Volcanic ash clouds over Warwickshire
Nuneaton has a rich heritage in the fields of literature, industry and manufacturing as well as showbusiness and sport.
Added to that list is its contribution to what we know about life on Earth 600 million years ago, evidence of which was unearthed in quarries to the north of Nuneaton.
Clear blue skies, no aeroplanes and bird song…… This sums up the Icelandic ash cloud experience for the majority of Warwickshire residents. However, Warwickshire has experienced volcanic ash clouds in the distant past that would have dwarfed the recent eruptions.
The ash would have rained down into the ancient Precambrian sea, producing choking dust clouds and plumes of steam. Eventually the dust settled as layers on the sea bed. Hundreds of millions of years later, it is now preserved as tough volcanic rock.
The evidence comes from quarries to the north of Nuneaton. Some of the rocks in these quarries, known to geologists as ‘crystal tuff’, are solid layers of volcanic ash that spewed out of local volcanoes into a shallow sea, roughly 600 million years ago. Today, these volcanic deposits are the oldest rocks found in our county.
Warwickshire Museum is extremely fortunate to have within the geology collection some specimens of crystal tuff from Boon’s Quarry, near Nuneaton.
A chunk of this fascinating rock is currently on display at the recently refurbished Market Hall Museum, Warwick until early June and will temporarily form part of the newly created ground floor geology display which also includes Jurassic sea creatures and other intriguing specimens.
Warwickshire Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday and Bank Holidays from 10am to 5pm. Sundays April to September from 11.30am to 5pm. Admission is free.
For further information please contact: Dr Jon Radley, Keeper of Geology, Warwickshire Museum tel: 01926 418182