Scarborough Geological Watching Brief: Toll House Shaft Site, Castle Hill SSSI Geology and Regional Geophysics Internal Report IR/13/025 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Geology and Regional Geophysics INTERNAL REPORT IR/13/025 Scarborough Geological The National Grid and other Watching Brief: Toll House Shaft Ordnance Survey data © Crown Copyright and database rights 2013. Ordnance Survey Licence Site, Castle Hill SSSI No. 100021290. Keywords Scarborough; Castle Hill, Toll J H Powell and J B Riding House Shaft; Geology; Callovian-Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic, SSSI Contributor National Grid Reference Centre point: E 505209.71 B M Cox N. 488927.96 Map Editors Sheet 54, 1:50 000 scale, Scarborough A S Howard & J Ford Front cover Oblique aerial view of Castle Hill looking NW; courtesy of Arup (photograph courtesy of www.petersmith.com) Bibliographical reference Powell, J H and Riding, J B. 2013. Scarborough Geological Watching Brief; Toll House Shaft Site, Castle Hill SSSI British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/13/025. 48 pp + figures. Copyright in materials derived from the British Geological Survey’s work is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and/or the authority that commissioned the work. You may not copy or adapt this publication without first obtaining permission. Contact the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Section, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, e-mail [email protected]. You may quote extracts of a reasonable length without prior permission, provided a full acknowledgement is given of the source of the extract. © NERC 2013. 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Additional scientific studies were funded by the BGS. The general site at Castle Hill, and more specifically South Toll House Cliff, is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as designated by Natural England. It provides an excellent section through the Middle and Upper Jurassic succession of the upper Osgodby Formation and overlying Oxford Clay Formation. Furthermore, the site is of significant current and historical scientific interest as it was studied and extensively collected down to the sea-level (prior to the construction of Marine Drive) by pioneering geologists who established the ammonite biostratigraphy of the Callovian to Oxfordian sucession in the Cleveland (Yorkshire) Basin. The lower exposures have not been visible since the late 19th century, hence the importance of recording the site investigation borehole cores and the geology exposed during shaft excavations. The scientific results of the site investigation boreholes at the Toll House shaft site are integrated in the report with information obtained during the incremental excavation of the shaft to ca. -20 m OD depth, together with additional borehole data from the surrounding Castle Hill area. Acknowledgements A large number of individuals in BGS and Arup have contributed to the project. Of the many individuals who have contributed to the project we would particularly like to thank the following: Dr Beris Cox for identifying the macro-fossils, especially ammonites, from the boreholes and shaft. Dr Andy Howard (BGS) for reviewing the report and advising on Jurassic trace fossil assemblages. Jon Ford (BGS) for supporting additional scientific studies and comments on the manuscript. Tom Casey, Arup (Leeds), for initiating the project and advising on the engineering geology at all stages of the study. Helen Miles, Arup (Leeds) for arranging and supervising site visits, collecting and photographing bagged samples in the shaft. Giuseppe La Vigna, Site Agent, Morgan Sindall Gronmij for arranging access to the site and H&S briefings. Engineers and contractors at Ward Burke, for access to the shaft and supervising H&S in the shaft. Dr Stuart Gowland, Ichron Ltd, for information on Jurassic trace fossils. Peter Smith (www.petersmith.com) for use of oblique aerial photographs. Paul Witney (BGS) for digital photography of the core and the BGS Core Store team for delivery of the core to BGS and core slabbing. Dr Ian Wilkinson (BGS) for identification of the foraminifera in Figure 11. Becky Bedson, Pretinder Prem and Lynne Riley (BGS) for project support and contractual advice. i IR/13/025 Final Last modified: 2013/10/25 11:22 Contents Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... i Contents .......................................................................................................................................... ii Summary ....................................................................................................................................... iii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 2 Site Location and Access ....................................................................................................... 2 3 Importance of the Toll House SSSI site ................................................................................ 2 4 Borehole Investigations and methodology ........................................................................... 4 5 Shaft Investigations ................................................................................................................ 4 6 Sedimentology, biostratigraphy and petrology ................................................................... 4 6.1 Geological overview of castle hill .................................................................................. 4 6.2 stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the Toll House Pumping Station Boreholes ........... 5 6.3 StratigraPhy and structural geology of the Toll House pumping station shaft ............. 10 7 Sedimentology, stratigraphy and structural geology of the Toll House site in its regional context ........................................................................................................................... 11 7.1 Sedimentology .............................................................................................................. 11 7.2 LithoStratigraphical questions ...................................................................................... 15 7.3 Biostratigraphy ............................................................................................................. 16 7.4 Structural Geology ........................................................................................................ 20 8 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 20 9 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 22 Appendix 1 Toll House boreholes: core photographs ........................................................ 23 Appendix 2 Macrofossil identifications from the Toll House shaft .................................. 39 Notes: Depths below ordnance datum (OD); Numbers refer to JHP samples numbers. ....... 39 Appendix 3 List of macropalaeontological