| |
Devonian
417 - 354 million years ago
Due to plate tectonics, 390 million years ago, Torbay was nowhere near its current position but was located south of the equator.
Bathed in shallow tropical seas teeming with exotic marine life, massive coral reefs developed, but not quite like those of today. These were built of hard coral-like sponges known as stromatoporoids, with true corals growing in clumps in between.
Picture by Brin Edwards. Please click for a larger version.
Sheltered lagoons behind the reefs were often full of clam-like brachiopod shells and woodlice-like trilobites scurried by looking for a meal. Fish had yet to take over the seas, their place occupied by shelled relatives of modern squids, including some of the first coiled ammonoids.
|
The deposits of these tropical seas and the animals and plants that thrived in them accumulated to form the pale, hard limestones which dominate Torquay and Brixham today - they even dictate the very shape of Torbay itself as they form the headlands of both Hope’s Nose and Berry Head.
Photo Credit: D Larkin
Undersea Volcanic activity was also occurring for which there is evidence of Ash falls at both Dyers Quarry and Hopes Nose. Presumably the areas of corals covered at the time would have died.
Photo Credit: Still Images
|
|
