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River Neath
River Neath () is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay. Course Upper tributaries The rivers Nedd Fechan, Mellte and Hepste rise in south Powys on the southern slopes of Fforest Fawr. This headwater area is formed from Old Red Sandstone. Each then crosses a band of Carboniferous Limestone before traversing country formed by interlayered sandstones and shales traditionally referred to as the Millstone Grit. Within the limestone belt, short sections of each river flow underground, though that of the Hepste also flows at the surface during periods of particularly wet weather. The steep descent of these rivers towards the Vale of Neath, and also of the Afon Pyrddin and Afon Sychryd, tributaries of the Nedd Fechan and Afon Mellte respectively, involves the development of a number of waterfalls ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neath Castle
Neath Castle () is a Norman castle located in the town centre of Neath, Wales. Its construction was begun by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the nominal Lord of Glamorgan, at a date estimated between 1114 and 1130. It is also referred to as "Granville's Castle", after Richard I de Grenville (or Granville or Glanville; died post 1142), Lord of Neath, who has also been credited with its construction. The town of Neath takes its Welsh name, "Castell-nedd", from the castle. History The first castle in Neath was located west of the river near the Roman fort of Nidum, and was a timber fortification in a motte and bailey structure. When Richard de Grenville founded Neath Abbey close by, he abandoned this original castle, and it may have been used by the monks as a source of building material. A second castle on the opposite bank of the river, in what is now the centre of the town, is first documented in 1183; shortly afterwards, William de Cogan, son of Miles de Cogan, was appointed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nedd Fechan
The Nedd Fechan is a river almost wholly within the county of Powys, Wales. It rises on the eastern slopes of Fan Gyhirych in the Fforest Fawr section of the Brecon Beacons National Park and flows south for to join with the Afon Mellte at Pontneddfechan, their combined waters continuing as the River Neath ( Welsh Afon Nedd) to the sea near Swansea. The only significant tributary of the Nedd Fechan is the Afon Pyrddin which joins it at Pwll Du ar Byrddin ('the black pool of the Pyrddin'). Downstream of this confluence it forms the boundary between Powys to its east and Neath Port Talbot to its west. Geology The headwaters of the river run over Old Red Sandstone as far as Blaen-nedd-isaf where they encounter the Carboniferous Limestone outcrop. The river then continues through a wooded gorge for the remainder of its course. The section downstream of Pont Rhyd-y-cnau is cut in sandstones and mudstones of the Millstone Grit series. The section between Pont Melin-fach and the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterfall Country (Wales)
Waterfall Country (or sometimes Waterfalls Country) (Welsh: ''Bro'r Sgydau'') is a name often given to the upper reaches of the Vale of Neath in South Wales. The tourist area around the head of the valley has an unusually large number of publicly accessible waterfalls. The area is not officially defined but generally includes the group of falls on the Nedd Fechan, Afon Pyrddin, Pyrddin, Afon Hepste, Hepste and Afon Mellte, Mellte rivers, all of which lie between the villages of Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Each of these falls lies within or on the boundary of the county of Powys. A few miles further west are Henrhyd Falls on the Nant Llech, a tributary of the Tawe and to the south-west are Melin Court Falls on the Melin Court Brook, a tributary of the River Neath. These, along with Aberdulais Falls on the River Dulais, Dulais, a further tributary of the Neath are also encompassed by the term 'Waterfall/s Country' by some writers. Collectiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afon Sychryd
The Afon Sychryd is a river in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Although it is a relatively short river, with a total length of , it is notable for the gorge and two waterfalls through which it flows. Course The river has two upper arms, the first arises near Penderyn, which has been dammed to create a small reservoir, known as Penderyn Reservoir. The second arm starts just below Craig y Llyn and is known locally as the Nant Gwrangon; it flows past the village of Rhigos and through Cwm Wyrfa on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Where the two arm joins it flows through the southern slopes of the Fforest Fawr Geopark and under the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road and turns northwest to join the Afon Mellte at Pontneddfechan.Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area' Its lower section is cut into a spectacular gorge beneath Dinas Rock (Craig-y-Ddinas), site of an Iron Age hillfort and of the once-famous Dinas Silica Mine. The gorge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afon Pyrddin
