WESTMORELAND GREEN SLATE (BANDED TUFF) - EVIDENCE OF LAKE DISTRICT VOLCANISM - Cumbria
« back450 million years old (Ordovician period)
Broughton Moor Slate Quarries, Coniston, Cumbria
The dramatic scenery at the heart of the Lake District is the result of cataclysmic volcanic eruptions in the late Ordovician period. Glacier-sculpted peaks such as Helvellyn may not look like volcanoes but they are entirely composed of lavas and other rocks that are the products of these eruptions and known as the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.
Lake District slate is a metamorphic rock that was formed by layers of volcanic ash being compressed and heated, aligning the crystals of various minerals resulting in a rock that can be split into sheets. It is technically known as a banded tuff.
The rock contains the green mineral chlorite, which gives the slate its distinctive green colour.
This is a vintage cut sample supplied by the quarry company, probably dating from the 1970s.
Size: approx. 15 x 9 x 1 centimetres
Weight: 333 grams
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