Carreg Dwfn (also referred to as Careg Dwfn and Carregydwfn and referred to also as Careg-y-dwfan [1] ) is a hill four miles southeast of Llandeilo and just to the south of the village of Trap in the county of Carmarthenshire, south Wales. It lies at the western extremity of the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at 283 metres (928 ft) is towards the eastern end of a rocky east-west-aligned ridge. [2]
The hill is formed from the coarse Twrch Sandstone (formerly known as the Basal Grit) laid down during the Namurian stage of the Carboniferous period. It is defined by faults to east and west. [3] There are a handful of disused gritstone quarries on the southern slope of the hill. Quarrying rights at these sites were stopped by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority in 2008. [4] To its north is the large Craigyrodyn Quarry which worked the Carboniferous Limestone outcrop which parallels the narrow band of Twrch Sandstone running west to east through the region. [5] Glacial striae on rock surfaces high on the hill record that during the ice age, glacial ice travelled obliquely across it towards the southwest though lower down, to the south, the ice is recorded as moving more or less from east to west. [6]
Carreg Dwfn is designated as open country under the provisions of the CRoW Act 2000. Public footpaths run around the western, northern and eastern sides.
The Black Mountain is a mountain range in South, Mid and West Wales, straddling the administrative boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys and forming the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Its highest point is Fan Brycheiniog at 802 metres or 2,631 ft. The Black Mountain also forms a part of the Fforest Fawr Geopark.
The geology of Wales is complex and varied; its study has been of considerable historical significance in the development of geology as a science. All geological periods from the Cryogenian to the Jurassic are represented at outcrop, whilst younger sedimentary rocks occur beneath the seas immediately off the Welsh coast. The effects of two mountain-building episodes have left their mark in the faulting and folding of much of the Palaeozoic rock sequence. Superficial deposits and landforms created during the present Quaternary period by water and ice are also plentiful and contribute to a remarkably diverse landscape of mountains, hills and coastal plains.
The Nant Gwys is a river flowing off the Black Mountain in Powys, Wales. Its tributaries Gwys Fawr and the Gwys Fach flow south from Banwen Gwyn and Bwlch y Ddeuwynt respectively and join forces to form the Nant Gwys proper which then flows for about 5 km / 3 mi to its confluence with the Afon Twrch at Cwm-twrch-Uchaf.
Fforest Fawr Geopark is a Geopark in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south Wales. It is the first designated Geopark in Wales having gained membership of both the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO-assisted Global Network of National Geoparks in October 2005. The Geopark aims to promote and support sustainable tourism and other opportunities to improve the economy of the area whilst safeguarding the natural environment. Its aims largely coincide with the statutory duties and purpose of the National Park within which it sits.
Cribarth is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Powys, Wales, in the traditional county of Brecknockshire. The summit lies on the broken ridge at an elevation of 428 m (1,404 ft) at OS grid reference SN 831143. To its west is a 426-metre-high (1,398 ft) rounded top at SN 829144 which lies just to the northwest of a mile-long ridge that forms the main bulk of the hill. The ridge attains a height of 423 m (1,388 ft) at its southwest end and this spot is marked by a trig point. Both of these latter high points are adorned by Bronze Age burial cairns.
The Cribarth Disturbance is a geological structure forming a lineament which stretches across south Wales from Swansea up the Swansea Valley then northeastwards to Brecon and beyond. It consists of both a series of faults and associated folds which were active during the mountain-building period known as the Variscan orogeny. This line of weakness probably featured in the earlier Caledonian Orogeny and perhaps reflects a more ancient line of weakness in the basement rocks. It is also known as the Tawe Valley Disturbance or the Swansea Valley Disturbance.
Garreg Las is a subsidiary summit of Fan Brycheiniog in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, southern Wales. Its summit sits towards the northern end of a broad north-south ridge, Esgair Hir, at 635 metres (2,083 ft) above sea level. The hill is sometimes referred to as Twyn Swnd.
Foel Fraith is a hill in the Black Mountain in the county of Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its plateau-like summit attains a height of 602 metres (1,975 ft) above sea level. To the north the subsidiary summit of Cefn y Cylchau reaches 556 feet (169 m), and to the southeast is the subsidiary summit of Carn Fadog or Cefn Carn Fadog, which reaches a height of 512 metres (1,680 ft).
Cefn Cil Sanws is a hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park within Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in south Wales. The summit at 460m above sea level is crowned by a trig point. The steep cliffs of Darren Fawr and Darren Fach defend its western side which drops down into Cwm Taf. A major limestone quarry is worked on the southeastern side of the hill. An unexpected feature at this altitude is Merthyr Tydfil Golf Course which extends high onto the eastern and southern slopes of the hill.
