Lithostratigraphical subdivision of the Sherwood Sandstone Group (Triassic) of the northeastern part of the Carlisle Basin, Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway, UK

Abstract

Synopsis Two formations, the St Bees Sandstone and Kirklinton Sandstone, have been mapped in the past within the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group of the eastern part of the Carlisle Basin, Cumbria, and adjacent parts of Dumfries and Galloway, UK. However, previous workers have found considerable difficulty in consistently identifying, defining and mapping the Kirklinton Sandstone Formation. The principal lithological change within the Sherwood Sandstone Group is between mainly fine-grained sandstones that are commonly micaceous and contain numerous mudstone interbeds in the lower and middle parts of the group, and fine- to coarse-grained sandstones with rare or no mica and few mudstone partings at the top of the group. This change occurs within the Kirklinton Sandstone Formation as previously mapped. This paper considers ways of subdividing the group lithostratigraphically and the nomenclature to be adopted. All options have some associated problems, but, in view of the recently determined similarities with the contiguous sandstones offshore, the adoption of the same terminology as that in the adjacent East Irish Sea and Solway Firth basins is suggested, i.e. the St Bees Sandstone Formation below (subdivided where possible into Rottington Sandstone and Calder Sandstone members) and the Ormskirk Sandstone Formation above.

Sedimentary flow heterogeneities in the Triassic U.K. Sherwood Sandstone Group: Insights for hydrocarbon exploration

“…The assemblage of lithofacies present in the succession of the Sherwood Sandstone Group demonstrates accumulation under the influence of an arid to semiarid climatic regime, which characterized the Permian and Triassic basins in England and South West Scotland (Figure ) during the Early and Middle Triassic times (Brookfield, , ; Meadows, ; Schmid, Worden, & Fisher, ). Indeed, the absence of fossils, palaeosols, and root traces (rhizocretions) in the fluvial deposits of the Sherwood Sandstone Group of Induan and Olenekian ages in the Carlisle, Vale of Eden, and eastern Irish Sea Basin supports the inference of arid climate conditions (Brookfield, , ; Holliday et al, ; N. S. Jones & Ambrose, ; Wakefield et al, ). Additionally, red beds of fluvial and aeolian affinity have widely been interpreted as indication of aridity in the Triassic deposits of NW Europe (Bourquin, Rigollet, & Bourges, ; Mader, ; Olivarius et al, ; Preto et al, ; Simms & Ruffell, ; Tucker & Benton, ).…”

“…Lithostratigraphic scheme and nomenclature of the Permo‐Triassic succession in sedimentary basins of Great Britain (based on Ambrose, Hough, Smith, & Warrington, ; N. S. Jones & Ambrose, ; Holliday, Jones, & McMillan, ; Hounslow & McIntosh, ; Hounslow & Morton, ; Hounslow & Ruffell, ; Hounslow et al, ; Newell, ) [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Characterization of a fluvial aquifer at a range of depths and scales: the Triassic St Bees Sandstone Formation, Cumbria, UK

“…In this region, the Sherwood Sandstone Group attains a typical thickness of 1,300 m ( Fig. 1c; Akhurst et al 1998;Jones and Ambrose 1994;Nirex 1993aNirex , 1997 and is formally divided into three different formations: the St Bees, Calder and Ormskirk Sandstone formations (Barnes et al 1994;Holliday et al 2008). The study area (~3.5 × 20 km wide) is located in the St Bees-Sellafield area in NW England (Fig.…”

“…The St Bees Sandstone aquifer is dominated by fine-tomedium-grained sandstone of fluvial origin that passes upwards into the overlying aeolian-dominated succession Holliday et al 2008). The Brockram Formation, which consists of low-permeability deposits of Permian age (conglomerate with a silty matrix, evaporites and shale) underlies the St Bees Sandstone aquifer forming an aquitard unit (Allen et al 1997;Streetly et al 2000).…”

Chapter 17 Activities between 1910 and 1917

“…The correlation and naming problems were really only solved when offshore Irish Sea oil-and gas-seeking boreholes provided complete sections and the Triassic stratigraphy of the Carlisle Basin was systematized as late as 2008 when reference was made to Gregory's only-partly correct views (Holliday et al 2008). …”