bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mid-Cretaceous stratigraphy of a cored borehole in the western part of the Central North Sea Basin
Authors: Lott G. K. , Ball K. C. , Wilkinson I. P.
Published: December 2009

A borehole (81/40) drilled in the western part of the Central North Sea Basin cored a sequence of Cretaceous strata ranging from Barremian to Turonian in age. This succession of calcareous mudstones and chalks has been divided into six lithostratigraphical units, two of which include a number of thin volcanic tuff bands (bentonites) of Late Aptian to Early Albian age. The lithologies of each of these units are described, together with a preliminary biostratigraphy for the sequence based upon their diverse foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages. Range charts for the foraminifera and ostracods are presented and the regional significance of the sequence is discussed.
Fracture patterns related to volcanic necks and pipes in an Upper Limestone Group (Namurian) coal seam in the Kincardine Basin, West Fife, Scotland
Authors: BARNETT J. A. M.
Published: December 2009

In the N.C.B’s Longannet mines, on the eastern flank of the Kincardine Basin, the Upper Hirst Coal Seam is disturbed by two sets of fractures. The earlier fractures are believed to have been induced by volcanism before the coal seam was fully compacted; they are on a small scale and are usually accompanied by minor intructions soft-sediment deformation. Some appear to be radial or concentric to a known neck at Bogside and all can be readily distinguished from the later and larger mainly E-W fractures, which resulted from end-Carboniferous tectonism

The detail provided by mining offers a unique opportunity to document such disturbances induced by pipe emplacement and their recognition can be put to practical use in predicting the location of other pipes ahead of the working areas.
An analysis of the aeolian dustfall on eastern Britain, November 1984
Authors: Wheeler D. A.
Published: December 2009

The heavy fall of dust, probably of Saharan origin, that occurred during early November 1984 was the most recent of a number of such events in Britain. Analysis of a sample of dust from north-east England produced results similar to those obtained for previous falls. The dust displayed a median particle size of 9
μ
m, which, though not diagnostic, is emerging as characteristic of such material; much larger ‘aggregate’ grains were also encountered. The predominance of illite clays and iron-stained quartz grains is also consistent with earlier findings.
The distribution of platform conodonts, corals and foraminifera from the Black Rock Limestone (late Tournaisian and early Viséan) of Tears Point, Gower, South Wales
Authors: Mitchell M. , Strank A. R. E. , Thornbury B. M. , Sevastopulo G. D.
Published: December 2009

The distribution of platform conodonts, corals and foraminifera from the Black Rock Limestone of the Tears Point section, Gower, is recorded. These faunas show that the limestones are of late Tournaisian and early Viséan age.
An occurrence of tungsten mineralisation in the Eskdale Intrusion, west Cumbria
Authors: Young B. , Fortey N. J. , Nancarrow P. H. A.
Published: December 2009

Scheelite-ferberite-chalcopyrite mineralisation occurs in quartz veins in granodiorite at Buckbarrow Beck on Corney Fell, west Cumbria. In the principal vein scheelite is common and ferberite (Fe/(Fe+Mn)=0.85) is a minor constituent. Besides goethite and copper secondaries, supergene minerals include russellite, bismutoferrite and cuprotungstite, the latter recorded here for the first time in Britain. Microprobe analyses of russellite suggest the formula Bi
3
(V,Fe,Cu,As,U)
1
W
1
O
9
(SO
3
, P
2
O
5
, Cl
2
, H
2
O)
x,
where x was not determined. Shearing of wallrock and strain deformation of the vein quartz accompanied chloritic wallrock alteration and it is inferred that mineralisation was coeval with these events. The mineralisation was part of a minor episode of hydrothermal activity related either to emplacement of the early Silurian Eskdale Granite or to the end-Silurian Caledonian orogenic event.
The stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous Speeton Clay Formation in a cored borehole off the coast of north-east England
Authors: Lott G. K. , Fletcher B. N. , Wilkinson I. P.
Published: December 2009

A fully cored stratigraphical borehole in the Southern North Sea Basin at 54°39′N, 0°14′E encountered a succession of Lower Cretaceous clays and mudstones, representing part of the Speeton Clay Formation of the Cromer Knoll Group, resting on Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay.

The Lower Cretaceous beds comprise a basal phosphatic pebble-bed (equivalent to bed E, the Coprolite Bed, at Speeton) overlain by c.90m of marine clays ranging from Ryazanian to Barremian (equivalent to beds D8 – LB6 at Speeton) and include seven thin bentonite horizons. The three uppermost bentonite horizons lie within the Valanginian to Hauterivian, an interval from which no bentonites have previously been recorded in the European area. Six of the seven bentonite horizons recorded in the borehole have now been recognised in the type section at Speeton, Yorkshire.

The borehole succession yielded rich microfaunal assemblages, which have enabled a detailed correlation to be made with the beds of the type locality at Speeton. The sequence cored in the borehole demonstrates a remarkable similarity to the Speeton sequence, despite an 80-kilometre separation of the localities.
A biofacies analysis of the Gastrioceras cumbriense Marine Band (Namurian) of the central Pennines
Authors: Wignall P. B.
Published: December 2009

The Gastrioceras cumbriense Marine Band (G
1b
) is the highest marine horizon in the Namurian Series of the central Pennines and does not generally exceed 60cm in thickness. In the present paper local variations are examined at six sections along a 60km distance from west Yorkshire to south Lancashire. The initial onset of marine conditions is recorded by
Lingula
-bearing grey shales in the central Pennines, but by the productoid facies (Calver 1968) to the west in south Lancashire. This is interpreted as reflecting a slight shallowing of the sea towards the west, a palaeotopography that persisted throughout the marine phase. The deepest water conditions, which occurred at the acme of the incursion, produced a marked change in cephalopod and bivalve species ratios and an associated change to a black shale lithology. Euxinic conditions appear to have occurred only temporarily.

