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Wood Green Quarry & Railway Cutting facts for kids
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
| Area of Search | Gloucestershire |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°50′51″N 2°26′42″W / 51.847604°N 2.444896°W |
| Interest | Geological |
| Area | 0.3 hectare |
| Notification | 1966 |
Wood Green Quarry & Railway Cutting is a special place in Gloucestershire, England. It's a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its amazing rocks and how they show Earth's history. This site is about 0.3 hectares big, which is like half a football field. It was officially recognized as important in 1966.
Contents
What is Wood Green Quarry?
Wood Green Quarry & Railway Cutting is located in the beautiful Forest of Dean. It's not just an old quarry; it's a very important spot for scientists. They come here to study rocks and learn about what Earth was like millions of years ago.
A Window into Ancient Times
The rocks you can see at this site are from a time called the Silurian period. This period happened about 443 to 419 million years ago! Imagine dinosaurs weren't even around yet. During the Silurian period, life was mostly in the oceans. Fish were starting to develop jaws, and the first simple plants began to grow on land.
Layers of Time
At Wood Green, you can see different layers of rock. These layers are like pages in a history book. They show how the environment changed over millions of years. Scientists call these specific rock layers the Gorstian and Ludfordian stages. These names help them organize and understand Earth's long history.
One special part of the site shows something called the Upper Flaxley Beds and the Lower and Upper Blaisdon Beds. These are specific rock formations that scientists study closely. They are like a "type section," meaning they are the best example of these kinds of rocks.
You can also see rocks from the Downtonian period. These include the Clifford's Mesne Sandstone and the Longhope Beds. Seeing all these different layers together helps scientists piece together the puzzle of ancient Earth.
Why is This Site Special?
Wood Green Quarry is important because it clearly shows something called an "unconformity." This is where older rocks meet newer rocks, but there's a gap in time between them. It's like some pages are missing from the Earth's history book. At this site, you can see the Lower Blaisdon Beds sitting on top of the older Gorstian Upper Flaxley Beds.
This site is also a "key stratigraphic locality" for studying rocks near May Hill. This means it's one of the best places to learn about the Ludlow Series rocks, which are a specific group of rocks from the Silurian period. By studying these rocks, scientists can understand more about how our planet has changed over incredibly long periods of time.