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The English Riviera Geopark (ERG) in Torbay
Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth....
 is one of eight Geopark
Geopark

A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...
s in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, and one of fifty-three worldwide. It is the only urban
Urban area

An urban area is an area with an increased Population density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be city, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlet ....
 Geopark, and was declared a Geopark on 16 September 2007. The Geopark covers 6,200 hectare
Hectare

A hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for surveying.The hectare is used in most countries around the world, especially in domains concerned with land ownership, land planning, and land management, including law , agriculture, forestry, and town planning....
s of land and 4,100 hectares of sea bed.

Geopark status was granted to Torbay on the grounds that the area has a varied geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 covering several geological periods, which are exposed to the surface in many areas, and also that Torbay Council and other bodies have worked to promote the area's distinctive geology to the community via education.

places in Torbay are part of the Geopark.






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The English Riviera Geopark (ERG) in Torbay
Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth....
 is one of eight Geopark
Geopark

A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...
s in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, and one of fifty-three worldwide. It is the only urban
Urban area

An urban area is an area with an increased Population density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be city, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlet ....
 Geopark, and was declared a Geopark on 16 September 2007. The Geopark covers 6,200 hectare
Hectare

A hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for surveying.The hectare is used in most countries around the world, especially in domains concerned with land ownership, land planning, and land management, including law , agriculture, forestry, and town planning....
s of land and 4,100 hectares of sea bed.

Geopark status was granted to Torbay on the grounds that the area has a varied geology
Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
 covering several geological periods, which are exposed to the surface in many areas, and also that Torbay Council and other bodies have worked to promote the area's distinctive geology to the community via education.

Selected sites

Berryhead750px
Many places in Torbay are part of the Geopark. Babbacombe
Babbacombe

"Babbacombe" may also refer to John 'Babbacombe' LeeBabbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for its Miniature park and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway....
 cliffs has upside down layering of slate
Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliation , homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcano ash through low grade regional metamorphism....
s and limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 formed during the Variscan orogeny
Variscan orogeny

The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Laurasia and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangea....
. Permian
Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian system" after the ancient kingdom...
 red breccia
Breccia

Breccia is a rock composed of angular fragments of several minerals or rocks in a Matrix , that is a Cementation material, that may be similar or different in composition to the fragments....
 is also visible there. Berry Head
Berry Head

Berry Head is a coastal headland at the southern end of Torbay, to the southeast of Brixham, Devon, England....
 to Sharkham Point
Sharkham Point

Sharkham Point is a headland located close to the Devon fishing town of Brixham. It overlooks St. Mary's Bay, Devon and is a short walk away from Berry Head Country Park....
 has exposed marine cave systems. Black Head to Anstey's Cove has Torbay's largest outcrop of igneous rock
Igneous rock

Igneous rock is one of the three main Rock types . Igneous rock is formed by magma being cooled and becoming solid . They may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as Intrusion rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks....
. Crystal Cove has a 25 metre wide zone of calcite
Calcite

Calcite is a Carbonate minerals and the most stable Polymorphism of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite....
. Kents Cavern and Brixham Cavern contained fossils of the Woolly Rhinoceros
Woolly Rhinoceros

The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros native to the northern steppes of Eurasia that lived during the Pleistocene epoch and survived the last glacial period....
 and Cave Lion
Cave lion

The cave lion also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and multiple examples of prehistoric art....
. Dyers Quarry is rich in coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 fossilised in its growing position, as well as Late Eifelian limestone. Hollicombe Head to Corbyn Head have features of alluvial fan
Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is a fan -shaped deposition formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain....
 conglomerate
Conglomerate (geology)

A conglomerate is a Rock consisting of individual stones that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts....
 deposits and seasonal river sandstone
Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock Particle size . Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust ....
s, both Permian
Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian system" after the ancient kingdom...
 in origin. Hopes Nose features gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 and palladium
Palladium

Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it palladium after the 2 Pallas, which in turn, was named after the epithet of the Greek mythology goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Athena#Pallas_Athena....
 mineral deposits left by hydrothermal fluids, and the area is also important for the study of Quaternary
Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the Geologic Time Scale period after the Neogene Period, spanning 1.805 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes two geologic epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene epoch ....
 stratigraphy
Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock and layered volcanic rocks....
 and sea level change. Long Quarry features evidence of the development, formation and growth of a stromatoporoid reef
Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a Rock , bar , or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water .Many reefs result from abiotic processes?deposition of sand, wave erosion planning down rock outcrops, and other natural processes?but the best-known reefs are the coral reefs of tropical waters developed through biotic processes do...
. Lummaton Quarry's shell deposits led to the naming of the Devonian
Devonian

The Devonian is a geologic period of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
 period. Saltern Cove
Saltern Cove

Saltern Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is in Paignton, Devon on the South coast of England....
 is a regionally important unconformity
Unconformity

An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two Rock masses or Stratum of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous....
 and Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon them, including National Nature Res...
.

See also

  • International Network of Geoparks
    International Network of Geoparks

    The Global Network of National Geoparks is a UNESCO Geoparks programme established in 1998. According to UNESCO, for a Geopark to qualify in the GGN it needs to have:...
  • List of Geoparks
    List of Geoparks

    This list includes areas that include the term 'Geopark' in their names but are not members of either the European Geoparks Network or the UNESCO Global Network of Geoparks....


External links