Over the whole of northern England the basal marine shales record a series of distinct faunal profiles, with fully marine faunas recorded to the west of the area. The regression appears to have been more rapid than the advance, and retreat faunal facies are more sporadically developed.
A silver-nickel-cobalt mineral association at Tynebottom Mine, Garrigill, near Alston, Cumbria
Authors: Ixer R. A. , Stanley C. J.
Published: December 2009

Tynebottom Mine, Garrigill, lies in a silver-rich area of the Alston Block, northern Pennines. Two specimens of ore are described and analyses are given for the opaque minerals. One specimen contains an unusual silver-nickel-cobalt assemblage which includes the silver minerals argentopyrite, sternbergite, pyrargyrite, stephanite, acanthite, with unnamed AgFeS
2
and AgFe
8
S
11
species. These are associated with the nickel and cobalt arsenides chloanthite, rammelsbergite and safflorite and with löllingite and chalcopyrite. The other specimen carries nickel-cobalt arsenides and sulpharsenides including skutterudite, nickeline, gersdorffite, and cobaltite, associated with pyrite, marcasite and bravoite. The silver assemblage is thought to have formed at approximately 150–180°C. The mineralogy of silver, nickel and cobalt in the Alston Block and the possible role of the Whin Sill in their genesis is discussed.
A new, giant xiphosurid from the lower Namurian of Weardale, County Durham
Authors: Siveter Derek J. , Selden Paul A.
Published: December 2009

One of the largest xiphosurid specimens known from the fossil record, found in the lower Namurian strata of Weardale, is described as
Xaniopyramis linseyi
gen. et sp. nov. It is referred to the Limuloidea, Moravuridae Přibyl, 1967.
Xaniopyramis
was probably a burrowing form and a poor swimmer; it is the first xiphosurid body fossil recorded from the British Namurian and supports the idea of a marine faunal connection at this time with the central-eastern European area.
Serpierite and devilline from the Northern Pennine Orefield
Authors: Bridges T. F.
Published: December 2009

The rare supergene minerals serpierite, Ca(CuZn)
4
(SO
4
)
2
(OH)
6
. 3H
2
0, and devilline, CaCu
4
(SO
4
)
2
(OH)
6
. 3H
2
0, have been identified for the first time from the Northern Pennine Orefield at Tynebottom Mine, Garrigill [NY 739 418] and Smallcleugh Mine, Nenthead [NY 788 430].
Upper Jurassic stratigraphy of four shallow cored boreholes in the U.K. sector of the southern North Sea
Authors: Cox B. M. , Lott G. K. , Thomas J. E. , Wilkinson I. P.
Published: December 2009

Four shallow cored boreholes (81/41, 81/43, 81/47 and 81/49) in the southern North Sea area (U.K. Quadrants 42 and 47) proved Upper Jurassic mudstone sequences which compare closely in lithological and macrofaunal detail with the well known Kimmeridge Clay succession of southern and eastern England. Although together the boreholes do not give complete stratigraphical coverage, all the Kimmeridgian standard ammonite zones from Baylei to Hudlestoni are represented; in Borehole 81/43, beds of the Hudlestoni Zone are unconformably overlain by Lower Cretaceous strata. Thicknesses in boreholes 81/41 and 81/43 are comparable with those proved on the onshore East Midlands Shelf, but those in 81/47 and 81/49 appear to be two or three times thicker; these relationships fit the known disposition of the Sole Pit Basin. Borehole 81/41 also cored 21.1m of Middle to Upper Oxfordian strata. The ostracod faunas and dinoflagellate cyst floras are discussed and range charts of selected taxa presented. The foraminifera are also considered.
Dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy of the Nettleton Bottom Borehole (Jurassic: Hettangian to Kimmeridgian), Lincolnshire, England
Authors: Riding J. B.
Published: December 2009

A palynological investigation of the Hettangian to Upper Kimmeridgian strata penetrated by the Nettleton Bottom Borehole yielded 56 genera and 80 species of dinoflagellate cysts, many of which are of biostratigraphical significance. The large stratigraphical extent of the borehole enables the principal changes in dinoflagellate cyst floras throughout the Jurassic System of the East Midlands to be demonstrated. Comparison of the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages with those reported from Europe and other areas, principally Arctic Canada, illustrates marked global provincialism during the Middle Jurassic. Two new species,
Endoscrinium asymmetricum
sp. nov. and
Meiourogonyaulax planoseptata
sp. nov. are described from the Upper Bathonian to Lower Callovian and Lower Callovian respectively.
Supergene cadmium mineralisation in the Northern Pennine Orefield
Authors: Young B. , Bridges T. F. , Ineson P. R.
Published: December 2009

Samples of yellow cadmium sulphide encrustrations on sphalerite have been collected from several mines in the orefield. From two localities greenockite has been positively identified. As the majority of the free CdS found in the orefield appears to be amorphous, it is probable that it has formed by the supergene leaching of cadmium-bearing sphalerite.
A new specimen of
Steneosauraus
(Mesosuchia, Crocodilia) from the Toarcian of the Yorkshire coast
Authors: Walkden G. M. , Fraser N. C. , Muir J.
Published: December 2009

