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This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights and duplication or sale of all or part is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for research, private study, criticism/review or educational purposes. Electronic or print copies are for your own personal, non- commercial use and shall not be passed to any other individual. No quotation may be published without proper acknowledgement. For any other use, or to quote extensively from the work, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder/s. ---\ Variations in tectonic style and setting in British coalfields by J. H. Rippon Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Keefe for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1997 ABSTRACT British Carboniferous coalfield datasets are used for mapping, analysis, and modelling of depositional and structural patterns, through a significant stratigraphical range and across a variety of tectonic settings. Westphalian depositional patterns are re-interpreted using channel axis orientations. Major flows were northeasterly into northeast Britain, westerly into the Pennine Basin, and southwesterly through South Wales. Most systems prograded into freshwater lakes. Tectonic depocentres had little effect on channel pathways, but significant effects on net depositional thicknesses, and sandstone and coal connectivity patterns. Varying depositional controls are evaluated, and a complex model is proposed, integrating these; simple sequence stratigraphical interpretations are inappropriate. Many sulphur variations in the coals reflect the channel inflows rather than marine invasions, which were only occasionally important, and were moderated by many local effects.. Structural and sedimentological criteria are proposed for the identification of syn-depositional faulting. Except in Scotland, few syn-depositional movements on specific faults are identifiable from the sedimentary record; some inherited structures continued to grow, as sub-basin bounding faults. These, and large post-depositionalstructures, generated mosaics of crustal compartments within which fault patterns and jointing orientations demonstrate varied block responsesto tectonic events. Coal jointing orientations are considered to record Variscan near, far, and distant field stress, progressively north from South Wales, across central/northem England, and into Scotland. Recent data on Carboniferous igneous activity are described and interpreted in the Scottish Midland Valley. The Westphalian igneous provinces of the southern Pennine Basin and Oxfordshire are discussed and recommended for further research. Two case studies illustrate ways in which detailed coalfield data may be used for regional tectonic analysis, namely the evolution of the Kincardine Basin and Ochil Fault in Scotland, and the identification of a specific Variscan thrusting style in Kent. CONTENTS page PREFACE I ..................................................................................................................................... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, 3 ............................................................................................................ CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 4 ................................................................................... ......... 1.1 Background 4 ...... I....................... ......................................................................................... 1.2 Depositional 5 settings ....................................................................................................... 1.3 Correlation diachronism 6 and ... ......................................................................................... 1.4 Some burial history 8 aspects of ......................................................................................... 1.4.1 Coal 8 ranking ....................................................................................................................... 1.4.2 Some features 10 other ........................................................................................................ 1.5 Conclusions 12 ..................................................................................................................... 1.6 References 12 ........................................................................................................................ 1.7 Figure figures 14 captions; .................................................................................................. CHAPTER 2. SAND BODY ORIENTATION, PALAEOFLOW ANALYSIS, AND BASIN FILL IMPLICATIONS IN THE WESTPHALIAN A-C OF GREAT BRITAIN 15 ..................... 2.1 Introduction; data sets ....................................................................................................15 2.2 Review 16 of previous work ................................................................................................. ZZI Background ......................................................................................................................16 ZZ2 Scotland the England 17 and north of .................................................................................... ZZ3 7he Pennine Basin ............................................................................................................19 ZZ4 South Wales 22 ...................................................................................................................... 2.2.5 7he Culm Basin England 23 of southwest ................................................... .......................... 2.3 The Westphalian A-C depositional 24 area ............................ ............................................. Z 3.1 Tectonic 24 setting................................................................................................................. Z3.2 Basin margins 25 and uplands ............................................................................................... Z3.3 Depositional between 27 continuity coalfields......................................................................... 2.4 Sedimentological the Westphalian 27 summary of coal-bearing ....................................... Z4.1 Regional 27 setting................................................................................................................. Z4.2 Cyclicity 28 and sequence stratigraphy .................................................................................. Z 4.3 Lithotacies, bidfacies, 31 and correlation ................................................................................ Z4.4 Channel 32 system mapping .................................................................................................. Z4.5 Channel hierarchies 34 ........................................................................................................... 24.6 Channel 34 orientation assessment ....................................................................................... 2.5 Regional the data 37 analysis of .......................................................................................... Z5.1 Scotland 37 ........................................................................................................................... Z 5.2 Northern England 37 .............................................................................................................. Z5.3 Pennine Basin 38 .............................................................................................. .................... ii Z5.4 South Wales 40 ...................................................................................................................... Z5.5 Flows the Wales-BrabantHigh? 41 across .............................................................................. 2.6 Palaeogeographical 41 reconstruction ................................................................................ 26.1 Palaeoflow 41 provinces......................................... ................................................................ 26.2 Source 42 areas..................................................................................................................... 2.6.3 Palaeoflow destinations 43 ..................................................................................................... 2.7 Implications for the fill the Pennine Basin 44 of ................................................................. Z7.1 Depocentre 44 ........................................................................................................................ Z7.2 Channel trajectories 44 .......................................................................................................... Z 7.3 Sandstone 45 concentrations.................................. ................................................................ Z 7.4 Erosion features 46 ................................................................................................................ Z 7.5 Bathymetry 46 ....................................................... ................................................................ 2.8 Conclusions 47 ...................................................................................................................... 2.9 References 48 ...................................................... ................................................................ 2.10 Figure figures 56 captions; .................................. ................................................................ CHAPTER 3. CONCEPTUAL MODELLING OF BRITISH