The Afon Pyrddin is a river forming a short section of the boundary between Powys and Neath Port Talbot in Wales, United Kingdom. It also forms a part of the boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The river and its waterfalls are one of the key attractions of the Fforest Fawr Geopark designated in 2005. The name could mean 'river by the striking fortress' or 'sweet-flowing river'. The streams of Nant y Bryn, Nant y Fedwen and Nant Hir come together to form the Pyrddin which flows south-eastwards for 3 miles (5 km) to its confluence with the Nedd Fechan (sometimes also known historically in an Englished form "Neath Vaughan"; at one time this would have been a fair indication of the Welsh pronunciation in English spelling, but with changes in English pronunciation it has now diverged considerably)). Waterfalls The Pyrddin is best known for two spectacular waterfalls, Sgwd Gwladus (sometimes 'Gwladys') and Sgwd Einion Gam, meaning the 'fall of Gwladus' and the 'fal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vale Of Neath
The Vale of Neath (or Neath Valley, Welsh: ''Cwm Nedd''), one of the South Wales Valleys, encompasses the upper reaches of the River Neath in southwest Wales. In addition to the River Neath, it is traversed by the Neath Canal and the A465 dual carriageway. Settlements in the valley include Neath, Cadoxton, Tonna, Aberdulais, Resolven, Blaengwrach, Glynneath and Pontneddfechan. Coal mining was an industry in the valley with mining operations being located at Aberpergwm and Pentreclwydau near Glynneath. Waterfall Country " Waterfall Country" is a nickname given to the Vale of Neath due to the diverse number of waterfalls in the valley. In the upper reaches of the valley, at the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, are the waterfalls of four or five rivers: the Afon Hepste, Nedd Fechan, Afon Pyrddin, Afon Mellte and Afon Sychryd. In the lower valley, waterfalls can be found at Melincourt and Aberdulais. Vale of Neath Railway Currently partly used as a goods line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock shelters). Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves. Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the cave environment. Visiting or exploring caves for recreation may be called Caving, ''caving'', ''potholing'', or ''spelunking''. Formation types The formation and development of caves is known as ''speleogenesis''; it can occur over the course of millions of years. Caves can range widely in size, and are formed by various geological processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion by water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, and atmospheric influences. Isotopic dating techniques can be applied to cave sedime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the British Isles. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. Geologists refer to the whole suite of rocks that encompass the individual limestone beds and the intervening mudstones as the Millstone Grit Group. The term Millstone Grit Series was formerly used to refer to the rocks now included within the Millstone Grit Group together with the underlying Edale Shale Group. The term gritstone describes any sandstone composed of coarse angular grains, and specifically refers to such sandstones within the Pennines and neighbouring areas of Northern England. Geographical occurrence Rocks assigned to the Millstone Grit Group occur over a wide area of Northern England, where they are a hugely important landscape-forming element of the rock succession. They also occur in parts of northeast Wales and northwest Ireland. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy (1996) ''Petrology: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic'', 2nd ed., Freeman, pp. 281–292 Shale is characterized by its tendency to split into thin layers (Lamination (geology), laminae) less than one centimeter in thickness. This property is called ''Fissility (geology), fissility''. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock. The term ''shale'' is sometimes applied more broadly, as essentially a synonym for mudrock, rather than in the narrower sense of clay-rich fissile mudrock. Texture Shale typically exhibits varying degrees of fissility. Because of the parallel orientation of clay mineral flakes in shale, it breaks in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar, because they are the most resistant minerals to the weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be imparted any color by impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Because sandstone beds can form highly visible cliffs and other topography, topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have become strongly identified with certain regions, such as the red rock deserts of Arches National Park and other areas of the Southwestern United States, American Southwest. Rock formations composed of sandstone usually allow the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It also extends northwards into Greenland and Svalbard. These areas were a part of the paleocontinent of Euramerica (Laurussia). In Britain it is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) to which stratigraphers accord supergroup status and which is of considerable importance to early paleontology. The presence of ''Old'' in the name is to distinguish the sequence from the younger New Red Sandstone which also occurs widely throughout Britain. Sedimentology The Old Red Sandstone describes a group of sedimentary rocks deposited in a variety of environments in the late Silurian, through the Devonian and into the earliest part of the Carboniferous. The body of rock, or facies, is dominated by terrigenous deposits and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
