Lithostratigraphy and palaeoenvironments of the Cambrian in SW Wales

Abstract

AbstractThe classic Cambrian succession of SW Wales comprises a succession of clastic rocks some 1250 m thick that make up part of the Dyfed Supergroup. The existing lithostratigraphical framework owes much to the Nineteenth Century researchers, with relatively little detailed work having been published since. We here present a detailed, rationalized and revised lithostratigraphy for the Cambrian part of the Dyfed Supergroup of the area. Where possible and appropriate, we have retained original and well-known names for formations and other units in harmony with current usage. However, the recognition of four lithostratigraphical groups is overly complex and sometimes unworkable, and a two-fold subdivision is proposed instead. The Caerfai and much of the Lower and Middle Solva groups of earlier usage comprise conglomerates, pebbly sandstones and brightly coloured fine- to coarse-grained sandstones: all are here combined into a revised Caerfai Group. By excluding the silt-dominated Upper Solva division, the Caerfai Group is readily divided into lower and upper parts comprising conglomerates and/or pebbly sandstones, with sandstones and siltstones dominant in between. These rocks comprise the Ogof Golchfa (new), St Non's, Caerfai Bay, Caer Bwdy Bay, Newgale (new) and Porth Clais (new) formations. The following members (all new) are recognized within the Newgale Formation: the Trwyncynddeiriog, Pen-y-Cyfrwy and Cwm Mawr members. Ichnofossils from the upper part of the Ogof Golchfa Formation suggest that Cambrian deposition in the area began in Unnamed Cambrian Series 2 (C2) times. Body fossils and radiometric dating show that the Caerfai Bay to Porth Clais formations span the interval from Cambrian Series 2, Unnamed Cambrian Stage 3 (such stages are denoted by CS3, CS4 etc. below), probably to the Ptychagnostus gibbus Biozone (CS5). The former Upper Solva Group, Menevian Group and Lingula Flags comprise the newly erected Porth-y-rhaw Group, a 687 m-thick unit of fine sandstones, siltstones and mudstones, within which a further five formations are recognized. These are the Whitesands Bay, Menevia, Aber Llong (all new), Ogof Velvet (revised) and Treffgarne Bridge formations. The Porth-y-rhaw Group spans the Tomagnostus fissus Biozone (C3, Drumian) to the Olenus cataractes Biosubzone (Furongian, Paibian). The overall two-fold subdivision of the Cambrian part of the Dyfed Supergroup in the area accords broadly with the first lithostratigraphical scheme proposed for the area, and is comparable with the separation of the Harlech Grits and Mawddach groups in northern and central Wales.The oldest part of the Caerfai Group formed in a tectonically active context and records a transition from alluvial fan deposits, through braided stream environments, into transgressive nearshore marine sandstones. These sediments were derived from the west, and as well as locally-sourced material, include lithic clasts and grains derived from a presumed southwestwards extension of the Monian Composite Terrane. Above lie sedimentary deposits formed under a wide range of conditions, ranging from tidally-influenced to turbidites. Further evidence of active tectonism is found in the easterly-derived fan-delta sedimentary deposits of the higher part of the Caerfai Group and lower part of the Porth-y-rhaw Group. Deposition of the latter began with fine-grained turbidites deposited in a mid–outer shelf setting. These pass up first into hemipelagites, then into sedimentary rocks deposited on a storm-dominated shelf, and finally a very extensive shallow subaqueous delta platform formed in a passive margin setting.