Natural England - Geological Conservation

Introduction
Protected Sites
Beyond SSSIs
Strategy
People and Policies
References

Protected Sites
- Site Selection
- Site Management
- Examples

Site Management
Types of geological SSSI
Threats
Face Lift

Geological site types

The Earth Science Conservation Classification (ESCC) has been used since 1990 by all of the UK statutory conservation agencies to classify geological sites. The ESCC was revised in 2003 in the light of practical experience in using the original classification. The revised ESCC has sixteen site types organised into three major categories in contrast to the eleven site types and two major categories of the original classification. Table 1 (see below) compares the old and new classifications.

The three main categories are exposure or extensive, finite and integrity. The distinctions between the three main categories are important, reflecting very fundamental differences in conservation strategies. The classification allows generic threats and conservation strategies to be defined for the different site types.

Exposure or extensive sites contain geological features which are relatively extensive beneath the surface. The basic principle is that removal of material does not cause depletion or damage to the resource, as new material of the same type is being freshly exposed as material is removed. The main management aim is to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of exposure of the interest features. Site types include active quarries and mines, disused quarries, rail and road cuttings, coastal cliffs and foreshore, inland outcrops and extensive buried interest sites.

Finite sites contain geological features that are limited in extent so that removal of material may cause depletion of the resource. The features are often irreplaceable if destroyed. The basic management principle is to permit responsible scientific usage of the resource while conserving it in the long term. Hence, it is often necessary to implement controls over removal of material. Site types include many mineral and some fossil deposits, mine dumps, finite underground mines and finite buried interest sites.

Integrity sites are geomorphological and are characterised by the need for holistic management. Damage to one part of a site may adversely affect the site as a whole. In the case of active process sites, the fundamental principle is to maintain the active processes by non-interference as far as possible. Site types include active and static geomorphological sites, caves and karst.

The importance of distinguishing between these three groups is that their successful management usually requires a quite different approach. As a rule, exposure sites are more robust than integrity or finite sites and can often tolerate the effects of human activities to a greater degree.

The site categories are not mutually exclusive and there are numerous examples where part of a site is classified as exposure and another part is classified as finite or integrity. For example, a stratigraphic sequence in a cliff or quarry would have an exposure classification, as removal of rock would generally produce further exposure of the same material. However, mineral veins within the same sequence would often have a finite classification, as removal of vein material would not produce fresh exposure, but would result in loss of the interest.

Table 1

Original Classification		Revised Classification
Exposure Sites		Exposure or Extensive Sites
Active quarries and pits	EA	Active quarries and pits	EA
Disused quarries, pits and cuttings	ED	Disused quarries and pits	ED
Coastal and river cliffs	EC	Coastal cliffs and foreshore	EC
Foreshore exposures	EF	River and stream sections	EW
Inland outcrops and stream sections	EO	Inland outcrops	EO
Mines and tunnels	EM	Exposure underground mines and tunnels	EU
		Extensive buried interest	EB
		Road, rail and canal cuttings	ER
Integrity Sites		Integrity Sites
Static (fossil) geomorphological	IS	Static (fossil) geomorphological	IS
Active process geomorphological	IA	Active process geomorphological	IA
Caves and karst	IC	Caves	IC
		Karst	IK
		Finite Sites
Unique mineral, fossil or other geological	IM	Finite mineral, fossil or other geological	FM
Mine dumps	ID	Mine dumps	FD
		Finite underground mines and tunnels	FU
		Finite buried interest	FB