earth science

Scafells

Scafells is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Scafells rather than just read about it. In short: The Scafells, or Scafell Massif, are a range of fells in the Cumbrian Mountains of England, made up of the remains of a caldera volcano. Fells in the range include Broad Crag, Ill Crag, Scafell, and Scafell Pike, England's tallest mountain.

Key takeaways

Scafells belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Scafells to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Scafells from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Scafells, or Scafell Massif, are a range of fells in the Cumbrian Mountains of England, made up of the remains of a caldera volcano. Fells in the range include Broad Crag, Ill Crag, Scafell, and Scafell Pike, England's tallest mountain. Great End, Lingmell and Slight Side are also usually included within the definition. These hills form part of the Southern Fells.

Geology Geologically, parts of the Scafell massif are the remnants of a volcano that erupted in the Ordovician period over 400 million years ago. This volcano, geologically described as a caldera and an "inverse stratovolcano", as well as all other volcanoes of the Lake District, are long since extinct. The volcano is an example of a piecemeal caldera whose collapse, in contrast with a wholesale piston-like subsidence, occurred in a piece-by-piece fashion along faults and whose measurements suggest formation from an eruption of a VEI-7 magnitude, comparable to the Minoan eruption at Santorini in the Greek Aegean in c. 1600 BCE. The Scafell dacite, between Little Narrowcove and Aaron Crags, is a lava dome formed during the last stages of volcanic activity at Scafell massif.

English Munros

An English Munro (or Furth) is a mountain summit that exceeds 3,000 feet (914.4 m) and has a prominence of more than 30 metres (98 feet). In England there are six peaks that meet those criteria and four of those are part of the Scafell Massif.

(‡) Have the prominence of over 150 metres (492 ft) to qualify as a "Real Munro".

Protected area The Scafells are situated within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designated in 1988 called Scafell Pikes. This protected area includes Seathwaite Fell, Great Slack, Great End, Long Pike, III Crag, Symonds Knott, Slight Side and Scafell Pike and the area of this SSSI is 1102 hectares. This area is protected because of the lichens found in the summit boulder field.

Details of Scafell Pikes SSSI The summit boulder field is the highest in England and is covered in shattered rock debris. Lichens on these rocks include species from Rhizocarpon, Umbilicaria, Sphaerophorus, Lecidea and Cladonia (species of interest include Rhizocarpon geographicum, Umbilicaria cylindrica and Sphaerophorus fragilis). The moss species Rhacomitrium lanuginosum and the beetle Nebria nivalis have also been recorded here. The crags of Great End have alpine herbs such as roseroot, alpine cinquefoil, alpine saw-wort and bearberry, as well as juniper. To the north of Scafell Pike herbs on rock ledges include mountain sorrel, alpine lady's mantle, alpine meadow-rue, starry saxifrage, purple saxifrage, mossy saxifrage and mountain saxifrage. The ferns lemon-scented fern (Oreopteris), beech fern, oak fern, scaly male-fern and broad buckler fern have also been recorded here. North of Great End is Sprinkling Tarn and Styhead Tarn that have aquatic plants including intermediate water-starwort, quillwort, shoreweed, floating bur-reed and awlwort. Water lobellia is found in Styhead Tarn. The wet habitats of Seathwaite Fell support populations of a butterfly called the small mountain ringlet.

Land ownership in Scafell Pikes SSSI All of the land within Scafell Pikes SSSI is owned by the National Trust.

Accident black spots

The traverse between England's two highest summits via Mickledore col requires considerable care and caution. The route via Broad Stand is best avoided because it is dangerous. There is a safer but longer route available via Foxes Tarn.

Gallery

References

Notes

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Scafells

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Scafells claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Scafells before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Scafells ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Scafells

In research: Scafells appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Scafells in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Scafells is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Calderas of England, Fells of the Lake District, Lake District High Fells SAC, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Scafells outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Scafells in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Scafells means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Scafells out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Scafells in simple terms?

Why does Scafells matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Scafells?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Scafells.