A new specimen of a Mesosuchian crocodile is described from a loose boulder found on the foreshore north of Port Mulgrave on the Yorkshire coast. From a consideration of the associated ammonite and bivalve fauna, the provenance of the boulder is shown to be the top of the Jet Rock (
Harpoceras elegans
horizon, upper one third of the
exaratum
Subzone). The vertebrate material is disarticulated and incomplete, and is referred to
Steneosaurus bollensis.
Although the species is well known from the equivalent horizon in the classic Toarcian faunas of Holzmaden, south-west Germany, most Yorkshire crocodilian material comes from well above this level and this is the first properly documented record of a crocodile from the Jet Rock (lower part of the Jet Rock Member) of the Yorkshire Coast. The specimen is described in detail and the taxonomy of Liassic teleosaurs is discussed.
S. brevoir
is considered to be a possible synonym of
S. bollensis,
but
S. gracilirostris
can still be regarded as a separate species.
Some geophysical aspects of the deep geology of eastern England
Authors: Evans C. J. , Allsop J. M.
Published: December 2009

A review of the geophysical data available in the East Midlands, in particular gravity and magnetic data, confirms the influence of major basement structures on the formation of Carboniferous ‘blocks’ and ‘basins’. Two profiles were selected over two negative gravity anomalies. The first – over the Widmerpool Gulf, containing a proven thick Carboniferous sedimentary sequence; the second – in the Newark area, over an anomaly of uncertain geological origin. Modelling of the Widmerpool Gulf, with good geological control, provides a suitable fit to the observed gravity field. The uncertain origin and lack of geological control prevents a definitive gravity interpretation of the Newark anomaly either as a sedimentary basin or as an igneous intrusion. Both models provide a reasonable correlation with the observed profile.

A compilation of available seismic refraction lines provide an assessment of basement topography, but there may still be ambiguities in the interpretation in some areas where massive Dinantian limestone is present. Interpreted velocities increase northwards from the Suffolk/Essex region, where Devonian and Ordovician rocks have velocities less than 5 km s
−1
, to Norfolk, where Precambrian and Cambrian rocks whose velocities always exceed this value.

Recently acquired seismic data from East Anglia suggest that there may be anisotropic variations in basement velocities depending on the directions of the refraction lines relative to the regional cleavage/foliation trend (WNW-ESE), the maximum velocity values occurring on lines parallel to this direction.
The concealed Caledonides of eastern England: preliminary results of a multidisciplinary study
Authors: Pharaoh T. C. , Merriman R. J. , Webb P. C. , Beckinsale R. D.
Published: December 2009

New petrological, geochemical and isotopic age data have been obtained from concealed Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic rocks in eastern England. The geochemical data suggest that concealed felsic volcanic rocks are petrogenetically unrelated to the Charnian igneous suites, while new isotopic data suggest that the former are probably of late Ordovician age. The concealed volcanic rocks probably occur as a stratigraphic unit (or units) within a Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary sequence, as in Wales and Belgium.

These data, together with structural and geophysical evidence and results from mica crystallinity studies of pelitic rocks, suggest that much of eastern England is underlain by a concealed NW-SE trending Caledonide deformation belt. Pelitic rocks show a low-grade metamorphic zonation, with grade increasing from diagenetic conditions on the Midlands Microcraton, through anchizonal to epizonal (greenschist facies) conditions in the internal zone of the belt beneath the Wash. The structure and stratigraphy of this Caledonide belt are poorly known at present, but are likely to be as complex as those of the Welsh Caledonides, of which the concealed Caledonides of eastern England appear to form a mirror image. The key to the stratigraphy of this belt is probably to be found in the Brabant and Ardennes Massifs of Belgium. The Caledonide Midlands Microcraton is now seen as a restricted wedge-shaped area, underlain throughout by Precambrian crust, and forming a rigid indenter within the Caledonide Orogen of Britain.
The intrusion of the Carrock Fell Gabbro Series (Cumbria) as a sub-horizontal tabular body
Authors: Harris P. , Dagger G. W.
Published: December 2009

The existence of grain size and modally graded layering in the Carrock Fell Gabbro Series is recorded and evidence relating to the original emplacement attitude reviewed. Reinterpretation of the palaeomagnetic data and the structural and geological history are considered, together with isotopic dating, field relationships, gabbroic layering, xenolith distribution and geochemical evidence. All this evidence, in conjunction with the grain size and modally graded layering, is found to be consistent with the intrusion of the Gabbro Series as a sub-horizontal tabular body which has subsequently been rotated into its present-day orientation. This conclusion is contrary to previous interpretations, which have favoured a sub-vertical intrusion.
Field relationships, mineralogy and chemistry of the greisens and related rocks associated with the Eskdale Granite, Cumbria
Authors: Young B. , Ansari S. M. , Firman R. J.
Published: December 2009

Greisens in the Eskdale Granite are shown to be far more numerous, widespread and variable than was hitherto suspected. Most are quartz-mica, quartz-topaz or quartz greisens and occur near the granite margins. An exceptional facies of quartz-topaz greisen containing andalusite occurs on Water Crag, Devoke Water, from where a unique quartz-andalusite rock is described. Greisens away from the granite contact differ in several mineralogical and chemical respects. Eskdale greisens differ from those in Cornwall and elsewhere in being impoverished in lithium; their nearest analogue appears to be the Grainsgill Greisen associated with the Skiddaw Granite. Field and petrochemical evidence is consistent with metasomatic alteration of granite, but the origin of the quartz-andalusite rock remains enigmatic.
A review of the latest Triassic succession in the U.K. sector of the Southern North Sea Basin
Authors: Lott G. K. , Warrington G.
Published: December 2009

