Pinskey Gill
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NY697039 | — | Favourable | 0.5 | 2009-03-10 |
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Carboniferous, Silurian · Rock Type: Carboniferous Limestone, Conglomerate, Granite, Limestone
Landscape processes: Fluvial, Volcanic / Igneous
Description
Description Pinksey Gill lies some two kilometres west of the village of Ravenstonedale and directly east of the small settlement of Weasdale. Lying wholly within Ravenstonedale Common this locality shows the oldest Carboniferous Limestone Dinantian strata exposed in the Stainmore Trough. This is the type locality for the Pinksey Gill Beds which unconformably overlie Silurian slates and are in turn overlain by the Shap Feldspar conglomerate, a fluvial derivative from the unroofing of the Shap Granite mass in Dinantian times. Micropalaeontological research on the Pinksey Gill Beds indicates a Tournaisian Chadian age for these rocks, which were deposited in a restricted hypersaline marine environment. The vertical and lateral variation of the environment is reflected in the range of clastic and carbonate rock types and of fossils bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods and stromatolites which are present. This is an importantsite in making palaeogeographical and environmental reconstructions of northern England in early Carboniferous times.