Blaenrhondda Road Cutting

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.6941, -3.5480

Also within

Mid Glamorgan County

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Carboniferous

Description

Description This is the best available section of the flood-plain facies of the Carboniferous Rhondda Beds. It shows, fining upwards, cycles of sandstones and shales, and includes a thin coal, probably the Daren Rhesfyn Seam. Some of the sedimentary channels are of particular interest in that they are side-filled. The variety of flood-plain and backswamp conditions represented in this section are significantly different from the Rhondda Beds as seen in South Wales, where deltaic sandstones usually predominate; this makes the site of great importance for understanding the late Westphalian history of the South Wales Coalfield.