of formal and information education might be developed). o The Northumberland Coast AONB/EMS has long, sweeping beaches, rocky cliffs and n the area’s geology and where possible identify how these might be used to support It is the intention that interpretation and education projects may be integrated with other isolated islands. The bird and marine life of the coast is internationally important. It also P l interpretation and education programmes and projects. a subjects and themes along the coast. has a 7,000 year history of human activity and its castles, fishing villages and Christian n Recommendations and action points for any aspect of geodiversity can only be meaningful Accompanying this document is a GIS-based digital dataset containing all of the sites and heritage all contribute to its special character. and credible if they are devised in the light of a sound, modern understanding of the area’s features referred to in this plan, accompanied by spatial information, basic descriptions More detail on the purpose of designation and the special qualities of the AONB can be Earth heritage. In this plan the key elements of the area’s geology are outlined in sufficient and further references. found in the AONB/EMS joint management plan. detail to inform and underpin specific recommendations and action points. The principal audience for this document is not practising geologists, but those who R e f manage and influence the Northumberland Coast AONB and EMS. Readers of this e r e document who may have little geological knowledge, or be unfamiliar with the geology of n c the area, should be able to appreciate the geology of the Coast, why it is important and e how it might be conserved, interpreted and used to support educational programmes. Howick Bay, excavated in Carboniferous sandstones, limestones and shales 4 Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and European Marine Site Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan 5 Geodiversity – what is it and why does it matter? Conservation, sustainable management, educational use and interpretation of geodiversity Geological Time is thus as important as that of biodiversity, archaeology etc. Knowledge of an area’s I n n Recent years have seen many different definitions of Geodiversity put forward, but it is The rocks of the Northumberland coast provide us with a tangible record of long past geology undoubtedly makes it much easier to understand the character of the local t r o i o t succinctly captured in Mick Stanley’s 2001 definition: ‘The variety of geological events and Earth processes that created, shaped, and continue to shape, the landscape d c landscape, and also makes it easier to understand