Lickey Quartzite

Lickey Quartzite

Age: 488-478 million years (Ordovician, Tremadoc)

Overview

Ordovician rocks are restricted to one area in the north of Worcestershire – an inlier centred on the Lickey Hills. The nature of the rocks suggests a shallow marine sea existed at the time, during which volcanic activity was occurring close by.

Lithology

The Formation outcrops along most of the Lickey Hills Inlier and is restricted to a few large, disused quarries. It is made up of generally pale grey, massively bedded quartzite, separated by thin yellow-purple silty beds. At the bottom of the succession, the beds are flaggy, more immature and interbedded with thicker sandstones and shales. This variation may be due to the presence of tuff like material, possibly from the underlying Barnt Green Volcanics. At the top of the Formation, cracks are infilled with sand from an overlying rock (which is Silurian in age). This has enabled the Formation to be dated to the Ordovician.

Sites

Barnt Green Road Quarry, Champions site, Worcestershire

Warren Lane Quarry, Champions site, Worcestershire

Leach Green Quarry, Worcestershire