Well-log criteria are used to redefine the base of the Late Triassic ‘Winterton Formation’ in the U.K. Southern North Sea Basin. In a cored offshore succession the redefined formation is lithostratigraphically and biostratigraphically correlatable with the Penarth Group of onshore U.K. sequences. It is proposed that the use of the term Penarth Group is extended to the offshore area and that ‘Winterton Formation’ is abandoned.
Palynological assemblages from Lower Carboniferous deposits, Burntisland district, Fife, Scotland
Authors: Brindley S. , Spinner E.
Published: December 2009

Palynological assemblages are recorded from Lower Carboniferous sediments of the Burntisland district which indicate that the strata can be assigned to the NM, VF and NC zones of Neves
et al.
1973. Comparisons of the assemblages with those previously described from the Midland Valley of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland indicate that the first appearance, followed by a quantitative significance in assemblages, of
Cingulizonates
cf.
capistratus
may be a valuable marker for strata of earliest Namurian age in northern Britain.
The late Permian palaeogeography of north-east England
Authors: Smith D. B.
Published: December 2009

All available information has been used in the preparation of a series of palaeogeographical maps showing the evolution of north-east England at the end of the early Permian and at intervals throughout the late Permian. Most of the area initially lay near the western fringe of the Southern North Sea tropical desert basin, much of which was flooded at the beginning of the late Permian so as to create the epicontinental Zechstein Sea. With continually oscillating relative sea levels and episodic differential subsidence, contemporary coastlines fluctuated widely whilst successive progradational carbonate shelves were constructed in the first two of four main cyclic sequences; the deposition of thick salt at the end of the second main cycle almost filled the basin, eliminating most of the earlier depositional topography and ensuring that carbonates and evaporites of the third and fourth cycles were formed in a less diverse range of coastal plain to shallow marine environments.
Low grade metamorphism in the Lower Ordovician Skiddaw Group of the Lake District, England
Authors: Fortey N. J.
Published: December 2009

A white-mica crystallinity (illite crystallinity) survey of the Lower Ordovician Skiddaw Group of the Lake District has revealed a complex pattern in which Kubler Index values range from <0.21 Δ°2θ (low epizone) to >0.42 Δ°2θ (diagenetic), large areas of the outcrop having anchizonal values (0.21–0.42 Δ°2θ). The <2
μ
m mineralogy of the higher grade rocks is dominated by 2M
1
muscovite and chlorite, and interlayered paragonite-muscovite is common; lower grade rocks contain 1Md illite, chlorite and interlayered illite-smectite, in some cases accompanied by pyrophyllite and, rarely, kaolinite.

The pattern of variation can be related to the metamorphic history of the area in which anchizonal burial metamorphism during the Silurian was superseded by Lower Devonian (Acadian) upper anchizonal to epizonal regional metamorphism in areas in which slaty cleavage is relatively well developed. The contrast between these latter areas and those retaining the burial signature was heightened by late Devonian uplift and faulting. Sub-volcanic metamorphism during Caradocian volcanism is also considered likely to have attained anchizonal grades. Numerous additional variations within the pattern are related to interference with the 10Å muscovite diffraction peaks by interlayered paragonite and smectite, induration by minor intrusions and movement on Caledonian and post-Carboniferous faults.
Tree root structures on a Dinantian palaeokarst, Urswick Limestone, south Cumbria
Authors: Adams A. E. , Horbury A. D.
Published: December 2009

Circular to elliptical pits with raised rims, up to 80 cm across, occur on a palaeokarstic surface in the Asbian Urswick Limestone near Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria. The raised rims consist of laminated micritic carbonate resembling laminar calcrete but with sub-vertical laminae. The pits and their raised rims are interpreted as structures formed by tree roots (rhizocretions). Their presence indicates subaerial exposure for sufficient time and under conditions favourable for the growth of mature trees.
The Mercia Mudstone Group (Trias) of the East Irish Sea Basin
Authors: Wilson A. A.
Published: December 2009

Recent boreholes in the Fylde, Walney Island and the offshore Morecambe gas field have contributed to a greater understanding of the succession within the Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group, totalling up to 3700 m in thickness in the East Irish Sea Basin. The correlation is dependent on the distinctive colour-laminated Thornton Mudstones, now recognised in an area extending from Walney Island in the north, to Formby in the south and also probably offshore in well 110/8-2. Breccias of Triassic age are distinguished from more recent breccias. The more recent breccias contain porphyroblastic gypsum.
New bryozoan taxa from the Upper Permian Zechstein reef in N.E. England
Authors: Southwood D. A.
Published: December 2009

Two new fenestrate bryozoan taxa, from the Upper Permian Zechstein Reef in N.E. England, are described.
Ryhopora delicata,
gen. nov., sp. nov. is a delicate branching form with only two rows of autozooecial apertures on branches.
Penniretepora waltheri nodata,
subsp. nov. has a characteristic node on the reverse surface of the main branch and has relatively closely spaced secondary branches.
Heavy metals in the Humber estuary:
Scrobicularia
clay as a pre-industrial datum
Authors: Middleton R. , Grant A.
Published: December 2009

