Earlswood Road Cutting and Ferryboat Inn Quarries

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.6326, -3.8369

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Also within

West Glamorgan County

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Carboniferous

Description

Description This site consists of roadside cuttings and quarry exposures located on a hillside west of the River Neath near to its mouth, between Port Talbot and Neath. This site is of special scientific interest for its exposures of late Carboniferous rocks which afford the best available sections through the Carboniferous Rhondda Beds, in a deltaic facies. They show exceptionally well developed sedimentary structures, in particular large-scale channels, and also the upward -fining cyclicity of the sedimentation, which is characteristic of such deltaic sediments. This section is of outstanding interest for understanding the pattern of sedimentation in South Wales during the late Westphalian, particularly how the environment changed following the uplift of the landmass to the south of the coalfield during mid - Westphalian C times. A nationally important site for interpreting Westphalian geological history.

Plant communities

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea