limestone pavement, Great Asby Scar nature reserve, Westmorland

This is the 'Mountain Limestone' from the Carboniferous Period. The central part of England hasn't been disturbed by any major earth movements, and the limestone lies in level beds much as it was laid down in the warm tropical sea of 350 million years ago. Scraped bare by the much more recent glacier, the soluble rock has been eroded by rainwater into the distinctive 'clints' and 'grikes'.

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