THE LIZARD.

The rocks on the Lizard complex represent a fragment or slice of continental and
oceanic components that have been thrust faulted (obducted) over younger rocks. In
the case of the Lizard the context would have been a small rift basin similar to the Red
Sea or Gulf of California and was formed at the same time as the development of the
SW England passive margin during the Early Devonian. This terminated by the onset of
convergence between two plates with partial obduction achieved by the Upper
Devonian. The Lizard now contains a suite of rocks from the upper surface consisting of
sediments, below, pillow lavas, sheeted dykes and then gabbos to layered gabbro
followed by ultrabasic rocks of peridotite representing the crust down to, and including,
the mantle. Such sequences of rocks are known as an ophiolite complex and the Lizard
is one of the best examples in Britain.

Modified from Coleman.R.C. 1981

Modified from Power M. 1997

The Lizard is devoid of strong topographic highs with the landform predominantly an old erosion surface
at c.120m above OD. Due to the toxic nature of serpentinite to vegetation the area has a distinctive flora
of slow growing plants.

Lizard platform at Black Head Goonhilly Downs

Beach Pebbles – Poltesco

The variety of rock types from gneiss, hornblende schists, basalt, quartzite, peridotite and sepentinite on
the Lizard area produces a wide range of colours in beach pebbles.

Polurrian Cove
Areas of interest cover the whole area on the south side of the
cove. The initial starting point would be at Polurrian Cove
where the Lizard Boundary Fault is exposed in the cliffside
with metapelites (continental provenance) on one side and
hornblende schist which marks the start of the Lizard complex
(oceanic rocks) on the other. This fault zone runs across the
Lizard from Polurrian on the south-west to Porthallow on the
north-eastern side of the peninsula. This marks the
approximate position of one of the thrust faults that obducted
the Lizard ophiolite during Carboniferous convergence. These
faults have subsequently been reactivated in the Permian.The
hornblende schists were once basaltic lavas on the sea floor,
which have been metamorphosed, whereas the metapelites
were originally Devonian mudstones.
 Lizard Boundary Fault – Polurrian Cove Hornblende schist

Mullion Cove

Mullion Cove

At Mullion Cove another fault marks the contact between hornblende schist and serpentinite. Offshore lies
Mullion Island where there are excellent exposures of pillow lavas, cherts and limestones, that may form
the upper part of ophiolite rock sequence. Inland of the cove copper mining has taken place from the
1700s to late1800s. One of the native copper sheets from Wheal Unity mine weighed over 700kg and
was 9m X 1.4m in size and was shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.

Hornblende schist Copper sheet from Wheal Unity, Mullion

Pillow lavas Limestones in pillow lava

Kynance Cove
Further to the south lies Kynance Cove where two varieties of serpentinite, bastite and tremolite are
exposed. The bastite has plately crystals of enstatite and the tremolite shows foliation.These represent
upper mantle peridotites, which have been serpentinized by the process of hydrothermal alteration from
percolating seawater in the mantle by which magnesium-rich silicate minerals (e.g., olivine, pyroxenes,
and/or amphiboles in peridotites) are converted into or replaced by serpentine minerals. The process of
serpentinization produces clay minerals such as lizardite, saponite and chrysotile. Other minerals formed
are chlorite, tremolite and talc and are all produced from the breaking down of the ferromagnesian
minerals, olivine and pyroxene. Iron derived from the hydrothermal alteration of these minerals forms
goethite and hematite. This process produces the multicoloured serpentinites resembling a snake or
lizard skin. The peridotite at Kynance forms the base of Lizard ophiolite sequence.

Kynance Cove

Tremolite serpentine Bastite serpentine

Pentreath Beach
At Pentreath Beach is the junction of serpentinite and hornblende schist. A calcite stockwork in
serpentinites is exposed in part of the cliff face illustrating that CO2 rich fluids have migrated through the
fractured rocks.

Calcite stockworks in serpentinite

Lizard Head
Just beyond Pentreath Beach is the Lizard Head
where the geology changes from hornblende
schist to mica schist and gneiss. Polpeor Cove,
above the old lifeboat station, affords the best view
of these exposures. The Man of War Gneiss are
the oldest rocks on the Lizard representing a
metamorphosed granite from the old super
continent Gondwanda’s collision zone and are
some 500 million years old. The mica schists at
this point were once mudstones or pelites at the
bottom of the ocean with the basalts, now
metamorphosed into hornblende schists; these
now form part of the ophiolte sequence.

Polpeor Cove and Lizard Point

Mica schist Man of War Gneiss

Kennack Sands
On Kennack Sands, on the southerly side of the beach, the
relationship between the peridotites and the Kennack Gneiss is clearly
exposed. The peridotite exposed at this location is only partially
sepentinised and has a fresh appearance. The gneiss consists of
interbedded acidic (granitic) and basic (basaltic) rocks in the lower part
of the peridotite. The gneiss is strongly deformed and contacts
between it and the peridotite are often strongly altered. In some places
granitic and basic dykes cut the peridotites. The more acidic gneiss is
younger than the peridotite. At some contacts between the gneiss and
periodotite alteration has taken place to form an asbestiform mineral in
some cases.

Kennack Sands looking north

Modified from Floyd,P,A., et al.1993

Cliff section on the southern part of Kennack Sands Peridotite

Peridotite-gneiss contact Banded gneiss Asbestiform mineral

Carrick Luz
At Carrick Luz the rocks are highly sheared and pods or lenses of sepentinised peridotite are
incorporated in gabbro. The deformation and shearing here has taken place at very high temperature of
at least 600oC. The sheared gabbro displays a strong linear and planar fabrics and alignment of
amphibole (after pyroxene) and has an augen texture in places and in others a banded appearance.

