Tectonic Evolution of The Bristol Channel Borderlands Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE Tectonic Evolution of the Bristol Channel borderlands
3. THE LATE PALAEOZOIC INVERSION HISTORY OF FAULTS IN NORTH DEVON AND NORTH CORNWALL AND THE VARISCAN TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE REGION. 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.1.1 AIMS The primary aim of this chapter is to demonstrate the Devonian and Carboniferous inversion history of faults in North Devon and Cornwall. Evidence for fault inversion will be discussed in terms of (1) regional studies of facies distribution and (2) local structural geological case studies. 1. The regional studies will take account of hypothetical Devonian and Carboniferous landmasses as well as Carboniferous basin formation and dynamics. 2. The local case studies will describe areas along the North Devon and Cornish coasts. Detailed examination of representative faults within the North Devon and Culm Basins will also illustrate the inversion history. A second aim is to give a comparative account of the Devonian and Carboniferous history of South Devon, North Devon and North Cornwall as a basis for later comparisons with the geological history of South Wales (Chapter 4). This regional account will present evidence for the nature of the offshore stratigraphy beneath the Bristol Channel and will include evidence for the presence of major offshore Variscan structures, including north- westerly trending faults which appear to have played a significant role in the evolution of the Bristol Channel Borderlands. Evidence for offshore structures will also be given in Chapter 6 based on further detailed onshore geological surveys and case studies. A final aim of this chapter is to consider the Variscan tectonic load in relation to Variscan basin dynamics. This load was postulated (see Chapter 2) to occur in North Devon and the Bristol Channel and is thought to have produced the foreland basin of South Wales. Furthermore in terms of the regional evolution it will be demonstrated how the NW trending faults could have controlled the lateral, along-strike distribution of the Variscan load and controlled movement and partitioned structures within the foreland basin of South Wales.
3.1.2 DEFINITIONS The main result of investigations into the geology of North Devon is the recognition of two Late Palaeozoic basins, the North Devon Basin (Exmoor Basin) described in part by, eg, Goldring (1962), Tunbridge & Whittaker (1978), Durrance & Laming (1982), Edmonds et al (1985), and the Culm Basin (Bude Basin) described by Thomas (1988) and in part by, eg, Freshney & Taylor (1972), Edmonds et al (1979), Freshney et al (1979a, 1979b), Selwood & Thomas (1986). The North Devon Basin The North Devon Basin (Fig. 3.1b) occupies the northern limb of the major synclinorium of SW England (Fig. 3.1a) and extends on land from Morte Point, west of Ilfracombe, to the Quantock Hills in the east (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheets 276-279 & 292-295 Ilfracombe, Bideford & Lundy) and southwards, through Exmoor, to Barnstaple and North Molton where it meets the northern crop of the Culm Basin (defined below). Similar rocks to those of Morte Point also crop out on Lundy to the west (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 292 Bideford & Lundy).
(A) The North Devon Basin consists of Lower-Middle and Upper Devonian strata which form a thick siliciclastic sequence dominated by slate and fine-grained lithic sandstones. The North Devon Basin contains the oldest rocks in the northern limb of the synclinorium and shows a conformable stratigraphic relationship and faulted contact with overlying rocks of the Culm Basin.
