Bawsey SSSI facts for kids
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 |
|
| Area of Search | Norfolk |
|---|---|
| Interest | Geological |
| Area | 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) |
| Notification | 1992 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Bawsey is a special natural area in Norfolk, England. It's officially known as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its unique geology. This site covers about 2.6 hectares (that's roughly the size of five football fields!). It's located east of a town called King's Lynn.
Bawsey is also recognized as a Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site. This means it's considered very important for understanding Earth's history, especially its geology.
Contents
What Makes Bawsey Special?
Bawsey is important because it helps scientists learn about the Quaternary period. This is the most recent period in Earth's history, which started about 2.6 million years ago and continues today.
Understanding Glacial Till
At Bawsey, you can find something called till. Till is a type of sediment (like dirt, sand, and rocks) that was left behind by ancient glaciers. Glaciers are huge sheets of ice that moved across the land a very long time ago.
- Unsorted sediments: The till at Bawsey is "unsorted." This means the rocks and other materials in it are all mixed up, not neatly separated by size. This is typical of what glaciers leave behind.
- Deep layers: The till at Bawsey can be up to five metres deep! That's like stacking two tall basketball players on top of each other.
- Unique till: This till is special because it's separated from the main till sheet found in other parts of East Anglia. It's also the "type site" for something called the Bawsey Calcareous Till. A "type site" means it's the best example of this specific kind of till.
Can You Visit Bawsey?
Bawsey is on private land. This means it's not open to the public, so people cannot visit it directly.
Images for kids
-
An image of Bawsey SSSI.
