Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
operation of most geological processes makes it inevitable that human consumption
exceeds geological replacement times. Our rapidly improving understanding of global
rock cycling processes assists the economic, political and moral assessment of this
dilemma and prepares the ground for their solution. In every sense we take Earth's
fractionates and fractionate them further still before consigning them to new geological
fates in the atmosphere, hydrosphere or lithosphere. Humans drive the ultimate stage in
the rock cycle!
Quaternary
A thin veneer of glacial, fluvial and aeolian sediments and frost
weathered debris. Widely distributed, especially in lowlands and shallow marine basins.
Sand and gravel aggregates - construction, glass industries.
Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary
Limestones, clays, chalk, sandstone and
ironstones in south-eastern lowland Britain; offshore oil and natural gas. Building stone;
cement, brick and iron and steel and - formerly - chemical industries. Power and
petrochemical industries. Ground water.
Permo
-
Triassic
Magnesian limestone, marl, sandstones and evaporites in English
midland basins. Some building stone and aggregates. Salt and related chemical industries,
including phosphates. Ground water.
Carboniferous
Limestone, grits and sandstones and coal measures in Variscan orogen
upland and fringes; some hydrothermal mineralization (lead, zinc). Crushed limestone
aggregates and cement; building stones. Coal. Former metalliferous mining and smelting
industry.
Devonian
Sandstone, slate in English borderlands, southern Ireland and Scottish
lowlands. Some building and roofing stone. Ground water.
Later Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic
Volcanic, intrusive and metamorphic
rocks of former subduction zones and Caledonian orogens forming highland and upland
Britain; slates, grits and sandstones; schists and gneiss. Hydrothermal mineralization -
gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, tin; semi-precious stones. Hard crushed rock aggregates;
building and roofing stone. Former extensive metalliferous and smelting industries.
Other igneous rocks (mainly Devonian and Tertiary age)
Granites and basalts in
Cornwall (Devonian) and Tertiary volcanic province of Northern Ireland and western
Scotland. Hard crushed rock aggregates; kaolin (china clay) from weathered granite.