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The detailed sedimentology of the Culm Basin has been studied by, for example, De Raaf et al (1965), Walker (1970), Elliott (1976) & Xu Li (1990). The turbidites range from mudstone dominated in lower parts through to thickly-bedded sandstone dominated in upper parts of the sequence (eg, Higgs, 1984). The strata of the Culm Basin range in age from Dinantian to Westphalian C. The latter age is significant in the evolution of the Bristol Channel Borderlands (Gayer & Jones, 1989) in that it marks the end of Carboniferous sedimentation in the Culm Basin and the onset of Pennant Measure sedimentation in South Wales. 3.2 REGIONAL EVIDENCE FOR STRUCTURAL INVERSION 3.2.1 INTRODUCTION Devon and Cornwall contain a nearly complete Upper Palaeozoic succession ranging in age from Lower Devonian to Westphalian C (Allen, 1974; Burne & Moore, 1971). However, inspection of the relationship between fault structure and stratigraphy does not yield an obvious inversion history for North Devon. The following sections attempt to illustrate the structural history of the region (1) with reference to the influence of hypothetical Upper Palaeozoic landmasses (section 3.2.2) and the location of sediments derived from them and (2) from detailed case studies of Devonian sediments and their potential relationship with local faulting (section 3.2.3). The review of the regional evidence for fault inversion is given in preparation for the detailed surveys along the North Devon and Cornish coasts. 3.2.2 THE BRISTOL CHANNEL LANDMASS Early Devonian The Early Devonian tectonic setting of SW Britain is uncertain. However based on regional considerations, such as the position of SW Britain in relation to End Caledonian tectonic The Culm Basin The Culm Basin, described in case studies during the later sections of this chapter, is folded into a major synclinorium (Fig. 3.1b) and extends from the area around Instow southwards to Rusey (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheets 307-309 & 322-324 Bude, Boscastle) where it displays a definite faulted contact with the Trevone Basin to the south (Matthews, 1977). The axis of the basin extends east-west from Bude to Crediton where it is marked geologically by the Crediton Trough. The Culm Basin consists mainly of turbiditic siliciclastic sequences (eg, Mackintosh, 1964; Melvin, 1986; Fig. 3.1a) overlying a relatively thin sequence of cherts (eg, Prentice, 1960). The earliest general evidence of Late Palaeozoic tectonism in Devon is the onset of fluvial deposition of the Middle Dittonian to Breconian Dartmouth Slate. Its extensive thickness (3100m) (Hobson, 1976; Dineley, 1966) must have required regional subsidence. provinces and also prior to Variscan shortening, three possible hypotheses are (1) SW Britain was affected by regional intracratonic extension following the Caledonian orogeny; (2) SW Britain was affected by regional cratonic extension, eg near a passive margin, unrelated to extension in South Wales (3) SW Britain was situated on the cratonic side of a tectonically stable passive margin.
(B)
The Dartmouth Slate is comparable to the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Wales (King, 1934; Allen, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1974; Allen & Tarlo, 1963; Tunbridge, 1981) and possibly represents the first sediment deposited in Devon since Late Precambrian times. This view is based on the claim by Cope & Bassett (1987) that prior to sedimentation of the Dartmouth Slate a Precambrian landmass, Pretannia existed, which included Cornwall, Devon and the Bristol Channel. During the Early Palaeozoic, Pretannia in the south supplied sediment to the Welsh Basin in the north. Caledonian uplift of the Welsh Basin, that formed St George's Land, caused a reversal of the drainage (Cope & Bassett, 1987). It is not supposed that the Devonian of South Devon and South Wales necessarily lay in the same tectonic terrane. However there must have been a terrestrial pathway which allowed fluviatile systems to inter-link at least during Pragian and Emsian times.
Although tectonic unrest is also signalled by the occurrence of Lower Devonian volcanics in South Devon (Durrance, 1985), in support of hypothesis (3) above, it is possible that the most significant effect on sedimentation was brought about by marine transgression. Devonian eustatic sea level change may have had widespread influence due to the passivity of the tectonic environment in which Pretannia was situated during Pragian and Emsian times, replacing the fluvial environment with shallow marine conditions (Dineley, 1961; Simpson, 1951; Richter, 1967 and Hendriks, 1959). An acme of transgression could have resulted in carbonate sedimentation in South Devon in Mid Devonian Eifelian times (House, 1975). If there were little tectonism and no major structural break between South Wales and South Devon, the North Devon area would be expected to be underlain by Lower Devonian strata transitional in facies character to those of South Devon and South Wales. Mid Devonian There are three possible hypotheses for the Mid Devonian history of SW Britain: (1) areas in SW Britain were uplifted due to regional End-Caledonian, Acadian tectonism or regional strike-slip; (2) uplift was local and due to continued extension; and (3) a passive margin setting persisted from the Early Devonian in which the distribution of Mid Devonian facies was controlled by a eustatic rise in sea level. Strata of Mid Devonian age are well represented in North Devon. In argument for hypothesis (1), examination of Lower-Middle Devonian strata in South Wales and North Devon by Tunbridge (1986) revealed evidence for a Mid-Devonian Bristol Channel Landmass and postulated that it was generated by major strike-slip movement as a result of End Caledonian tectonism. Evidence for the Bristol Channel Landmass includes the southerly derived LowerMiddle Devonian conglomerates in South Wales eg the Ridgeway Conglomerate (Williams, 1971) and the Llanishen Conglomerate (Owen, 1974) and northerly derived sandstones in the Hangman Grits (Tunbridge, 1980). Cope & Bassett (1987) suggested that the northern flank of Pretannia could have been uplifted again to form the landmass so that tectonism in the Bristol Channel area must have been at least substantial enough to involve Precambrian basement.