Carrick Luz Peridotite/gabbro contact Augen gabbro gneiss

Coverack
The Coverack area provides a
rare opportunity to examine a
geological section showing a
transition from the oceanic
mantle to the crust. Here
ultrabasic rock of peridotite in the
mantle section is to the south,
moving north the rare transition
rock type of troctolite is exposed,
to eventually basic crustal rocks
of gabbro, all cut by basic dykes.
This section therefore represents
the boundary between upper
mantle to oceanic lower crust,
and probably corresponds to the
moho (Mohorovčić Discontinuity).
The discontinuity probably
represents a chemical change
from basic to ultrabasic rocks,
however the discontinuity should
be defined by a change in
seismic velocity.

Modified from Floyd,P,A., et al. 1993

Coverack harbour area

 Peridotite Troctolite Gabbro

Godrevy Cove
Godrevy Cove to the north of Coverack has exposures of sheeted basic dyke swarms intruded into
gabbro. Some of these basaltic dykes exhibit chilled margins. These dykes represent the feeders for
basic lavas extruded onto the ancient sea-floor. Spreading sea-floor centres of this type require a ‘feed’ of
magma from below. The site at Godrevy therefore represents a fossil record of feeder dykes for such a
spreading centre, which took place during the Devonian Period. This area forms a very important record
of geological events leading up to the formation of the Lizard ophiolite sequence.

Godrevy Cove Basalt Basalt sheeted dykes

Porthallow
At Porthallow Cove The Lizard Boundary Fault is exposed on the south side of the cove where the Old
Lizard Head Series schist is faulted against the Meneage Melange rocks or Roseland Breccia. Further
south the schists are overthrust by serpentinized peridotites and gabbro.

Porthallow Cove looking south

 Old Lizard Head Series schist

Modified from Floyd,P,A., et al. 1993

Fault zone on south side

On the north side of the cove is the contact between acid rock of rhyolite and a basic rock of basalt or
greenstone.

Porthallow Cove looking south Rhyolite-greenstone contact

Polbean Cove
Around the coast to the south from Porthallow to Nare Head and around Polbean Cove the rocks
exposed are part of the Meneage Melange or Roseland Breccia Formation. As the continent of
Gondwana advanced it produced by tectonic activity topographic highs that caused slope failure with
debris flows. This in turn caused older rocks (Ordovician) to fall into the Devonian marine mudstones.
With erosion these are now exposed as quartzite blocks, once sandstones, and the more extensive
breccia deposits (Manever Conglomerate) as at Polbean Cove.
 Polbean Cove looking west from Nare Head

Quartzite Breccias of the Manever Conglomerate at Polbean Cove

Surficial Geology
There are superficial deposits lying on the Lizard rocks at Crousa Downs, Lowland Point, and as an apron
of clay-bound gravels around the coast. Those at Crousa Down represent a Tertiary Age deposit of sands
and gravels of probable fluvial origin, which have been derived from the north. These gravels contain
traces of cassiterite and gold and would be classified as placers. At Lowland Point is a Pleistocene Age
deposit of loess of wind blown silty sediments (this occurs elsewhere on the Lizard) and clay-bound
gravels occurring as aprons around the coast of solifluction deposits known as head are also Pleistocene
in age. The head deposits sometimes show evidence of frost heave (cryoturbation).

Crousa Gravel deposit Crousa Gravels

 Lowland Point from Coverack Loess deposit and raised beach at Lowland Point

Head deposit showing cryoturbation Head deposit

Mineralization
Mineralization and alteration within the Lizard Complex is widespread. Native gold and cassiterite have
both been found in the drainage. The gold and cassiterite have probably been derived from areas to the
north of the Lizard Complex from around the Carmenellis granite and are probably part of the heavy
mineral assemblage left by the erosion of Tertiary gravel deposits. Trace nickel sulphides have also been
discovered in certain Lizard rocks. Ilmenite occurs in abundance and vanadiferous magnetite has been
recorded by the BGS. The first record of illemenite (FeTiO2), named at the time, manaccanite was from
Tregonwell Mill, at Manaccan and was discovered by William Gregor in 1791.Ilmenite is closely
associated with the gabbro where it forms a component of the rock. Trace platinum has also been
recorded from the Lizard both in alluvial sediments and rocks. Minor chromite is associated with some of
the serpentinite. Negligible sulphide mineralization, probably related to cross-course mineralization is
noted from a quarry on the north east side of the Lizard. However economic metalliferous mineralization
is limited to the exploitation of copper where it has been mined from both adits on the coast and small
mines inland. Copper mineralization is mainly limited to both native copper and cuprite (Cu oxide), and
infrequently chrysocolla (Cu silicate). Some of the copper may have been derived from supergene
enrichment. Mining activity was very insignificant in relation to the rest of Cornwall and ceased at the end
of the 19th century.
Native copper dendrites in sepentinite Cliff mining at Beagles Point Native copper and cuprite in serpentinite

Evidence for mineralising fluids of a similar age to cross-course mineralization comes from the dating of
adularia in veins at 210-220 Ma and forms part of the post-sepentinization fracture-hosted mineralization
episode. The paragenetic sequence for mineralization across the Lizard is shown below.

Modified from Power M.R, et al.1997

The Lizard area is noted for the occurrence of zeolites of analcine, pectolite, natrolite, and stilbite, which
occur in the gabbros near St Keverne.

Analcine Natrolite Pectolite