Book Review: Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales
About: This article is published in Quaternary Science Reviews.The article was published on 2015-10-01. It has received 13 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Karst & Cave.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a cost-effective method to minimize the karst geohazard by controlling the drainage on construction projects, which is usually the most cost effective means of minimizing the karast geomorphology hazard.
Abstract: Karst is a terrain distinguished by its underground drainage, natural cavities and sinkholes. New subsidence sinkholes (both dropout and suffosion) formed within the soil cover constitute the main karst geohazard. Nearly all are induced by increased drainage inputs or by water table decline, and control of the drainage is the primary means of reducing their hazard. Cave collapse and the development of collapse sinkholes in bedrock are less common, and the stability of a cave roof that is thicker than its width means that only those caves at shallow depth create any hazard. Predictions of the locations of caves or potential sinkhole sites are next to impossible, geophysical searches have severe limitations and borehole searches can incur significant costs. Consequently, controlling the drainage on construction projects is usually the most cost-effective means of minimizing the karst geohazard.
21 citations
Cites background from "Book Review: Caves and Karst of the..."
...Within Britain, the main cavernous limestones form upland areas, such as the high ground around the Yorkshire Dales, where sinkholes have minimal conflict with engineering works (Waltham & Lowe 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the Quaternary uplift of Britain and subsidence beneath the North Sea are coupled, mediated by lower-crustal flow induced by the lateral pressure gradient caused by climate-driven surface processes.
Abstract: New data from offshore and onshore regions confirm the view that the Quaternary uplift of Britain and subsidence beneath the North Sea are coupled, mediated by lower-crustal flow induced by the lateral pressure gradient caused by climate-driven surface processes. Most measured onshore uplift rates, in both upland and lowland localities, are only applicable since the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution; beforehand, generally lower rates prevailed. Earlier (?Oligocene–Pliocene) phases of uplift and subsidence had typically even lower rates; furthermore, the western margin of the North Sea depocentre was ∼200 km farther from the modern coastline of north-east England. In the earliest Cenozoic, complex isostatic adjustments occurred in response to the magmatism associated with the Iceland mantle plume; the contemporaneous land surface (relative to the present-day rock column) in northern England was typically ∼1500 m OD. However, this activity died out during the Palaeogene; the main effect of these events on the modern isostatic configuration was via the emplacement of thick mafic underplating, which now constricts the mobile lower-crustal layer, explaining the Late Cenozoic ultra-stability of Ireland. The evidence enables interpretations of the present-day topography of Britain as static, caused by the Iceland mantle plume, or actively developing in response to plate motions or plate boundary forces, to be excluded.
19 citations
Cites background from "Book Review: Caves and Karst of the..."
...Recent discoveries have increased its known length to >86 km, making it the longest cave system in the UK (Allen, 2014); Waltham and Walsh (2016) provide updated documentation of the evidence (cf. Westaway, 2015)....
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01 May 2017
TL;DR: In this article, the southern margin of the Askrigg Block around Cracoe, North Yorkshire, shows a transition from carbonate ramp to reef-rimmed shelf margin, which, based on new foraminiferal/algal data, is now constrained to have initiated during the late Asbian.
Abstract: The southern margin of the Askrigg Block around Cracoe, North Yorkshire, shows a transition from carbonate ramp to reef-rimmed shelf margin, which, based on new foraminiferal/algal data, is now constrained to have initiated during the late Asbian. A late Holkerian to early Asbian ramp facies that included small mudmounds developed in comparatively deeper waters, in a transition zone between the proximal ramp, mudmound-free carbonates of the Scaleber Quarry Limestone Member (Kilnsey Formation) and the distal Hodderense Limestone and lower Pendleside Limestone formations of the adjacent Craven Basin. The ramp is envisaged as structurally fragmented, associated with sudden thickness and facies changes. The late Asbian to early Brigantian apron reefs and isolated reef knolls of the Cracoe Limestone Formation include massive reef core and marginal reef flank facies, the latter also including development of small mudmounds on the deeper water toes of back-reef flanks. The position of the apron/knoll reefs is constrained to the south (hangingwall) of the North Craven Fault, but it is syn-depositional displacement on the Middle Craven Fault that accounts for the thick reefal development. Subsequent inversion of this structure during the early Brigantian caused uplift and abandonment of the reefs and subsequent burial by the Bowland Shale Formation.
16 citations
TL;DR: A rationalized lithostratigraphy for the Great Scar Limestone Group of the southeast Askrigg Block is established in this article, which is of late Arundian age in the Silverdale Borehole.
Abstract: A rationalized lithostratigraphy for the Great Scar Limestone Group of the southeast Askrigg Block is established. The basal Chapel House Limestone Formation, assessed from boreholes, comprises shallow-marine to supratidal carbonates that thin rapidly northwards across the Craven Fault System, onlapping a palaeotopographical high of Lower Palaeozoic strata. The formation is of late Arundian age in the Silverdale Borehole, its northernmost development. The overlying Kilnsey Formation represents a southward-thickening and upward-shoaling carbonate development on a south-facing carbonate ramp. Foraminiferal/algal assemblages suggest a late Holkerian and early Asbian age, respectively, for the uppermost parts of the lower Scaleber Force Limestone and upper Scaleber Quarry Limestone members, significantly younger than previously interpreted.