Fig. 3.2 summarises hypotheses (1) & (2) above. a(i) represents the Early Palaeozoic northerly drainage from Pretannia into the Welsh Basin. a(ii) represents the Early Devonian reversal of drainage following Caledonian uplift. Extension in South Wales and Devon is directly related. b(i) represents the Early Palaeozoic northerly drainage over a hypothetically faulted basement. b(ii) represents Early Devonian extension unrelated to extension in South Wales, causing the local southerly drainage.
A recent structural model by Barnes & Andrews (1986) for South Cornwall suggests that during Middle and Late Devonian times the tectonic setting of South Cornwall also involved strike-slip movement, associated with the generation of oceanic crust and the deposition of melanges and conglomerates containing exotic metamorphic clasts in a complex Gramscatho basin.
Whilst it is difficult, owing to Variscan overprinting, to define the exact structural cause of landmass or basin formation, it nevertheless remains clear from the work of Barnes & Andrews (1986) that the tectonic environment had changed from the passive Early Devonian setting. In argument for hypothesis (2), North Devon was a sink for marginal shallow marine and fluvial sedimentation (Tunbridge, 1983). A shift in fluvial sedimentation from South Wales to North Devon probably marks an uplift event represented in South Wales by the Mid Devonian unconformity (Owen, 1974) and in the Bristol Channel by the formation of the Bristol Channel Landmass. Uplift in the north may have been due to local footwall uplift whilst sedimentation in the south may have been accommodated by the extension. An interesting feature in the Mid Devonian history of Devon is that as North Devon was being uplifted, South Devon was being transgressed. This appears incongruous unless a rise in sea level is considered (hypothesis 3) eg uplift in South Wales and the Bristol Channel may have exceeded the rate of sea level rise so that only South Devon became submerged. Further investigation into the type of fault control on the well established Devonian sequence of North Devon is necessary; some structural reasons favouring a phase of Devonian extension are given in Chapter 6. Late Devonian-Dinantian Fault controlled sedimentation occurred during Late Devonian times in South Wales (Powell, 1989) and South Devon (Selwood & Thomas, 1986; Selwood, 1990). Although not documented, faulting probably also occurred in North Devon during these times. However, investigation of Middle and Late Devonian sequences reveals no evidence for this type of structural control, as discussed in section 3.2.3. The transitional sequence across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary at the base of the Culm Basin succession illustrates the greatest regional effect on sedimentation during the Late Devonian, namely, a northward transgression (Anderton et al, 1979) which established deep water conditions to the south of the Bristol Channel and a carbonate platform to the north in South Wales (Ramsbottom, 1973; George et al, 1976) by Early Carboniferous times. The Bristol Channel Landmass of Mid Devonian origin must have been submerged during this time since very little terrigenous material was supplied to South Wales and North Devon.
However in argument for fault activity, it is possible that Lower Carboniferous carbonates deposited in the Mid Bristol Channel and Somerset area (Lees & Hennebert, 1982) developed on a fault-related topographic high. It is also possible that the limestone area was separated from the chert area of north Devon by a major fault line related to the structure that formed the Devonian Bristol Channel Landmass. The major facies change across the Bristol Channel may therefore reflect continued fault activity from Mid Devonian to Early Carboniferous times. Late Carboniferous A distinct change in structural regime is marked by the onset of turbiditic sedimentation in the Culm basin and siliciclastic sedimentation in South Wales. These events mark the beginning of Variscan thrusting (Kelling, 1988; Gayer & Jones, 1989) in the Bristol Channel Borderlands. Prior to this Variscan episode one possibility is that extensional faults formed the landmasses in Devonian times and subsequent facies boundaries during the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous. Such faults could have been reactivated as thrusts in the North Devon and Bristol Channel area (Chapter 6). It is significant here that sedimentation in the Culm Basin ended as southerly derived lithic sediment was being deposited in South Wales (Gayer & Jones, 1989). This would suggest the presence of a Late Carboniferous tectonic landmass in the Bristol Channel which again separated South Wales and Devon and could have been rejuvenated as a consequence of inversion tectonics. Furthermore this landmass possibly loaded the crust as part of a composite load extending southwards into Devon and Cornwall to form the peripheral foreland basin of South Wales in which further structures would have been reactivated. 3.2.3 EVIDENCE FOR SYNSEDIMENTARY TECTONIC DEFORMATION DURING THE LATE DEVONIAN IN NORTH DEVON. The sedimentology of the Upper Devonian rocks of the South Morte Bay coastal section were examined for evidence of Late Devonian synsedimentary faulting, in the light of work in SW Dyfed by Powell (1989) and in South Devon by Selwood & Thomas (1986) which demonstrated that Upper Devonian sediments were deposited in fault controlled sub-basins. Documentation of pre-Variscan extension in North Devon would be evidence for precursor structures for positive inversion during Variscan deformation. Evidence such as the presence of local coarse clastics or lateral facies variations was sought in the coastal sections of North Devon.
The following stratigraphic section (Fig. 3.3) was measured through the Upper Devonian Pickwell Down Sandstone (Edmonds et al, 1979) and the succeeding Upcott Slate of Goldring (1971).
In summary, the section provides no evidence of synsedimentary faulting; the lateral continuity of the formations (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheets 292 & 277 Bideford & Lundy and Ilfracombe) is evidence rather for tectonic quiescence. Good evidence is however preserved for tidal and shallow marine sedimentation (Figs. 3.4a & 3.4b) which contrasts with the interpretation of the sequence by Goldring (1971) as a back swamp alluvial or shallow freshwater lake deposit; though Edmonds et al (1985) state that the Upcott Slate formed in disturbed shallow waters of rivers, lakes, deltas, lagoons and seas.
The section was measured in two parts: a lower incomplete section and an upper complete section. For comparison with the upper section, isolated outcrops of Pickwell Down Sandstone were measured from central parts of Morte Bay forming the lower incomplete section. Details of the sections are given in Appendix 3.1. The overall upward-fining succession could have been produced by progradation of lagoonal and a muddy tidal flat and near shore marine sediments. Marine transgression could have introduced the succeeding Baggy Sandstone (Goldring 1971) as a barrier sandstone sequence.
The Upper Devonian stratigraphy of North Devon reveals evidence which emphasises the marine influence on sedimentation from the prodeltaic Morte Slate (Webby, 1966) through to the Pilton Shale (Edmonds et al, 1985; Goldring, 1970) with the Upcott Slate possibly representing the culmination in regression into tidally influenced waters. 3.3 CASE STUDIES OF FAULTS IN NORTH DEVON AND NORTH CORNWALL, VARISCAN KINEMATICS AND STRUCTURAL STYLE. Field work was carried out in the North Devon and the Culm basins to investigate the movement history of faults as well as the general structural style of deformation. In particular it was intended to explore the possibility that Variscan structures might (in some cases) result from inversion of earlier extensional structures.
The thrusts show variable orientations and scale. The style of deformation is here thought to be closely related to the lithological control imposed by the various Devonian formations and also of possible significance to fault inversion history related to the phase of Variscan deformation in which they were formed. An example of lithological control on the style of deformation is the contrast in competence of the relatively undeformed Baggy Sandstone and the Morte Slate. The Baggy Sandstone is only affected by regional folding whereas the Morte Slate contains a pervasive cleavage, thrusts and metre to decametre wavelength folds. Two types of thrusts can be identified on the basis of their orientation. The first set are mesoscale northward and southward transporting ramp thrusts which have been reoriented into anomalous northward and southward dipping orientations. The second set of thrusts are mesoscopic to regional in scale and transport Devonian rocks northwards with displacements possibly exceeding 2km. In the Taunton area (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 295, Taunton), Devonian rocks are thrust over Carboniferous Limestone and Millstone Grit (Whittaker, 1975) whilst in North Devon decametre-scale thrusts and possible thrust-related folds of kilometre scale are observed along coastal sections. Example 1: Thrusts in Woody Bay and Lee Bay (SS680 490, SS691 494) On the southern limb of the North Devon Anticline, (Fig. 3.1a & b) the Hangman Grit Formation (Fig. 3.1a) contains decimetre to massive bedded bioturbated fine to medium grained wacke which shows a well developed S-asymmetry cleavage and metre-scale insequence thrusting (Fig. 3.6) with ESE strikes. The geometry of the thrusts changes from thrust ramp to thrust flat, such as at Crock Pits (Fig. 3.7). Well developed thrust ramp geometries occur in Lee Bay (Fig. 3.8). This is a typical geometry of thrusts within the upper part of the Lynton Beds and Hangman Grit Formation and, possibly, of thrusts beneath the Bristol Channel (see to Chapter 6). Thrusts in Woody Bay and Lee Bay displace beds which have a regional moderate southerly dip in the southern limb of the North Devon Anticline. The thrusts are not reoriented so are synregional scale folding. Example 2: Thrusts in Morte Bay, Woolacombe (SS454 438) Detailed mapping of the Morte Slate (Fig. 3.1a) along the coastal section between Woolacombe and Rockham Bay reveals decametre-scale folds (Fig. 3.9a).
3.3.1 THRUST DEFORMATION ALONG THE NORTH DEVON COAST Examination of Devonian strata along the North Devon Coast between Woolacombe and Porlock (Fig. 3.5) has revealed two populations of Variscan faults, a set of conjugate strikeslip faults and thrusts.
Rapid changes in the dip of bedding and cleavage along the section and comparisons of the large scale structure and minor structures suggest that these folds are thrust related (Fig. 3.9b). The orientation and decametre scale of the folding are similar to those at Foreland Point indicating that the folding and thrusting from Morte Bay to Bull Point and from Foreland Point to the east are coeval. However the concentration of cleavage, minor folding and small scale thrusting including back thrusting suggest that the incompetent nature of the Morte Slate also controlled the style of deformation so that some minor structures may have formed by accommodation.
Example 3: Thrusts at Ilfracombe, The Outfalls and Capstone Point (SS515 479, SS519 481) The Kentisbury Slates of the Ilfracombe Beds at The Outfalls contain mesoscopic reoriented south-dipping thrusts (Fig. 3.10). One such thrust contains a cleavage duplex which indicates a southward direction of transport (Fig. 3.11). The anomalous southward-directed thrust transport in relation to the southerly dip suggests pre-regional fold back thrusting.
The southward directed transport points to an early thrusting phase rather than thrust accommodation in the incompetent Kentisbury Slates during late folding (Fig. 3.12). Evidence for late thrusting comes from mapping at Capstone Point which reveals decametre scale ramp anticlines (Fig. 3.13a) and a variety of minor structures showing cross cutting relationships (Fig. 3.13b).
Example 4: Thrusting at Heddon's Mouth (SS655 497) ESE trending northward transporting thrusts and southward directed back thrusts at Heddon's Mouth (Fig. 3.14) occur in the red stained upper sections of the Lynton Beds and the lower sections of the Hangman Grit (Fig. 3.1a). Thrusting shows an anomalous dip in back steepened beds on the southern limb of the North Devon Anticline. Therefore these thrusts have been assigned a pre-regional fold age. Conversely the anomalous dip could have been formed due to local stacking and reorientation in the hangingwall of a late thrust.
Example 5: Wild Pear Beach Fault at Hangman Point (SS580 477) The steeply south-dipping fault downthrowing the Wild Pear Slates (Webby, 1965) in the south against the Hangman Grit, displays an extensional geometry (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 277 Ilfracombe, SS582 479). Folding and possible thrusting at the base of Hangman Point however display a distinct compressional geometry (Fig. 3.15).
