Rifle Butts Quarry
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE898426 | — | Favourable | 0.3 | 2020-12-09 |
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Cretaceous, Jurassic · Rock Type: Chalk
Description
Area, 0.3 hectares 0.7 ac Description A renowned geological site, Rifle Butts Quarry shows a section of Red Chalk and White Chalk overlying Lias. Sedimentation here during the Jurassic and Cretaceous was affected by a 'positive' feature, the Market Weighton Axis, an axis of uplift separating two basins to the north and south and causing marked attenuation in the vicinity of Market Weighton. The quarry provides the only available exposure of this attenuated Lower Cretaceous sequence which developed locally due to movement along the axis. The section is therefore of fundamental significance for palaeo geographic reconstructions of the Cretaceous of North East England.