A series of twenty-one samples of recently deposited sediments have been collected from both shores of the Humber estuary and analysed for a range of major and trace elements. Four samples of ‘prehistoric’
Scrobicularia
clay from Easington have been processed and examined in the same manner to provide a base-line datum for the estuary before the anthropogenic addition of inorganic pollutants. Many elements can be seen to be enriched in modern sediments compared to their prehistoric counterpart. Elements such as Fe, Ti, Nb and As can be directly linked to present-day industrial discharges. Other elements, including P, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr and V, show varying degrees of enrichment but are probably being introduced from several sources. Mn concentration seems to be controlled largely by water salinity. The overall impression gained is that of a well mixed estuary with some local ‘hot-spots’.
Palynological evidence for the age of the Coal Measures of the Titterstone Clee Coalfield, Shropshire, England
Authors: Turner N. , Spinner E.
Published: December 2009

Palynological assemblages are described from new exposures of Coal Measures in the Titterstone Clee Coalfield, Shropshire, England. The composition of taxa present in the assemblages is indicative of the presence of three miospore zones, SS, RA and NJ, forming part of the Langsettian and Duckmantian regional stages (Westphalian A — early Westphalian B age). The colour of the spores in the assemblages from strata immediately above the upper surface of the Titterstone Clee Dolerite compared with those of more widely separated assemblages indicates a marked thermal effect, confirming that the dolerite is intrusive.
Tricontactispora
, a new genus of megaspores from the Namurian of the southern Pennines, Derbyshire, England
Authors: Spinner E.
Published: December 2009

A new genus of megaspores,
Tricontactispora,
is described with two new species,
Tricontactispora hirsuta
and
Tricontactispora tuberculata
from a coal of Marsdenian (R
2
) age, Namurian, Silesian, Derbyshire, England.
Depositional history and palaeoecology of the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary beds at South Ferriby, South Humberside
Authors: Wignall P. B.
Published: December 2009

The uppermost Ampthill Clay and lowermost Kimmeridge Clay are well exposed in a pit at South Ferriby. This provides an exceptional record of depositional conditions across the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary. These are investigated using a combined palaeoecological and taphonomic approach which reveals marked changes in the structural attributes of the benthic associations.

The Ampthill Clay contains a low-diversity fauna dominated by deep infaunal bivalves and epifaunal serpulids. Sedimentation rates may have been high and benthic oxygen levels moderately low. The faunas of the Kimmeridge Clay are distinctly more diverse and they suggest a range of substrate types from soft to firm. The presence of phosphatic nodules and high fragmentation indices attests to low sedimentation rates. The phosphatic nodules are reworked only in the Oxytoma Cementstone, which coincides with the base of the
baylei
Zone and is here taken as the base of the formation. Benthic diversity declines to zero in the topmost beds at South Ferriby. This is attributed to the rapid onset of bottom water anoxia at an earlier time in the Kimmeridgian than anywhere else in Britain, possibly due to rapid local subsidence.
The stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Ferriby, Welton and Burnham formations north of the Humber, north-east England
Authors: Whitham F.
Published: December 2009

New exposures in the Ferriby, Welton and Burnham formations of the Upper Cretaceous Chalk Group north of the Humber, north-east England, allow all but one of the gaps in the established lithostratigraphical sequence to be filled in. The lithological sequences logged here provide a firm framework for the first detailed account of the distribution of all major elements of the macrofauna. An informal subdivision of the
Hagenowia rostrata
Biozone is introduced.
A seismic refraction study of the upper crustal structure of the Derbyshire Dome
Authors: Rogers D. E. , Stuart G. W.
Published: December 2009

Results from four seismic refraction profiles crossing the Derbyshire Dome are described and interpreted in terms of their sub-Dinantian limestone structure. The apparently simple surface outcrop of the dome belies a more complex basement structure which is divided into a northern and southern province by the NW-SE trending Cronkston-Bonsall Fault Zone. To the north of the fault zone a Lower Palaeozoic refractor is identified beneath the Carboniferous rocks with a velocity of 5.53 km/s, which is tentatively correlated with Ordovician volcanics in the Woo Dale borehole. However, to the south the C4ronkston-Bonsall Fault Zone, a Charnian (Precambrian) basement is inferred, with a velocity of 5.7 km/s, which is downthrown to the north across the faults. This fault zone may represent the local surface expression of the north-eastern margin of the Midlands Microcraton.
Clastics, coals, palaeodistributaries and mineralisation in the Namurian Great Cyclothem, Northern Pennines and Northumberland Trough
Authors: Hodge B. L. , Dunham Kingsley
Published: December 2009

As a result of mining for metals, spars and coal, more subsurface data are available for the Great Cyclothem than for any other in the pre-Westphalian Carboniferous. These data, combined with a resurvey of the entire outcrop, have been used to produce an isopach map of the beds between the Great and Little limestones. Three upward-coarsening minor cycles, culminating respectively in the Low, High and Tynedale-Fourstones coals are recognised, and it is claimed that the coals represent near-chronostratigraphic horizons. The continuity of these beds is interrupted by two narrow sub-parallel belts of thicker sandstones. One, pre-dating the High Coal, is interpreted as a major palaeodistributary system. The other could be a later avulsion of this system, but as the sandstone coarsens upward, the previous view that this belt is a palaeobar is accepted, though with reservations. The varying lithology of the upper part of the cyclothem has a significant effect, both negative and positive, upon the post-Westphalian Pb Zn F Ba mineralisation.
Stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeontology of the Scarborough Formation (Middle Jurassic) at Hundale Point, North Yorkshire
Authors: Gowland S. , Riding J. B.
Published: December 2009

