Derbyshire mostly consists of hilly terrain, with uplands to the north and centre of the county, and lowlands to the south and east. The southern foothills and uplands of the
Pennines extend from the north of the
Trent Valley and into the north of the county. The
Peak District National Park covers the majority of this area and
Kinder Scout is the county's highest point, at . The terrain is relatively low-lying across the lower
Dove Valley, from the Trent Valley and southwards, the far south of the
Derwent Valley and near its eastern borders with
Nottinghamshire and
Leicestershire. The main rivers in the county are the River Derwent and the River Dove which both join the River Trent in the south. The River Derwent is the longest river in the county, at , and rises in the moorland of
Bleaklow, flowing throughout the Peak District and county for the majority of its course. The River Dove rises in
Axe Edge Moor and forms a boundary between Derbyshire and
Staffordshire for most of its length. The county also contains Church Flatts Farm at
Coton in the Elms, near Swadlincote, which is the furthest point from the sea in the UK. and further refined, mapped and described by Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park. The 11 National Character Areas found within Derbyshire are: •
Dark Peak •
White Peak • South West Peak • Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent • Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield • Southern Magnesian Limestone • Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands • Trent Valley Washlands • Melbourne Parklands •
Leicestershire & South Derbyshire Coalfield • Mease/Sence Lowlands
Geology Derbyshire's solid geology can be split into two very different halves. The oldest rocks occur in the northern, more upland half of the county, and are mostly of
Carboniferous age, comprising
limestones,
gritstones,
sandstones and
shales. In its north-east corner to the east of
Bolsover, there are also
Magnesian Limestone rocks of Permian age. In contrast, the southern and more lowland half of Derbyshire contains much softer rocks, mainly
mudstones and sandstones of Permo-Triassic age, which create gentler, more rolling landscapes with few rock outcrops. Across both regions can be found drift deposits of
Quaternary age – mainly terrace and river gravel deposits and boulder clays. Landslip features are found on unstable layers of sandstones and shales, with
Mam Tor and
Alport Castles being the best-known. Cemented screes and
tufa deposits occur very rarely in the limestone dales and rivers, whilst cave systems have been created naturally in the limestone since Pleistocene times. A recently discovered cave chamber near
Castleton, named
Titan, is the deepest shaft and biggest chamber of any cave in Britain. The oldest rocks are Lower Carboniferous limestones of
Dinantian age, which form the core of the White Peak within the Peak District National Park. Because northern Derbyshire is effectively an uplifted dome of rock layers that have subsequently eroded to expose older rocks in the centre of the
Derbyshire Dome, these are encircled by progressively younger limestone rocks, until they in turn give way on three sides to Upper Carboniferous shales, gritstones and sandstones of
Namurian age. Younger still are the sandstones, shales and coal deposits found on the eastern flank of Derbyshire, forming the coal measures, which are of
Westphalian age. All these rock layers disappear south of a line drawn between Ashbourne and Derby under layers of clays and sandstones (
Mercia Mudstone Group and
Sherwood Sandstones) of Permo-Triassic age. Small amounts of carboniferous limestones, gritstones and coal measures reappear in the far south of Derbyshire from
Ticknall (limestone) to
Swadlincote (coal measures). Some areas of the White Peak exhibit contemporaneous basalt flows (e.g. Ravens Tor at Millers Dale), as well as subsequent dolerite sill intrusion at a much later stage (e.g. near Tideswell Dale), whilst mineralisation of the carboniferous limestone in a subsequent period created extensive lead and fluorite deposits which have formed a significant part of Derbyshire's economy, as did coal mining. Lead mining has been important here since Roman Times. The more recent river gravels of the Trent valley remain a significant extractive industry today in south Derbyshire, as does the mining of limestone rock in central and northern parts of the county. Coarse sandstones were once extensively quarried both for local building materials and for the production of gritstone grinding wheels for use in mills, and both former industries have left their mark on the Derbyshire landscape.
Green belts within the county, aimed at preserving the landscape surrounding main urban areas. There are four such areas, the first three being portions of much larger green belts that extend outside the county and surround large conurbations: ==Ecology==