Cornwall is renowned for the diversity and complexity of its geology. This geology, and its relation to the mineral wealth of the county, has been the subject of continuing investigation since the end of the seventeenth century. The Geology of Cornwall analyses this literature of great historical interest alongside a wide-ranging review of the current position and assessments of the environmental consequences of rock and mineral exploitation. These contributions by twenty-one leading academic and commercial geologists are aimed at all readers with an amateur or professional interest in exploring the fascinating geology of Cornwall. Undergraduate fieldworkers will find the book particularly helpful.

An 1884 illustrated study exploring the geological formations of Cornwall, its mineral wealth and its key mining districts.

This title describes and explains the best geological sites in Cornwall, and gives a gallery of rock types that may be seen in the county.

This volume illustrates some of the significant aspects of magmatic activity from Devonian (408 million years ago) to early Permian (270 million years ago) times in SW England. This period covers the progressive development of the Variscan mountain-building episode, from initial basin formation to final deformation and the subsequent development of a fold mountain belt - the Variscan Orogen. Both extrusive (volcanic) and intrusive (plutonic) rocks are found in the orogen, and chart the various stages of its magmatic development. The sites described in this volume are key localities selected for conservation because they are representative of the magmatic history of the orogen from initiation to stabilization. Some of the earliest volcanic activity in the Devonian is represented by submarine basaltic and rhyolitic lavas developed in subsiding basins, caused by the attenuation of the existing continental crust. In some cases, extensive rifting and attendant magmatism produced narrow zones of true oceanic crust, whereas elsewhere basaltic volcanism is related to fractures in the continental crust at the margins of the basins. After the filling of the sedimentary basins, and their deformation caused by crustal shortening (late Carboniferous Period), further activity is manifested by the emplacement of the Cornubian granites and later minor basaltic volcanism in the early Permian. Accounts of the constituent parts of this history have enriched geological literature from the nineteenth century onwards, and have contributed to the advancement and understanding of magmatic and tectonic processes.

This text looks at different regions of Cornwall and examples of rock and minerals found there.