The depositional environment of the type section of the Scarborough Formation (Ravenscar Group) has been investigated through detailed sedimentological and palaeontological analyses. The lithostratigraphical framework of the formation is revised and three new members, the Helwath Beck, Hundale Sandstone and Bogmire Gill members, are introduced. The marine transgression recorded in the lower part of the Scarborough Formation (Helwath Beck Member) is attributed to the abandonment and compactional subsidence of the underlying Gristhorpe Member (Cloughton Formation) delta lobe. The overlying deepening-upward package of siliciclastic and carbonate shelf deposits (Hundale Shale — Ravenscar Shale members) reflects the extent to which eustatic sea level rise amplified the effects of the dominant tectonic and autocyclic controls within the basin. The Bogmire Gill Member has been convincingly attributed to progradation of a wave-dominated sandy shoreface. Given that recent palynological analyses fail to support the presence of a significant hiatus at the contact with the overlying Scalby Formation, it is suggested that the Bogmire Gill Member may constitute the wave-dominated coastal fringe of a Scalby Formation delta lobe.
The Great Whinscale Dacite — an enigmatic lava flow from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, English Lake District
Authors: Kanaris-Sotiriou R. , Millward D. , Rundle C.C.
Published: December 2009

The Great Whinscale Dacite (GWD) is a distinctive and important stratigraphic marker unit within the Ordovician Borrowdale Volcanic Group (BVG) of the English Lake District. Many features of the GWD are compatible with the unit being a lava — the origin proposed here — but with a low aspect ratio (
c
.1: 100), a length of at least 13 km, and a minimum volume of 4 km
3
. The GWD is aphyric, remarkably homogeneous chemically, and is highly atypical of dacitic lavas in the BVG, which are distinctly porphyritic and of very restricted extent and volume. This paper presents field, petrographic, chemical and Rb-Sr isotopic age data from four transects through the GWD and one transect through a typical BVG dacite at Crowhow End for comparison. Sm-Nd isotope data are presented for selected samples. Although the overall chemistry of the GWD is very similar to other BVG dacites, the GWD has a distinctly more primitive Nd isotopic signature and is noticeably depleted in Ni and Cr. The aphyric nature of the GWD and its distinct chemical character may be attributed to an abnormally short crustal residence time for the GWD magma between source and eruption, and thus emplacement at a temperature above the liquidus. The implied short rise-time also resulted in a high effusion rate which controlled the unusual eruption geometry. Subsequently there were at least three distinct periods of isotopic and chemical disturbance.
Palynological evidence for the early Namurian age of the “Millstone Grit” and Upper Limestone Group around Longhoughton Steel, Northumberland
Authors: Turner N. , Spinner E.
Published: December 2009

Palynological assemblages are recorded from the Upper Limestone Group and “Millstone Grit” around Longhoughton Steel and Seaton Point, near Alnwick, north Northumberland. Miospore assemblages from below the Sugar Sands Limestone of the Upper Limestone Group are assigned to the
Stenozonotriletes triangulus
—
Rotaspora knoxi
(TK) Zone, and those from the Upper Foxton Limestone and “Millstone Grit” to the
Lycospora subtriquetra
—
Kraeuselisporites ornatus
(SO) Zone. Correlation of the zones with Namurian stages suggests an Arnsbergian age for the Upper Limestone Group, and a latest Arnsbergian or earliest Chokierian age for the “Millstone Grit”.

One new miospore genus,
Corrugitriletes
gen. nov., type species
C. radiatus
sp. nov., is described and the circumscriptions of some of the taxa recorded are commented upon.
The stratigraphy and petrology of Middle Jurassic (Ravenscar Group) sediments in cored boreholes from the north Yorkshire coast
Authors: Lott G. K. , Humphreys B.
Published: December 2009

The Scalby Ness [TA 0363 9108] and Castle Head [TA 0520 8892] boreholes drilled on the Yorkshire coast have provided a first opportunity to study the petrography of Ravenscar Group (Aalenian - Bathonian) sediments without the problems associated with the weathering that can occur in the sequences exposed in cliff sections. The cored sequence is a lithologically varied succession dominated by the paralic, siliciclastic sediments of the Cloughton and Scalby formations. This period of paralic sedimentation in the Cleveland Basin was interrupted by three marine incursions, two of which, represented by the limestone-dominated Millepore Bed and Scarborough Formation successions, were cored in the boreholes.

The diagenesis of the Ravenscar Group succession is complex, as would be expected in a lithologically heterogeneous sedimentary sequence, with a high proportion of disseminated organic detritus, that has undergone a long burial history. Contrasting original depositional environments appear to have exerted little control on the early diagenesis of the sandstones with, for example, pyrite and siderite present in both the marine and non-marine sequences. Although such early diagenetic cements are common in the succession, many of the authigenic cementation phases present probably began to develop during early diagenesis and continued into the late diagenetic, burial regime; for example, ferroan calcite, calcic ferroan dolomite, kaolinite and quartz cements.

