Solution hollows: Carsington Pastures
The landscape of the Carsington Pastures - Brassington area is marked by numerous subsidence features. These are created by differential solution of limestone and dolomite and the localised collapse of these rocks to form hollows as much as 50 metres wide and 50 metres deep. This dissolution process probably took place during the Pliocene epoch (around 5 million years ago) when this area had a warm, wet tropical climate. Because dolomite is more porous than the surrounding limestone, it has tended to dissolve more easily and collapse more readily. As such, there is a close relationship between the dolomitised rock and solution features.
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Preserved within the solution hollows, or 'pockets', are coloured sands and clays which date from the late Palaeogene.
They are the remnants of what was once a sheet of river-borne sediments at least 45 metres thick which covered much of the southern Peak District. They have been extensively worked in the past as a source of silica sand for use in the manufacture of refractory bricks for furnace linings.
The siliceous pocket deposits generate an unusual landscape of heathland vegetation surrounded by limestone pasture. The view southwards from the top of Harboro' Rocks shows this distinctive scenery and the adjacent factory which once used the sands. Although the factory still operates, it now imports all it's raw materials from outside the area.
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