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Grid Reference SD 896642

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The limestone pavement on top of Malham Cove. A limestone pavement is an area of rock which has been scoured of any covering, probably by ice, and has then been attacked by rain water. Chemical action dissolves the rock along vertical and horizontal joints. Because the limestone is so pure, most of the rock dissolves, leaving little mud or sand to form soil. The cracks created are called 'grikes', and the limestone blocks between them are called 'clints'. In the background you can see that horizontal weathering also takes place, thus separating the clints from the bedrock.

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