The "gulfs" of Greenhow Hill, North Yorkshire, UK

Sediment-filled karstic cavities known locally as 'gulfs' or 'gulphs' were encountered my miners working the mineral veins of the Greenhow Hill mining field in the Yorkshire Dales, UK. Based upon study of limited historical records of the mine workings, subsequent publications, and examination of the few gulfs still accessible, it appears that the main phase of gulf development post-dates late Permian mineral emplacement but some might, at least in part, pre-date mineral emplacement. Available evidence suggests that clastic sediments, which include re-worked epigenetic mineral material and occupy all reported and accessible gulf cavities, might have been emplaced during an interglacial warm phase older than the Last Glacial Maximum.