Geology of the Coalville district : a brief explanation of the geological map Sheet 155 Coalville

This Sheet Explanation provides a summary of the geology of the district covered by the geological 1:50 000 Series Sheet 155 Coalville, published as a Bedrock and Superficial Deposits edition in 2009. A more comprehensive account can be found in the Memoir, Geology of the country around Coalville (Worssam and Old, 1988). In the north-east of the district, ‘basement’ rocks of Neoproterozoic, Cambrian and Ordovician age crop out. A thick sequence of Cambrian strata also occurs in the south-west of the district. The topography of the basement rocks in Charnwood Forest is hilly with numerous rocky knolls, whereas the younger strata of Carboniferous, Triassic and Quaternary age are characterised by an undulating, locally dissected landscape. The district ranges in elevation from about 60 m along the western margin to 279 m at Bardon Hill in the north-east, the highest point in Leicestershire.