The clay mineralogy (particularly the absence of a significant smectite component), moderate depths of burial and comparatively modest geothermal gradients achieved in the basin, suggest that clay mineral transformation reactions played only a partial role in supplying
Taxonomy and taphonomy of
Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus
(Plesiosauria, Reptilia) from the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of the Yorkshire coast
Authors: Taylor M. A.
Published: December 2009

The holotype skeleton of the large-headed, short-necked plesiosaur
Plesiosaurus zetlandicus
Phillips, in Anon., 1854 comes from the Toarcian of the Yorkshire coast and has been housed in the Yorkshire Museum since 1852. It is a pliosauroid of the genus
Rhomaleosaurus. Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus
(Phillips, in Anon., 1854) is the earliest named valid species of any Toarcian pliosauroid. The skeleton is preserved in a pyritous nodule requiring mechanical preparation using tungsten carbide percussion tools, including electric engravers holding specially fabricated tungsten carbide needles. This technique is useful for similar material. The animal probably floated at the surface of the sea after death until rupture of the body cavity by decay or scavenging released the gases of putrefaction and the corpse sank upside down to the sea floor.
Potassium-argon isotopic age determinations from the metasomatic alteration of the Great Limestone, Northern Pennine Orefield
Authors: Davison J. M. , Ineson P. R. , Mitchell J. G.
Published: December 2009

K-Ar isotopic ages of illite-bearing iron carbonates associated with metasomatism of the Great Limestone are argued to relate to mineralisation which occurred between 252±5 and 240±6Ma. There is evidence that the ages of some of the illites investigated may have been partially reset by later hydrothermal events occurring between 240Ma and 160Ma. It is concluded that, after the iron-carbonate rocks were formed, certain vein systems were sealed from further fluid circulation.
The depositional history of the Hackness Coral-Sponge Bed and its associated sediments within the Passage Beds Member of the Coralline Oolite Formation (Corallian Group; Oxfordian) of North Yorkshire
Authors: Wright J. K.
Published: December 2009

The Passage Beds contain a varied assortment of terrigenous and carbonate sedimentary rocks in which there is the gradual upwards transition from predominantly terrigenous into predominantly carbonate sediment. From an initial widespread quartz-sand sheet covering most of the Cleveland Basin, terrigenous sedimentation later became confined to the southern margin of the basin while in the centre, shallow seas, minimal clastic clay input and substantial nutrient-transporting tidal currents enabled a coral reef to become established. Large amounts of reef-derived sediment were transported eastwards, forming a long ‘tail’ of coral–shell sand. Uplift and erosion of the reef in late Passage Beds times was followed by renewed subsidence. This produced a hardground which was colonised by thickets of a crinoid having pentalobate stem ossicles commonly referred to as ‘
Pentacrinus
’. The ‘
Pentacrinus
’ ossicles, along with further coral debris, were subsequently incorporated into a widespread sheet of ‘
Pentacrinus
’ biosparite.
Palynological evidence for an early Namurian age of the Cornbrook Sandstone Formation, Clee Hill, Shropshire
Authors: Turner N. , Owens B.
Published: December 2009

The formational name Cornbrook Sandstone has been applied to a variable succession of conglomerates and coarse-grained sandstones, with thin mudstone and coal intercalations, which occurs between the Carboniferous Limestone (Dinantian) and Coal Measures (Westphalian) in the Clee Hills area of Shropshire. Previous biostratigraphical investigations have proved inconclusive, suggested ages ranging from Tournaisian to Westphalian B. Palynological investigations on material from surface exposures and from three cored shallow boreholes, which penetrated most of the Cornbrook Sandstone sequence together with part of the underlying Carboniferous Limestone, provide new evidence for the age of the formation. Well preserved miospore assemblages indicate an early Namurian (Pendleian-Arnsbergian) age. The palynological evidence suggests that the base of the Cornbrook Sandstone is younger than the base of the Drybrook Sandstone of Gloucestershire, which exhibits broad similarities in tectonic and depositional settings. The two sandstones may, therefore, represent unrelated sand bodies, located north and south of St George’s Land. Alternatively, if they represent remnants of a more extensive deposit, its base may have been diachronous, becoming younger to the north.
The stratigraphy of the Upper Kimmeridge Clay (late Jurassic) of Golden Hill, Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire
Authors: Wignall P. B.
Published: December 2009

The section at the regionally important Golden Hill site, which exposes up to 25m of Upper Kimmeridge Clay, is detailed and the ammonite faunas assessed. The site has recently been designated an SSSI by English Nature. Comparison with the Dorset type section confirms that it spans the mid-Hudlestoni Zone to the mid-Pectinatus Zone. The vertical ranges of some
Pectinatites
species appear to be more extensive than in Dorset. A species closely similar to
P.(V.) smedmorensis
occurs much higher in the succession of Golden Hill than in Dorset.
Formation and diagenesis of slope limestones within the Upper Permian (Zechstein) Raisby Formation, north-east England
Authors: Lee M. R.
Published: December 2009

Isolated bodies of bedded limestone, metres in thickness, occur within dolostones of the Zechstein Raisby Formation in north-east England. Carbonate sedimentary rocks, which comprise the Raisby Formation, were deposited as pelagic and hemipelagic mudstones and wackestones on a carbonate slope during cycle 1 of the English Zechstein sequence. A characteristic of the slope environment, especially during its early evolution, was extensive submarine cementation. The intensity of early cementation at any place and time was a function of an interplay between sedimentation rate, the degree of bioturbation, and agitation of the sediment by currents. Early cementation was a significant factor in inhibiting later dolomitisation of some slope sediments by restricting the intergranular movement of dolomitising brines. Dolomitisation of Raisby Formation slope carbonates was additionally influenced by distance from the shelf area of the cycle 1 carbonate wedge, which is inferred to have been the source of dolomitising fluids, and local stratigraphic variations in porosity and permeability.
The Carboniferous dendroid graptolites of Britain and Ireland
Authors: Chapman A. J. , Rickards R. B. , Grayson R. F.
Published: December 2009

