What is limestone pavement in geography?
Limestone pavements Rainwater is a weak carbonic acid which reacts with the limestone dissolving the stone, enlarging joints and bedding planes. This leaves exposed blocks of limestone called clints and the resulting pattern of blocky rock is called a limestone pavement, eg Malham Cove.
What is limestone pavement formed by?
Limestone pavement is a more or less horizontal, bare limestone surface which is cut into slabs (the clints) separated by deep fissures (the grikes). The grikes are formed by chemical weathering or carbonation, resulting in the solution of limestone.
What is a limestone pavement order?
This is a spatial dataset that describes the geographic extent and location of areas that are listed under Limestone Pavement Orders. Limestone pavements are outcrops of limestone where the surface has been worn away by natural means over millennia. These rocks have the appearance of paving blocks, hence their name.
What is limestone pavement for kids?
From Academic Kids A limestone pavement is a landform consisting of a horizontal surface of exposed limestone showing the effects of weathering.
How is limestone formed geography?
Limestone is a stratified rock, laid down far from the shore on the bed of a warm, clear sea out of reach of land sediments. It was formed from skeletal remains (teeth, bones, shells) of marine creatures such as fish, sea urchins and corals. These accumulated over millions of years and were compacted and cemented.
What are the characteristics of a limestone pavement?
Limestone pavement comprises exposed, flat expanses of Carboniferous, Dalradian and Durness limestone. The flat slabs of rock are scored with deep, undulating fissures (known as ‘grykes’). These can be up to 6m deep, although most are 1-2 m.
What are the features of limestone?
Limestone is usually gray, but it may also be white, yellow or brown. It is a soft rock and is easily scratched. It will effervesce readily in any common acid.
What is a swallow hole geography?
A swallow hole is a funnel shaped point on the river bed down through which a stream or river flows underground. Distinctive landforms form including the swallow hole. FORMATION. Swallow holes form on the limestone bedrock of a river. The constant flow of water makes the limestone vulnerable to weathering.
What are uses of limestone?
Limestone has numerous uses: as a building material, an essential component of concrete (Portland cement), as aggregate for the base of roads, as white pigment or filler in products such as toothpaste or paints, as a chemical feedstock for the production of lime, as a soil conditioner, and as a popular decorative …
Why is it called limestone?
limestone (n.) late 14c., from lime (n. 1) + stone (n.). So called because it yields lime when burnt.
What are the main uses of limestone?
Limestone is a source of lime (calcium oxide), which is used in steel manufacturing, mining, paper production, water treatment and purification, and plastic production. Lime also has major applications in the manufacture of glass and in agriculture.
What does limestone pavement mean in the UK?
Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Limestone pavement. A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling block of paving.
What kind of vegetation is on limestone pavement?
Most limestone pavement is grazed, and the rock surface supports little if any vegetation. However, ferns and other plants typical of rocky habitats or woodlands flourish in the damp grykes out of the reach of grazing animals. A thin, well-drained turf of limestone grassland can develop around limestone pavement or in very shallow grykes.
What kind of rock is used for pavement?
Limestone pavement comprises exposed, flat expanses of Carboniferous, Dalradian and Durness limestone. The flat slabs of rock are scored with deep, undulating fissures (known as ‘grykes’). These can be up to 6m deep, although most are 1-2 m.
What are the pock marks on limestone pavement?
Shallow erosion pans and pock marks are also found on the intervening blocks (‘clints’). Most limestone pavement is grazed, and the rock surface supports little if any vegetation.