Editing Scafell Pike (section)

== Geology ==
=== Ordovician and volcanic activity ===
Scafell Pike consists of [[igneous]] rock, including [[breccia]], [[andesite]] and [[rhyolite]], as well as geothermal [[tufa]],<ref name="as">{{cite web |title=About Scafell |url=https://www.climb-scafell.co.uk/about-scafell.html |website=ClimbScafell |access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref> dating from the [[Ordovician]]; it is [[geology|geologically]] part of the [[Borrowdale Volcanics]] and along with the other peaks of the [[Scafells]], forms part of an extinct volcano which was active around 400–450 million years ago.<ref name="geoengwal">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-6gqvAbdS-MC&pg=PA118 Geology of England and Wales, pp118ff]</ref>

=== Pleistocene glacial activity ===
The rugged summit of Scafell Pike was shaped by glacial erosion of the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] (c.&nbsp;20&nbsp;kya), during which the Lake District was overlain by ice sheets with thicknesses of several kilometers.<ref name="Sccon">{{cite book |last1=Scoon |first1=Roger N. |title=Geotraveller – Geology of Famous Geosites and Areas of Historical Interest |date=8 April 2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3030546939 }}</ref>

=== Contemporary weathering ===
The summit [[plateau]] of Scafell Pike, and that of other neighbouring peaks, is covered with shattered rock debris which provides the highest-altitude example of a summit boulder field in England.<ref name="SSSI"/> The boulder field is thought to have been caused in part by weathering, such as [[Frost wedging|frost action]]. Additional factors are also considered to be important; however, opinion varies as to what these may be. [[James Clifton Ward]] suggested that weathering with earthquakes as a secondary agent could be responsible, while [[John Edward Marr]] and [[Reginald Aldworth Daly]] believed that earthquakes were unnecessary and suggested that frost action with other unspecified agents was more likely.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hay |first=T. |year=1942 |title=Physiographical Notes from Lakeland |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=100 |issue=4 |pages=165–173 |doi=10.2307/1788974 |jstor=1788974}}</ref> To the north of the summit are a number of high altitude [[stream|gills]] which flow into Lingmell Beck. These are good examples in Cumbria for this type of gill and are also biologically important due to their [[species richness]].<ref name="SSSI">{{cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001922.pdf |title=Scafell Pikes SSSI citation sheet  |access-date=2006-11-10 |work=English Nature}}</ref>