The rocks of Cornwall have an amazing story to tell. They have been on a journey of 8,000 miles in just 400 million years. This journey has included tropical seas, deserts, volcanic eruptions and hot granites, mineral vapours rich in tin and copper and ever-changing climate and sea levels. (Cornish Geology)

Cornish geology typically consists of black, folded slates and pale grey, blocky granites that form the backbone of Cornwall stretching from Dartmoor in Devon westwards to the Isles of Scilly. With their associated minerals they have underpinned the Cornish economy for hundreds of years.

But there are exceptions:

• Polzeath Beach (north coast on the Camel estuary): Stripy slate formations in purple and pale greens.
• Kynance Cove (Lizard peninsula) : The most extensive rock type is the serpentine which, spanning 20 square miles, is the largest outcrop of such rock in mainland Britain. It is found nowhere else in England.

Come and join me on a tour around some of Cornwall’s most interesting rocky places.

View Original Post | May 2015