View Map Print

Survey Details for CRDFFGL033 - 2026-06-08

CRDFFGL033

Geological Landscape

Flatholm

Cardiff

2007-10-08

  • Level 1: Coastal
  • Level 2: Erosional coastline
  • Level 3: Rock cliff and shore

Monitoring

Q1 - Date of monitoring?

  • No Answer

Q1a - Monitoring undertaken by

  • No Answer

Q1b - Has this record been updated following monitoring work?

  • No Answer

Q1c - Change indicated by

  • No Answer

Q1d - What has changed?

  • No Answer

Q1e - Has the information ever been verified in the field?

  • No

Q2 - Does this area have a special or functional link with an adjacent area?

  • No

Description

Q3 - If Classification is "Other", specify here

  • Empty value

Q4 - What is the geographical and topographical character of this area?

  • Island of Flatholm in the Bristol Channel, with steep cliffs and foreshores in ENE-WSW striking, folded and faulted Carboniferous Limestone. Peneplained surface to island.

Q4a - Where bedrock dominated, what is the dominant bedrock type?

  • Sedimentary

Q4b - Where bedrock dominated, what is the age that characterises the aspect area?

  • Carboniferous

Q4c - Where bedrock dominated, what is the major rock lithogy (-ies)?

  • Limestone

Q4d - Where drift dominated, what is the dominant drift deposit?

  • No Answer

Q4e - Where drift dominated, what is the major sediment that characterises the area?

  • No Answer

Q5 - What is the characteristic Level 3 component of the area?

  • Rock cliff and shore

Q6 - Which of the following is a significant contributor to the geological character of the area?

  • Stratigraphic formation(s)
    • Dinantian Carboniferous Limestone Supergroup
  • Superficial deposits
    • ?glacially derived drift
  • Structural features
    • ENE-WSW plunging anticline, faults
  • Active processes
    • coastal, karstic

Q7 - What additional subsidiary Level 3 components are notable?

  • No Answer

Q8 - What Level 4 components are notable in this area?

  • Cliff
  • Wave-cut platform
  • Island
  • Raised beach / platform

Q9 - What active geological and geomorphological processes are significant in this area?

  • Coastal
  • Karstic
  • Empty value

Q10 - Are there components of significant hydrological importance?

  • No

Q11 - Are there any pedological processes that are significant in the area or have had a landscape forming effect?

  • No

Q12 - Is there current mineral extraction?

  • No

Q13 - Has there been mineral extraction in the past?

  • No

Q14 - Are there SSSI/GCR sites here?

  • Yes
    • Flatholm SSSI and GCR

Q15 - Are there geological SINC, 2nd tier, or RIGS sites in the area?

  • No

Condition

Q16 - Value

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q17 - Condition

  • Good
    • Island, SSSI

Q18 - Trend

  • Constant
    • Island, SSSI

Recommendations

Q19 - Existing management

  • Generally Appropriate

Q20 - Existing management remarks:

  • SSSI

Q21 - Principal management recommendations

  • Conserve exposures and geomorphology

Q22 - Guideline

  • Long Term
    • Conserve exposures and geomorphology
  • Medium Term
    • Assess and establish RIGS sites

Tolerance To Change

Q23 - Are there any significant threats to the current integrity and condition of the Earth Heritage features of the area?

  • Not known

Aspect Area Boundary

Q24 - To what level was this information site-surveyed?

  • Level 3

Q25 - At 1:10,000, how much of the Aspect Area boundary is precise?

  • None
    • Resources: 1:25 000 and 1:10 000 OS Raster Map Sheets; 1:50 000 BGS Geological Map Sheets; Digital Terrain Model compiled from OS panorama digital terrain data (50m resolution); 1:10 000 aerial photographs; 1:100 000 Groundwater vulnerability map sheet

Q26 - What baseline information source was used for Aspect Area boundary mapping?

  • OS Raster

Q27 - If OS Data was used, what was the scale?

  • 1:10,000 and 1:25,000

Q28 - What is the justification for the Aspect Area boundaries?

  • Island

Evaluation

Q29 - Evaluation Criteria: Research Value

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q29a - Evaluation Criteria: Educational Value

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q30 - Evaluation Criteria: Historical Value

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q31 - Evaluation Criteria: Rarity / Uniqueness

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q32 - Evaluation Criteria: Classic Example

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q33 - Evaluation Criteria: Overall Evaluation

  • Outstanding
    • Continuous cliff and foreshore exposures in Dinantian; Flatholm SSSI and GCR. Raised Cenozoic peneplain.

Q34 - Justification of overall evaluation

  • Empty value

Bibliography

Q35 - Sources and additional assessments

  • BGS 1:50 000 Geological map sheet E263 Cardiff (S&D), 1988; OS 1:25 000 Explorer map sheet 151, Cardiff and Bridgend; Digital Terrain Model compiled from OS panorama digital terrain data (50m resolution); 1:100 000 Groundwater Vulnerability Map, Environment Agency. Sheet 36, Gwent, South and Mid Glamorgan, 1996; 1:625 000 Geological Map of the UK: Quaternary Geology, S sheet, 1977; Waters, R. A. and Lawrence, D. J. D., 1987. Geology of the South Wales Coalfield, Part III, the country around Cardiff. BGS Memoir for 1:50 000 geological sheet 263 (England and Wales), 3rd edition, HMSO London, 114pp.; Cossey, P.J., Adams, A.E., Purnell, M.A., Whiteley, M.J., Whyte, M.A. & Wright, V.P., 2004. British Lower Carboniferous Stratigraphy, Geological Conservation Review Series, 29, JNCC, 617pp.; Whittaker, A. and Green, G. W., 1983. Geology of the country around Weston super Mare. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 279 with parts of 263 and 295.

Assessment

Q36 - Additional Assessments

  • Empty value

Q37 - Additional Comments

  • Empty value