Conservation issues

Ice Flow at Woodbridge Quarry © BGSThe Quaternary deposits of the district are largely robust, and current farming and resource extraction practices have had little effect upon their overall distribution and stability.

However future development of the Tyne valley floodplain and possible sand and gravel extraction could remove possible key sites and sections with the potential to lead to greater understanding of icesheet behaviour in the region. The glaciofluvial and river terrace sequences of the Tyne, around Haltwhistle and Hexham give clues to the late glacial and Holocene drainage history of the area, which is yet to be reconstructed.

Future development of the Milfield Plain area with associated sand, gravel and brick clay extraction may begin to remove possible key sites and sections that may lead to greater understanding of ice-sheet behaviour in the region.