Saunton Pink Erratic EarthCache
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The Saunton Pink Erratic is a pink coloured granite boulder that has been carried here in a glacier
An erratic is a boulder or piece of rock that has been carried from it's original site in a glacier and deposited somewhere else. A particularly good example of this is the "Saunton Pink Erratic" which lies on the beach, at the base of the cliff, a short distance from Saunton Sands in Devon. This photo gives an idea of it's size and shows a good example of the sandstone, mentioned later. The boulder was carried here from another part of the UK during the last Ice Age and left here when the ice melted. It is known to have come from there as there are no deposits of this type of rock anywhere else in the UK.
There is also an "unconformity" here where heavily folded and faulted Devonian age Picton Shales are overlaid by Quaternary Sandstones. An unconformity is where two adjacent rocks were not formed one after the other in earth's development. The Devonian Age – named after Devon where the rocks are common lasted from about 416 to 359 million years ago but the Quaternary age started only about 2.6 Million years ago
The erratic is about 0.5 miles from the car park at Saunton Sands. - N51 07.021 W004 13.202. There is a daily charge for this car park but if you don't mind walking there's a free car park a couple of miles away near the "Braunton Burrows" at N51 05.645 W004 11.751
You'll need to be sure footed and wear stout shoes or walking boots in order to get to the boulder. This photo shows how folding and faulting of the Picton Shales into near vertical ridges make it a difficult area to traverse.
Care must also be taken regarding the tide as access isn't possible at high tide.
In order to claim this earthcache you'll need to submit the following…..
A photo of you and/or your GPS device, at the boulder, uploaded to the visit log if you wish to. Answers to the questions detailed below - these are a must.You don't need to wait for a reply and may not even get one if we are too busy but we will contact visitors without answers being sent and the logs will be deleted if they are not complied with.
Email us with the answer the following questions…..
1 - Where is thought to be the origin of the boulder? You'll need to go onto the web to find the answer.
2 - How far is it across the widest point on the upper surface of the rock.
Please note that permission to visit has been given by the owners of the land on the understanding that visits are undertaken at the visitor's risk and that this permission does not convey any rights of access.
First to Find honours go to the St Erth Cachers
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qba'g sbetrg gb gnxr n gncr zrnfher