Geology and Cathedrals (Geology & life)

Keyword: Traditional architectures, Geology in life

I visited many towns in UK to observe outcrops, coasts and rivers. In every towns, I found cathedrals and castles build in middle ages. Most of them have a highest towers in the areas and I can climb them. The view from the towers is very useful to glasp geological and geographical background of the area. So (not only for siteseeing), I visited them during my field surveys.

At first, I surprised the beautiful Gothic or Norman style structures made of stones, stained glass and their histories. But next, I began to be interested in the lithology of them. As I visited many areas, I noticed that the lithology of such a old buildings seems to be different depending on areas. It represents the relationships between geology and human activities. Most of the buildings are made of the stones in the area but some ones are made of others. There will be fascinating stories about the history of logistics, culture and politics. Most of Japanese old buildings are made of woods so It is difficult to enjoy and discuss about these topics in Japan.

I am just a geologist (Sedimentologist) in Japan not a specialist in traditional architectures or history in UK. But I would like to introduce the lithology of cathedrals and castles in many areas.

We can easily get the lithological information in each areas from website "Geology of Britain viewer" by British Geological Survey. Please compare and enjoy the lithology of the buildings and geology in the area.

Hartlepool (County Durham), sandy tidal flat deposit

Flaser forks (mud drapes in trough of ripple) which indicate repetition of water current and stop (tide)

Double mud drapes which indicate diurnal inequality of tide.

Herring bone structures which indicate bidirectional flows (tidal currents).

York (North Yorkshire), shallow marine deposit

City wall made of sand stones with cross laminae.

Sand stone with trough cross laminae and borrows.

Frambrough (East Riding of Yorkshire), chalk

Lighthouse made of chalk.

Cromer (Norfolk), flint

Cromer Parish Church made of flint.

Close-up of the church.

Wells (Norfolk), gravel

Wall made of gravels.

Close-up. Flint ?

Norwich (Norfolk), flint

Tower made of flint.

Close-up of the tower.

City wall.

City wall made of flint.

Close-up of the wall. Holes by boring shells.

Close-up of the wall. Limestone (bryozoan sand ?).

Dover (Kent), flint

City wall made of flint.

St. Marys Church in Dover made of flint.

Close-up of wall made of filnt.

Portchester (Hampshire)

Portchester Castle near tidal flat and chalk bed with white color.

Outer wall of Portchester Castle. It is originally made of flint and repaired by other stones.

Inside of the castle. It has been repaired many times and by various stones, including bricks.

Close-up of inside wall of the castle.

Nottingham (Notthinghamshire)

Outer wall of Nottingham Castle. The lower is natural sand stone.

Close-up of the wall with cross bed.

Close-up of the wall.

Sand stone in the castle. The half of the pub, oldest in England, is in the sand stone.
We  can enjoy ale and attractive sedimentary structures at the same time !

Bath (Somerset)

Sand stone with trough cross laminae in thermae (public bath in Roman style).
It was constructed during ancient Roman periods and repaired during the Middle Age.

Bristol (South West England)

Wall made of schist ?

Cardiff (Wales)

Outer wall of Cardiff Castle. It was repaired many times.

Close-up of the wall. Sand stone with many shells.

Close-up of the wall. Poor sorted sand-gravel stone.

Close-up of the wall. Sand stone with many shells.

Close-up of the wall. Gravel.

Cotswolds (Gloucestershire), honey-colored limestone

Beautiful buildings with honey color.

Beautiful buildings made of limestone and flint.

Fence made of limestone.

Close-up of honey-colored stones.

Close-up of buildings made of flint and limestones.

Windermere (Lake District, Cumbria), schist

Windermere with buildings made of schist (?).

Fence made of schist (?).

Church made of schist (?).

Close-up of buildings made of schist (?).

Coastal erosion around Bridlington, southside of Flamborough (by N.Yamaguchi)

Bridlington, southside of Flamborough (East Riding of Yorkshire) by N.Yamaguchi

Keywords: Beach, Coastal erosion, Chalk bed, Till
*See Framborough about the chalk bed and the Quarternary sediments here !

I visited southside of Flamborough Head (Fig. 1). I started to walk along the shoreline from Bridlington.

Fig. 1 Aerial photo of UK and Flamborough Head by Google Map.

It was impressive that there were shore protection and groynes along the shoreline of Bridlington (Fig. 2). When I returned to Hull, I investigated some previous studies about coastal erosion around east Yorkshire, and I learned that Bridlington area has been forced to take measures against coastal erosion for a long time. An old book Matthews (1913) reported that the coastal cliff, which consists of till, had been estimated approximately 1.8 m/year around Bridlington before the shore protection. I knew that Byobugaura, which is a famous coastal cliff in Japan (sometimes called ‘Oriental Dover’ :D), had retreated ~1 m/year before shore protection. So, I was surprised at the high rate of the shoreline retreat around Bridlington.

Fig. 2 Coastal area of Bridlington.

When I walked north from Bridlington and came near Sewerby, surface feature of the coastal cliff changed from talus slope to precipitous shape (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Shoreline from Bridlington to Sewerby.

This difference of the surface feature reflects geology: crumpy till and tougher chalk, respectively. A previous study estimated the retreat rate of the chalk cliff around Sewerby as ~0.3 m/year. This obvious contrast of coastal erosion between till and chalk cliff is interesting.

There are a lot of round chalk cobbles at the base of the cliff around Sewerby. They are also rare in Japanese coast.

Fig. 4 Chalk cliff and round cobbles at Sewerby.

I climbed the stairs at Sewerby and walked to Bridlington. I was surprised that everyone can walk near the edge of the cliff there (Fig. 5). In Japan, top of coastal cliffs like there is generally prohibited to approach. However, around Sewerby, we can walk along paths near the edge. Additionally, there are good benches! That scene was intriguing for me because I felt a slight difference in the way of thinking about natural risks and responsibility between Japan and UK.

Fig. 5 Top of the cliff around Sewerby.

Meeting at Heriot-Watt Univ. (by N. Nishida)

13 March 2019: Meeting at Heriot-Watt University (by N. Nishida)

I (Nishida) and a PhD student of University of Hull had a meeting with researches of Institute of Petroleum Engineering. The main topics were several projects of deep-sea sediments including contourite and sediment-gravity-flow-deposits. We shared our own research and discussed about the results. We also discussed about sampling strategy from IODP legacy core for a new project. I will complete the sample list and will request approval from IODP.

Main gate of Heriot-Watt University (13 Mar 2019)

Meeting at Royal Holloway, Univ. of London (by N. Nishida)

4 March 2019: Meeting at Royal Holloway, University of London (by N. Nishida)

I (Nishida) had a meeting with researches of Department of Earth Sciences. The main topics were several projects of the contourite, one of the representatives of the deep-sea sediments. We discussed about the interpretation of our own data and strategy of further analyses for an ongoing project. Also, we clarified focus and methods for a new project. They will send me samples for the project.

 Building of the Department of the Earth Science, Royall Holloway, University of London (4 Mar 2019)