NEWCASTLETON WAR MEMORIAL
The war memorial sits in Douglas Square, and is formed of granite. It records the war dead of Liddlesdale, and is topped by a soldier from the KOSB, wearing his tam o'shanter. The names of the war dead are inscribed on the memorial. The local regiment for the area was the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB), and its battalions in WW1 served in France, Flanders, Gallipoli, and Palestine. The regimental tune for the regiment was the Blue Bonnet O'er the Border, as you rise out of Liddlesdale, there is nothing more stiring to hear the sound of the pipes as the views open out. Please remember that we are here to look at the war memorial, but first take time to look, read, and pay your respect.
So we are here to do an EarthCache, but there is nothing too complicated to worry about, unlike some south of the Border, I will not delete your log if you get the answers wrong, this is meant to be a learning experience, so I will just point you in the right direction 
. The granite is constructed from granite.
Granite is a common type of igneous rock. Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types , the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava, which then forms crystals which make up the rock. Granite is formed of crystals, of which some can be described as phenocrysts. Igneous rock forms by crystallisation either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. Intrusive rock forms within the crust from the crystallization of magma. As the magma pushes up from deep, it eventually slowly cools into a solid, and forms rock. An intrusive rock is any form of igneous rock that forms within the crust of the planet. Large areas of magma that solidify underground before they reach the surface are known as plutons .Granitic rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica and amphibole minerals, which form an interlocking matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter colour minerals.
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the continental crust. It is a defining constituent of granite and other felsic igneous rocks, and is very common in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale. While the majority of quartz crystallizes from molten magma, much quartz also chemically precipitates from hot hydrothermal veins as gangue, sometimes with ore minerals like gold, silver and copper. It is formed from silicone and oxygen, with the chemical formula SiO2. It can come in a variety of colours, but in the case of this type of granite it tends to be clear or milky coloured.
Feldspar is one of the most abundant group of minerals in the earth's crust, forming about 60% of terrestrial rocks. Most deposits offer sodium feldspar as well as potassium feldspar and mixed feldspars. It can be white, pale grey or pink.
Biotite Mica is a common rock forming mineral, and is present in most igneous rocks. Its is typically black to brown in colour. The darker colour increases due to increased iron content.
Amphibole forms prism or needlelike crystals, and can be green, black, colourless, white, yellow, blue, or brown.
We are here to look at phenocrysts :
A phenocryst is a crystal in igneous rock, that is larger than the surrounding crystals of the rock that it forms part of.
Phenocrysts can have different forms :
They can be euhedral, these crystals are well defined, sharp and easily recognisable edges.
They can be anhedral, which do not have well defined edges.
It is possible to be more specific when describing phenocrysts :
- Tabular - a term used to describe crystals with rectangular tablet shapes.
- Equant - a term used to describe crystals that have all of their boundaries of approximately equal length.
- Fibrous - a term used to describe crystals that occur as long fibers.
- Acicular - a term used to describe crystals that occur as long, slender crystals.
- Prismatic - a term used to describe crystals that show an abundance of prism faces.
This being an EarthCache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer the below questions . Please send them to me, and do not include them in your log. You can send them to me by using the message facility or email, both of which can be found by looking at my profile. Alternatively, they can also be given face to face should we meet.
- Please look at the side of the memorial which faces to the south east, please specify what constituents of granite are more prominent here, please describe their crystals, terms of size and colour, which is the largest and which is the smallest?
- There is a predominant type of phenocryst here , please identify these.
- Please close your eyes and run your hand over this aspect of the memorial, is it all the same, of is there a difference in texture, if so which bit are different?
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Just-us-Two know first at justustwo1013@gmail.com so they can keep track of the memorial numbers and names to avoid any duplication. OR (If your cache page is in html then please copy the text at the bottom of this page instead) If you could let us know the GC number when the cache is published that would be helpful. We will then add it to the bookmark list.