A day spent helping the National Trust install new steps on badly eroded sections of the steep path down to the “beach” at Ravenscar. There are no sands on the beach just a tumbled collection of rocks that are only dry at low tide but are a playground for the herd of seals that can be seen basking on the sandstone scar known as Peak Steel.
Peak is also a name well known to geologists. The Peak Fault is a major break in the layers of rock. The path descends roughly down the line of this fault. North to Robin Hood’s Bay the rocks are Lower Jurassic formed from sands and silts deposited 200 million years ago when the whole area was below sea level and dinosaurs roamed. South, to Scarborough, there are younger Middle Jurassic rocks at this level. Seismic forces caused the fault to occur about 70 million years ago.
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