What happened to the Carboniferous?354 - 290 million years ago The whole of the Carboniferous, a period of 64 million years between the Devonian and the Permian is represented by an irregular boundary, an unconformity.
This gap in the rock record is evidence that all of the rocks laid down during the Carboniferous in Torbay were removed by erosion before the Permian deposits were laid on top. However it was during the Carboniferous that the UK crossed the equator and the coal measures of north England and Wales were laid down. The unconformity is evident at various sites around the Bay but is easily accessible at Waterside Cove in Paignton.
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