The present day landscapes of the North Yorkshire Geodiversity Partnership area are a product of the physical and human influences that have shaped their basic structure and appearance. In particular, the underlying geology and the processes of erosion and deposition by ice and water have had a profound effect, influencing not only landform, soils and vegetation communities, but also the human activities dependent upon or affected by them.
In turn, human activity has been superimposed on the foundations of the natural landscape, changing natural vegetation patterns to suit human needs and introducing man-made elements into the landscape, a process that has increased greatly in recent times.
