This volume illustrates some of the significant aspects of magmatic activity from Devonian (408 million years ago) to early Permian (270 million years ago) times in SW England. This period covers the progressive development of the Variscan mountain-building episode, from initial basin formation to final deformation and the subsequent development of a fold mountain belt - the Variscan Orogen. Both extrusive (volcanic) and intrusive (plutonic) rocks are found in the orogen, and chart the various stages of its magmatic development. The sites described in this volume are key localities selected...

This volume puts the Geological Conservation Review sites of south west England into their geological context. Details are given of the lavas, granites and associated rocks of Devon and Cornwall, which were formed throughout a major mountain-building episode, between 450-270 million years ago, and have shaped the economic growth of the region.