Fforest Fawr Geopark

The geological history of the Fforest Fawr Geopark spans a period of 480 million years. From Ordovician to Carboniferous times the area was located on a stable Midland Platform and sedimentation was influenced by changes in sea level in response to the latest Ordovician, early Silurian and Carboniferous ice ages. Tectonic events involving uplift in the late Silurian, Middle Devonian and late Carboniferous resulted in significant breaks in the geological record, known as unconformities, between the Late and Early Devonian Epochs and the Carboniferous and Quaternary Periods. The onset of late Silurian continental conditions was followed by the deposition of the Devonian Old Red Sandstone and the greening of the land by primitive land plants. During Carboniferous times, the area was covered by shallow tropical seas and equatorial forests associated with the formation of limestone and coal. Following a break in the geological record of approximately 305 million years, the landscape was sculpted by ice and rivers during the last 26,000 years.

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