Gordale Scar is one of the bestknown sights in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (see Figure 1). It is a great cleft in the limestone rock through which a small beck (stream) tumbles, creating a waterfall. Most geographers agree that this cleft, which you can see in the centre of the main photograph, was formed at the end of the last ice age. At this time there was much more water in rivers, streams and lakes than there is today, as a result of the melting of the ice.
Limestone is an interesting rock, being made up of the remains of thousands of sea creatures. Close examination of a piece of limestone often reveals these fossilised remains. The rock is calcium carbonate, which means that it will dissolve in rainwater, a weak acid. One characteristic of limestone is that it is full of cracks, which allows water to penetrate the rock. As it does so the water dissolves the rock and widens the cracks.
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