All links open in new windows, and all pics were taken by me!
This part of the world is somewhere I’d never heard of until a few days ago! I think I’ll be spending a lot of time here over the next year as part of my new role as a Conservation Trainee with the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust.
This part of the world is somewhere I’d never heard of until a few days ago! I think I’ll be spending a lot of time here over the next year as part of my new role as a Conservation Trainee with the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust.
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| Looking SE-ish from Segley Beacon towards Birmingham. |
Sedgley Beacon is an area of land in the Black Country, near
to Dudley & Wolverhampton. This site is interesting to me as a geologist
and geogeek as it has a disused quarry area with limestone, younger than that
found at the nearby Wren’s Nest. Sedgley Beacon Quarry is also a geosite, part
of the Black Country Geopark.
The rocks here are about 425million years old and contain
marine fossils, mostly brachiopods but possibly other things including crinoids
and trilobites. I need to spend more time looking to say for sure though!
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| Part of the rockface. Aymestry Limestone from the Silurian period (approx. 425million years old). |
This site is important because there are several rock types
in the area that make this location perfect for industry. There is nearby coal
which has ironstone nodules, and the limestone was used as part of the iron
smelting process.
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| A sample of limestone, with a solitary rugose coral fossil (white curved area towards top right of sample). |
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| Brachiopod shell impressions. |