Carboniferous graptolites are rare in Britain and Ireland, occurring most commonly in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and particularly at a few sites on Pendle Hill. Despite this there is a considerable diversity, and the following are described:
Dendrograptus whitewellensis
sp. nov.,
D. rileyi,
sp. nov.,
D. oldhami
sp. nov.,
Dictyonema kittyae
sp. nov.,
Callograptus monensis
(Hind),
C. sevastopuloi
sp. nov.,
Pseudodictyonema heyi
sp. nov.,
P. carboniferus
(Hind),
P. crassum
(Girty),
P.
spp. A. & B.,
Ptiograptus fournieri
Ubaghs, and
Stelechocladia ubaghsi
sp. nov. Three genera,
Pseudodictyonema, Ptiograptus
and
Stelechocladia
are recorded from Britain for the first time. Several species represent the latest record of the genus:
Dendrograptus oldhami, Callograptus monensis, Pseudodictyonema heyi, Ptiograptus fournieri,
and
Stelechocladia ubaghsi. Dictyonema kittyae
is the penultimate record of the genus, and the latest in this region. The graptolites are grouped into three families:
Dendrograptidae (Dendrograptus, Callograptus
and
Dictyonema); Pseudodictyonemidae
fam. nov.
(Pseudodictyonema, Ptiograptus);
and
Stelechocladiidae
fam. nov.
(Stelechocladia).
The graptolites appear to have lived in small, low diversity faunules in shallow, shelf seas or on topographic highs. The Pendle Hill forms occur in turbidites and may be derived from the Central Lancashire High a short distance to the south. Their occurrence is discussed in terms of their palaeoecology. The Pendle Dendroid Bed is formally defined.
The interpretation of gravity and aeromagnetic data for the geological investigation of the Sellafield area, west Cumbria
Authors: Kimbell G. S.
Published: December 2009

Potential field modelling has been used to test structural models of the Permo-Triassic cover sequence in the Sellafield area. An analysis of rock density data indicated that the main density interfaces occur at the base of the Calder Sandstone and the base of the St Bees Sandstone, and these horizons were employed in 3D gravity stripping. In addition, 2.5D gravity and magnetic modelling was conducted along selected profiles, with structures constrained by boreholes and good quality seismic reflection data, but subject to modification elsewhere. These studies highlighted shortcomings in earlier models for the margins of the Ravenglass Sub-basin and have led to new versions which agree better with available data. Subsequent drilling has confirmed the validity of the re-interpretation. Gravity data provide strong evidence of a north-west-trending fault zone which bounds the north-eastern corner of the Ravenglass Sub-basin. The sharp change in the strike of the basin margin represented by this fault zone probably arose because of the influence of pre-existing basement structures (granites and lines of weakness) on basin evolution. Relatively magnetic rocks within the Borrowdale Volcanic Group can be traced beneath Permo-Triassic cover using aeromagnetic data; the magnetic signature relating to the displacement of these rocks at the margins of the Ravenglass Sub-basin provides corroboration of models based on gravity data.
Seismic reflection data and the internal structure of the Lake District batholith, Cumbria, northern England
Authors: Evans D. J. , Rowley W. J. , Chadwick R. A. , Kimbell G. S. , Millward D.
Published: December 2009

Seismic reflection data across the western margin of the Lake District batholith reveal reflector-poor and reflector-rich areas within components of the intrusion. Synthetic seismograms generated from a series of velocity models have been used to interpret a representative panel of a seismic reflection profile across the western boundary of the batholith. Results indicate that the reflections bounding large, wedge-like reflector-rich zones may be associated with granite/country rock acoustic impedance boundaries. The reflector-rich zones are interpreted as bodies of country rock intruded by the granite and the reflection-poor areas as laccolithic granitic components of the batholith. Reflector-rich areas within the main body of the Lake District batholith may arise from either areas of included country rock, sills or fracture zones within the granite. The areal extent of the wedge-like zones of reflections suggests the intrusion hereabouts comprises a series of laccolithic bodies. It is interpreted that the subsurface western margin of the intrusion has a jagged, ‘cedar-tree’ profile, the intrusive envelope to which is steeper than previous gravity models imply for a ‘simple’ batholith margin. Such a configuration is compatible with observed gravity data.
UK NIREX geological investigations at Sellafield
Authors: Michie U. McL. , Bowden R. A.
Published: December 2009

Geological investigations of the Sellafield area, west Cumbria by UK NIREX Ltd are part of a site characterization process to assess its suitability for the construction of an underground radioactive waste repository. The geological characterization is an input to the NIREX post-Closure Safety Assessment. This will address all aspects of post-closure radiological safety of the repository, particularly the potential for radionuclide migration in groundwater back to the surface (the biosphere) through the various geological units (the geosphere). This characterization forms the largest geotechnical investigation in Britain and encompasses scales of study from ‘large scale, regional’, covering north-west England and the East Irish Sea Basin to ‘microscopic’, requiring detailed examination of drill cores and individual rock fractures.