The succeeding Malham Formation comprises the lower Cove Limestone and upper Gordale Limestone members. Foraminiferal/ algal assemblages indicate a late Asbian age for the formation, contrasting with the Holkerian age previously attributed to the Cove Limestone. The members reflect a change from a partially shallow-water lagoon (Cove Limestone) to more open-marine shelf (Gordale Limestone), coincident with the onset of marked sea-level fluctuations and formation of palaeokarstic surfaces with palaeosoils in the latter. Facies variations along the southern flank of the Askrigg Block, including an absence of fenestral lime-mudstone in the upper part of the Cove Limestone and presence of dark grey cherty grainstone/packstone in the upper part the Gordale Limestone are related to enhanced subsidence during late Asbian movement on the Craven Fault System. This accounts for the marked thickening of both members towards the Greenhow Inlier.
14 citations
TL;DR: Brown bears recolonised Europe rapidly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but there has been debate about whether bear populations were confined to separate glacial refugia in southern Europe, or if there was continuous gene flow among groups as mentioned in this paper.
13 citations
References
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TL;DR: The IGC 449 (2000-2004) data collection as discussed by the authors revealed the recognition of differing patterns of fluvial sedimentation and valley evolution over Neogene and Quaternary timescales, apparently related to different types of continental crust with different uplift/subsidence histories.
129 citations
TL;DR: A collection of papers derived from International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) Project 518 as mentioned in this paper examined the data accumulated on fluvial records, particularly river terrace sequences, for patterns that contribute to the interpretation of Late Cenozoic landscape and climatic evolution.
101 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that erosion of surrounding areas at a typical rate of 0.2 mm a− 1 since 3.1 Ma could have caused this uplift, as well as constraining the local effective viscosity of the lower crust as 4 × 1018 Pa s and the typical local Moho temperature as ~ 650 °C.
58 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented 23 thermal ionization mass spectrometric U-Th dates for Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK, which reveal that speleothem formation began beyond the range of the dating technique (before 600 ka).
Abstract: We present 23 new thermal ionization mass spectrometric U-Th dates for Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK. Victoria Cave underwent repeated glaciation during the late Pleistocene and contains one of the longest Quaternary cave sequences in Britain. The dates reveal that speleothem formation began beyond the range of the dating technique (before 600 ka). Finite reproducible dates of 490 −9/+10 ka confirm speleothem deposition during marine isotope stage (MIS) 13, the oldest date we know of for this part of Britain. Further speleothem formation was dated to MIS 11, MIS 9, MIS 7, and MIS 5. The results are the basis for a new chronology of Quaternary events for the cave and greatly enhance our understanding of the factors affecting the formation of the sedimentary sequence. Cyclical climatic and environmental change throughout the late Pleistocene triggered cyclical sedimentation events in the cave. All the interglacial periods show calcite deposition but with growth phases postdating the warmest events of MIS 11 and MIS 5e. The position of the cave halfway up the side of a glacial trough resulted in very distinctive sediment during the more extreme glacial maxima: ice-dammed lakes formed inside the cave and deposited varve-like clay rhythmites. The dates inferred for these deposits suggest that this locality underwent significant glaciation during MIS 12, MIS 10, MIS 6, and MIS 2, and that the ice was warm based. The absence of rhythmites during MIS 8 suggests minimal ice cover at that time. This is the most complete record for glacial events in the region; it is the only site where successive glacial maxima can be identified and dated. The record of large faunal remains indicates that the cave was open to the surface, only for relatively short times, during MIS 13, MIS 12, MIS 5e, the Late Glacial Interstadial, and parts of the Holocene. It is inferred that at other times the cave was closed because scree formation blocked the entrance. The record of vertebrate remains is therefore controlled by geomorphological processes. The deteriorating state of this unprotected site remains a cause for concern.
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the extent and timing of earlier upland glaciations in the British Isles is studied. But the evidence for pre-Devensian glaciations is scarce.
Abstract: The British Isles have been affected by as many as 30 glaciations during the Quaternary. However, the evidence for pre-Devensian glaciations in upland regions is scarce. Understanding the extent and timing of earlier upland glaciations is essential for modelling the long-term evolution and sensitivity of the British Ice Sheet. Caves, being protected from surface erosion and weathering, can preserve evidence of earlier glaciations in the form of speleothem and sediment archives. The ∼70-km-long Ogof Draenen cave system in South Wales, UK, contains multiple cave levels related to changes in the surface topography and drainage during the past 0.5 Ma. The cave contains evidence of massive influxes of sediment that were sufficient to choke the cave and alter the underground drainage. Analysis of the cave sediments, passage morphology and geometry suggests the cave once acted as a subterranean glacial spill-way before being overridden by ice. Speleothem U-series data demonstrate that this sediment influx occurred before Marine Isotope State (MIS) 9, probably during the Anglian glaciation (MIS 12). Evidence from Ogof Draenen indicates the impact of subsequent glaciations on the landscape evolution of the region was minimal and that much of the surface topography dates from the Anglian.
9 citations