3772 x 3691 px | 31,9 x 31,3 cm | 12,6 x 12,3 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
5 mai 2011
Informations supplémentaires:
Fyfield Down is a high plateau of chalk downland dissected by a system of dry valleys which contain one of the highest concentrations of sarsen stones in Britain. Trains (long lines) of the stones occur, lying in the position that they were transported to by processes of freezing and thawing of the ground during the Ice Age. Sarsen stones are the isolated remnant blocks of weathered Tertiary sandstone, probably from within the Reading Formation and indicate that these Tertiary sediments formerly extended well beyond their present outcrop. The sarsens have been used in the construction of the nearby monument of Avebury. The stones also represent one of the most substantial natural exposures of hard rock in lowland Britain and provide a substrate for the growth of a diverse relict lichen flora of considerable note. Some lichens are typical of highland Britain and are rare in the lowlands while others are characteristic of rocky sea coasts.
