The Upper Band-Better Bed sequence (Lower Coal Measures, Westphalian A) in the central and south Pennine area of England

Abstract

AbstractAn analysis of outcrop and borehole information relating to the strata between the Upper Band and Better Bed coals of the central and south Pennines shows that two lithological facies can be recognized within a cyclic sequence of mudstones, siltstones and sandstones. In one facies, sandstones and siltstones contain abundant mica, and argillaceous beds are neutral grey in colour. Petrographically the sandstones are feldspathic but contain little lithic material other than multigrain quartz. In the other facies, mica is much less common, argillaceous beds are greenish grey, and sandstones and siltstones contain a notable proportion of chloritic lithoclasts. The sediments of both facies were deposited in lower delta plain/shallow-water delta environments, and palaeocurrent measurements show that the micaceous facies was supplied from the north or east while the green facies came in from the west.Three named divisions of the sequence are based on recognition of the two facies types. They correspond roughly with three upward-coarsening transgressive–regressive sedimentary cycles of presumed eustatic origin. In the lowest part of the succession (Shibden division) the main clastic input was of the micaceous type. Sandstones are found only in the north of the basin, where they form a series of superimposed delta-front bodies. Mudstones were deposited elsewhere, in a large body of open water which, although linked to the sea, was generally of lowered salinity. The restriction of the delta-front sandstones to the same geographical area over a long period of time is attributed to differential subsidence of the basin across deep-seated structures.The sediments of the overlying Brighouse division belong to the green facies, and the source of the elastics lay to the west. After an initial period of mudstone deposition in an extensive, apparently non-marine, body of open water, fluviodeltaic sand and silt spread across the entire area. There is no obvious control of sandstone distribution by basement structures.The succeeding Bradley Wood division includes sediments of both micaceous and green facies. A lobe of medium-grained micaceous sandstone around Sheffield (Thurlstone Channel) represents a fluvial incursion from the east and a linear body of fine-grained green-facies sandstone south of Chesterfield (Bole Hill Channel) represents a similar incursion from the west. Elsewhere, small units of finer-grained elastics are probably deltaic deposits linked to the same sources. The location of the channel sand-bodies suggests control by deep-seated fractures.