In summary, the Devonian rocks of the North Devon basin contain a variety of Variscan thrusts which in some cases may have Devonian, early Variscan or late Variscan origins. Further investigation into the effects on shallow structure of positively inverting a basement network of faults could reveal how early thrusting is replaced by regional scale thrusting. 3.3.2 CARBONIFEROUS SYNSEDIMENTARY FAULTING AND EARLY
This points to a long movement history beginning with the reactivation of major E-W and ESE-WNW faults with the compressional structures being formed during this reactivation event. The present extensional geometry is probably due to Mesozoic extension (Chapter 7). This points to two phases of inversion Devonian-Carboniferous positive inversion and Carboniferous-Mesozoic negative inversion. Example 6: (SS785 500, SS821 491, SS899 493, SS957 483) Further examples of mesoscopic thrusts (some fold-related) occur to the east of Foreland Point, eg, at Wingate, Culbone, Hurlstone Point, and Minehead (Figs. 3.16a & 3.16b).
EXTENSIONAL FAULTING IN NORTH DEVON. Associated with the study of thrusting in North Devon, investigation was made into the prethrust history. Evidence for extension pre-dating Variscan thrusting was discovered at Hartland Point where an excellent example of extensional synsedimentary faulting occurs in the Bude Formation (Fig. 3.1a). Further evidence for pre-thrust extension was also discovered at Crackington Haven, Sandy Mouth and Upton Cross. Two possibilities of fault history exist. The first involves net extension of the North Devon and Culm Basins during the Carboniferous (i.e. an early extensional phase). The second involves kinematically thrust-related extension (Mapeo & Andrews, 1991)
and, also, synsedimentary faulting (i.e. a composite deformation phase). Field evidence from the following localities variously supports the former model of early extension and the latter model of syn-thrusting extension. Example 1: Hartland Point (SS230 277)
The prevalent structures at Hartland Point are decametre-scale chevron to tight rounded folds and northward transporting folded thrusts (Fig. 3.17). A series of mesoscale listric extensional synsedimentary faults contain sandstones in the hangingwalls which thicken towards the fault planes (Fig. 3.18). These represent the best evidence for pre-Variscan thrust synsedimentary fault movement. However, apart from other localities such as Upton Cross (Fig. 3.19; Enfield et al, 1985), they appear to be a local phenomenon and do not represent a separate extensional phase of deformation. Mesoscale thrusting has interfered with the synsedimentary faults, with one showing evidence for reactivation (Fig. 3.20).
Example 3: Sandy Mouth (SS201 100) Thrust related folds along the Sandy Mouth coastal section (Fig. 3.22) show evidence for a composite thrusting history and, also, for an earlier extensional event. Figs. 3.23 & 3.24 show the stratigraphy of hangingwall and footwall blocks and the kinematics along the various thrusts in a decametre-scale structure. Correlation of beds across the fault planes shows that the hangingwall block sequence is much thicker, pointing synsedimentary extensional faulting. Figs. 3.24 & 3.25 show the similarly composite kinematics of the succeeding thrust phase. 3.3.3 COMPOSITE FOLD AND FAULT HISTORIES IN THE CULM BASIN. The coastal section through the Culm Basin reveals that shortening was accommodated mainly by chevron folding (see field sketches in Appendix 3.2) which, as in the Sandy Mouth section could have been associated with a composite episode of thrusting and extension.
Example 2: Crackington Haven (SX143 968) In the Crackington Formation, low angle mesoscale listric extensional faults on the NE side of Crackington Haven have been reactivated as thrust faults and have been overridden by decametre-scale folds above a sub-horizontal thrust (Fig. 3.21). It is unclear whether the extension and compression were kinematically linked. Only one set of dip-slip slickenside lineations was observed on the listric fault planes so there is no proof of a separate reactivation phase apart from the metre scale coexistence of compressional folds and the extensional displacements along the faults.
The Welcombe Mouth section is another example showing the composite nature of chevron fold evolution and faulting.
