Integrated geophysical/geological modelling of the Caledonian and Precambrian basement of southern Britian

Abstract

AbstractQuantitative modelling of potential field data has been used to test and extend geological sections constructed for the new British Geological Survey Tectonic Map of Britain and Ireland. Three of the profiles cross part of the Anglo-Brabant Massif and provide new information on the nature of the pre-Mesozoic basement. A profile across southern England (passing just to the west of London) suggests that a significant contribution to observed gravity variations in the region results from changes in the thickness of relatively low density Lower Palaeozoic rocks. It also identifies a major deep-seated body with relatively high magnetic susceptibility and low density which is interpreted as a Precambrian cratonic core underlying the southeastern part of the Midlands Microcraton. Profiles across central and eastern England reveal major boundaries within the Precambrian basement, some of which coincide with structures mapped at surface. A number of intrusions of probable Caledonian age have been recognized, including bodies beneath the Widmerpool Gulf and The Wash. Those beneath The Wash appear to lie in a discrete basement region which separates belts of more magnetic basement lying to the northwest and southeast.