Penmoelallt or Onllwyn is a hill in the northern part of the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. To its east lies the deep valley of Cwm Taf and to its north a rather shallower valley in which the Nant Cadlan originates. To the west is the hill known as Mynydd-y-glog and to the south are slopes draining into the River Taff and the Afon Cynon. The hill culminates in a broken plateau with several knolls rising above the 420m contour. Its afforested nature makes it difficult to determine the precise location of its highest point but this probably lies somewhere around OS grid ref SO 003096. Older maps indicate a spot height of 1376 ft above sea level at SO 000090.
Carreg Cadno is a hill five miles northeast of Abercraf in the county of Powys, south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its summit at OS grid ref SN 874161 reaches a height of 538m / 1763 ft above sea level. The hill is within the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve which is owned and managed by the Countryside Council for Wales.
Gilwern Hill is a 441 m high hill in the Brecon Beacons National Park, south of the village of Gilwern in Monmouthshire, Wales. It lies west of the Blorenge. The hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The Marros Group is the name given to a suite of rocks of Namurian age laid down during the Carboniferous Period in South Wales. These rocks were formerly known as the Millstone Grit Series but are now distinguished from the similar but geographically separate rock sequences of the Pennines and Peak District of northern England and northeast Wales by this new name.
The geology of Monmouthshire in southeast Wales largely consists of a thick series of sedimentary rocks of different types originating in the Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Triassic and Jurassic periods.
The geology of Lancashire in northwest England consists in the main of Carboniferous age rocks but with Triassic sandstones and mudstones at or near the surface of the lowlands bordering the Irish Sea though these are largely obscured by Quaternary deposits.
This article describes the geology of the Brecon Beacons National Park in mid/south Wales. The area gained national park status in 1957 with the designated area of 1,344 km2 (519 sq mi) including mountain massifs to both the east and west of the Brecon Beacons proper. The geology of the national park consists of a thick succession of sedimentary rocks laid down from the late Ordovician through the Silurian and Devonian to the late Carboniferous period. The rock sequence most closely associated with the park is the Old Red Sandstone from which most of its mountains are formed. The older parts of the succession, in the northwest, were folded and faulted during the Caledonian orogeny. Further faulting and folding, particularly in the south of the park is associated with the Variscan orogeny.
Mynydd Garnclochdy is a gentle summit on the long moorland ridge which extends south from the Blorenge towards Pontypool and which defines the boundary between the modern county of Monmouthshire to the east and the county borough of Torfaen to the west though historically it was entirely within the traditional county of Monmouthshire. Its summit, at a height of 448 m (1407 ft), is marked by a small cairn. The summit and the eastern slopes of the hill fall within the Brecon Beacons National Park. A southern top of the hill, Mynydd Garn-wen achieves a height of 436m, and carries a trig point further south again at an elevation of 425m. To the north the broad moorland ridge runs via a poorly defined 425m top and a col at 404m elevation just south of a minor east–west road, into Mynydd y Garn-fawr, east of Blaenavon.
The geology of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales is central to the area's character and to its appeal to visitors. The peninsula is formed almost entirely from a faulted and folded sequence of Carboniferous rocks though both the earlier Old Red Sandstone and later New Red Sandstone are also present. Gower lay on the southern margin of the last ice sheet and has been a focus of interest for researchers and students in that respect too. Cave development and the use of some for early human occupation is a further significant aspect of the peninsula's scientific and cultural interest.
The bedrock geology of Carmarthenshire in west Wales consists largely of Palaeozoic age sedimentary rocks. Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age in Carmarthenshire include a dissected cover of glacial till, valley floor alluvium and some scattered peat deposits in both upland and lowland settings. There are extensive beach and tidal flat deposits along the Carmarthenshire coast. The exploitation of the county's mineral riches, particularly coal and limestone, was a key part of the local economy through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The geology of Pembrokeshire in Wales inevitably includes the geology of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which extends around the larger part of the county's coastline and where the majority of rock outcrops are to be seen. Pembrokeshire's bedrock geology is largely formed from a sequence of sedimentary and igneous rocks originating during the late Precambrian and the Palaeozoic era, namely the Ediacaran, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods, i.e. between 635 and 299 Ma. The older rocks in the north of the county display patterns of faulting and folding associated with the Caledonian Orogeny. On the other hand, the late Palaeozoic rocks to the south owe their fold patterns and deformation to the later Variscan Orogeny.