Example: Welcombe Mouth (SS213 180) The diamond shaped chevron folding at Welcombe Mouth displays a well-developed horizontal cleavage fabric which may have been reoriented by a late flattening event (Fig. 3.26) or may have been formed later and overprinted an early steeply dipping cleavage associated with the initial chevron folding. Late faults also affect the two axial planes of the diamond shaped fold suggesting that post-fold faulting also occurred.
3.3.4 NET KINEMATIC REGIMES IN THE CULM BASIN Field sketches of Appendix 3.2 show the fold-dominated nature of shortening in the Culm Basin. It is interesting to speculate how a Devonoid faulted basement has affected Variscan deformation. Evidence has been given to show that early N-S extension has occurred in the Culm Basin so a model involving the early extension is a possible alternative to a net compressional model with subsidiary extension involved in the main deformation history (eg Bless et al, 1989). Bed length estimates of shortening reveal an average minimum value of about 50% in the northern Culm Basin. Allowing for Mesozoic extension, eg at Portledge and Speke's Mill Mouth, and for the Variscan shortening, a two-dimensional restoration along the coastal section can be presented to show an early extension of about 5% (Figs. 3.27 - 3.32).
Figures 3.27 to 3.32: section restoration of the Variscan geology along the North Cornish and Devon coast lines between Millook Haven in the south and Hartland Point in the north. 3.27: Basic structural section. 3.28: Synoptic structure. 3.29: Tentative linked thrust system. 3.30: Model of reactivation. 3.31: Reconstructed section of Pre-Permian structure. 3.32: Hypothetical extensional system (Pre-Variscan or Permian?).
The model involving early extension has been tested by tracing the sedimentological changes above a prominent shale marker horizon within the Bude Formation, the Sandy Mouth Shale (Fig. 3.33).
These changes shown in Fig. 3.34 occur across major NW trending faults. A much finer sequence is found to the north at Stanbury Mouth than to the south at Sandy Mouth which suggests either that facies changes were gradual or that hangingwall and footwall sequences differ due to synsedimentary extensional faulting along the NW trending faults.
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Further detailed stratigraphic surveying is required to enable a regional Variscan model to be proposed. Nevertheless one possibility is that the initial response in the Culm Basin to thrust loading was an extensional rearrangement involving the NW trending lineaments and the E-W faulted margins of basement blocks. Possible early extension along NW lineaments and along E-W trending faults such as the major Rusey Fault Zone, in the south, and decametre length faults from Bideford to Instow, in the north, was succeeded by positive inversion. Inversion could have formed the observed tightened southward asymmetric pop-up structure encompassing the whole Culm Basin, and reactivated the NW trending lineaments as the closely spaced set of dextral strike-slip faults. 3.3.5 ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE OF STRUCTURES Edmonds & Freshney (1980, BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 307 & 308, Bude) stated that numerous periclinal folds, ranging in length from tens to hundreds of metres, with limb lengths up to 500m, are impressed upon the major flexures in the Culm Basin.
Edmonds & Freshney (1980) stated that the sense of overturning of folds is highly variable, but may be related both to position within the structural belt and to collapse of minor folds down the flanks of major folds. The fanning of the facing direction of folds in the Culm Basin is considered by Ford (1990) to be due to hinterland escape along the top of a tilted fault block (Fig. 3.35). This basin scale folding is defined here as first order. In an inverted fault block model the origin and orientation of a number of second and third order folds, in the overlying basin, is due first order fault reactivation. This would be especially prevalent near the margins of the overlying basin. An investigation was therefore made along the northern margin of the Culm Basin for evidence to indicate the occurrence of a deep structure that affected deformation nearer to the surface.
