Geological Trail
across Shropshire
The geology of Shropshire is
remarkably diverse, the result of processes fundamentally caused by
plate tectonic activity over a long period of time. Several periods
of plates moving together, moving apart, and sliding side-by-side
can be detected, from the late Precambrian onwards. Shropshire has
thus often been at a boundary, at the edge, and this explains the
diversity of rocks and thus landscapes.
You can discover some if this evidence
by visiting the localities linked to this page (each marked with *),
and can set them in context by reference to the geological map as
you traverse from North to South across Shropshire. Yes, it is
colourful, but remember that each colour represents a period of time
that had its own distinctive character, as portrayed in the
stratigraphic column
(© London Geodiversity Partnership
2011). You can find out more by
going to the Geological Time
pages.
The sites are numbered in approximate
order of increasing age as far as the Long Mynd, and then in
decreasing age thereafter.

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