Whatley Quarry, is a
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
owned by
Hanson plc
Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London ...
, near the village of
Whatley on the
Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
The quarry exhibits pale to dark grey
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
Limestone with small area of overlying horizontally bedded buff-coloured
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
oolitic limestone forming an angular
unconformity
An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...
, with extensive
dolomitisation
Dolomitization is a geological process by which the carbonate mineral dolomite is formed when magnesium ions replace calcium ions in another carbonate mineral, calcite. It is common for this mineral alteration into dolomite to take place due to ...
of top of the Black Rock Limestone. There are abundant near-vertical
fissures
A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes.
Ground fissure
...
and joints near top of limestone with
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
weathering and minor pinnacle formation.
The quarry is linked by a freight only railway line, part of the former
Bristol and North Somerset Railway
The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...
using trains operated by
Mendip Rail
Mendip Rail Ltd is an independent freight operating railway company in Great Britain. It is a joint venture composed of the rail-operation divisions of Aggregate Industries (formerly Foster Yeoman) and Hanson Aggregates (previously ARC).
The ...
, to a junction with the
Reading to Taunton Line
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
near
Frome station.
The quarry has been the object of protests against its impact on the environment and has had to appeal against planning application decisions because of the claimed derogation of river flows, groundwater abstractions and local
springs due to historic dewatering associated with the quarry.
Hanson runs a study centre for school children close to the quarry.
References
See also
*
Quarries of the Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills, (Mendips) in northern Somerset, are the most southerly Carboniferous Limestone uplands in Britain.
The Mendips comprise three major anticlinal structures, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcani ...
{{coord, 51.22965, N, 2.38663, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(ST731479), display=title
Quarries in the Mendip Hills