Basement control of structures in the Mesozoic rocks in the Strait of Dover region, and its reflexion in certain features of the present land and submarine topography

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review current information and opinions on the structures of the concealed Palaeozoic rocks of southeastern England and adjacent parts of northwestern Europe. The authors attempt a regional synthesis, which suggests that certain structural trends in these older rocks have been reactivated several times in the subsequent history of the area, and in some cases control the alinement of present-day surface features. We have drawn on the accumulated data of field surveys, deep boreholes and geophysical investigations carried out by the Institute of Geological Sciences, and also information obtained during the commercial search for coal and oil. The results of marine gravity measurements recently made by I.G.S. and the Admiralty in the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea are presented for the first time. Similarly, we are glad to include data from M r P. L. Rumsby’s recent analyses of fault trends in the Kent collieries, for the National Coal Board. Reference is also made to some of the results of the Channel Tunnel site investigation 1964 5 (Destombes & Shephard-Thorn 1971). Published literature and maps form the basis of our remarks on northern Europe, though we are grateful to Destombes for unpublished information on the Boulonnais.