Towering 70 metres high, Malham Cove is a curved limestone cliff found in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This unique upland environment was created by erosion and weathering over millions of years.
Glaciers (large sheets of ice) have covered this landscape probably three times over the last one and half million years. As glaciers slowly moved across the landscape (due to gravity) they eroded (through processes of plucking and abrasion) and transported rock from the face of the cove. During warmer periods these glaciers melted, and a powerful waterfall flowed over the cove eroding it further. Today, the cove is largely dry because water flows underground in cave systems formed in the limestone. The only time in recent history when a waterfall fell over the cove was after extremely heavy rain fell in December 2016.
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