The only lines of evidence for a sub-Culmian basement fault are (1) a change in fold facing It is vital to identify the scale and spacing of the basement structures beneath the Culm Basin that may have influenced any possible early extension, sedimentation and the observed late thrusting and folding. Examination of BGS maps illustrating the spacing of the NW trending faults throughout the Culm Basin shows that their spacing is similar to the wavelength of 'cliff-scale' chevron folds along the North Devon coastal section. The decametre scale folds and closely spaced NW trending faults are defined here as 3rd order structures. Larger folds of about 5.5km wavelength scale, eg the anticline at Embury Beach and also folding shown in Fig. 3.36, are defined here as 2nd order structures.
across the Abbotsham area unrelated to 2nd order folding (Fig. 3.37) and (2) a local zone of E-W trending strike faults between Littleham (3.5km south of Bideford) and Instow. One of the E-W strike faults at Gammaton Moor has an extensional displacement of at least 600m and may have a substantial length and be basement related. It downthrows a thick sequence of Bideford and Bude Formation, in the south, against a thinner sequence of Crackington and Bude Formation, in the north (BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 307/308, Bude). Further east, south of Ilfracombe an extensional fault, with a downthrow of about 200m, juxtaposes Carboniferous Chert and Crackington Formation to the south and Pilton Shale to the north.
It is possible that the difference in thickness of Carboniferous sequence between the hangingwall and footwall of the fault near Gammaton Moor, and generally between the Bideford and the Hartland, is due to synsedimentary extension (as discussed previously). The fault could have a long movement history.
3.4 COMPARISON OF THE GEOLOGY OF DEVON AND CORNWALL AND THAT OF SOUTH WALES: EVIDENCE FOR MAJOR STRUCTURES UNDER THE BRISTOL CHANNEL. There are major differences of Upper Palaeozoic stratigraphy to the north and south of the
3.3.6 LATE VARISCAN REACTIVATION OF EARLY VARISCAN FAULTS. Evidence has been given to show that faulting in the Culm Basin was composite. The latest phase of compressional Variscan deformation is represented by conjugate NE and NW trending strike-slip and oblique-slip faults.
Bristol Channel (Fig. 3.39). The Variscan structures beneath the Bristol Channel therefore separate two different stratigraphic provinces (Gardiner & Sheridan, 1981). In contrast seismic data from the Vale of Glamorgan (Chapter 5) and structures within the opencast coal sites of South Wales (Chapter 4) indicate that north directed thrusting extends across the Bristol Channel at least to the north crop of the South Wales coalfield. However the intensity and style of deformation is generally different (as shown in later examples).
Fig. 3.39 illustrates the general Upper Palaeozoic stratigraphy of Devon and Cornwall in comparison to that of South Wales. Tunbridge (1986) suggested that the Mid Devonian Bristol Channel Landmass formed along a major fault within the Bristol Channel area. Therefore there is stratigraphic evidence for the presence of at least one influential fault offshore. Seismic investigations in Chapter 6 illustrate a candidate reflection event for this fault.
At Westward Ho! there is good evidence for a thrust fault that has been reoriented by folding into a steeply dipping structure and reactivated as a strike-slip fault (Fig. 3.38). The latter would represent the latest phase of Variscan fault reactivation in the Culm Basin.
The structural variation across the Bristol Channel also points to the presence of a major fault offshore. A comparison of the geometry of the major reflection event and the mesoscale structure in the Bristol Channel Borderlands suggests it represents a major Variscan thrust (Chapter 6). It is possible that either the fault responsible for the Devonian Bristol Channel Landmass was partly reactivated as a thrust, during Late Variscan deformation, to form a rejuvenated landmass, or, a further structure exists beneath the Bristol Channel as part of a basement related fault zone. Chapter 6 illustrates the best seismic sections chosen to display a composite fault zone with potentially a compound movement history. The following examples of mesoscale structure emphasise the stronger deformation in the Devonian rocks in the hangingwall (North Devon) of the offshore fault zone in contrast to the gently folded Devonian strata in the footwall (South Wales). Example 1: Foreland Point Section (SS750 510) The fine-grained Lynton Beds (Fig. 3.1a) display a prominent pervasive cleavage which strongly deforms bioturbation and centimetre-scale sedimentary structures (Fig. 3.40). Measurement of bed length shortening due to folding and thrusting across the section suggests a value of about 55%. This is clearly a minimum value not taking account of the effects of cleavage. The estimated shortening value exceeds that for sections within the Culm Basin to the south (50% this study and Hartley & Warr, 1990) and greatly exceeds that in the Devonian of South Wales and the Welsh Borderlands, apart from areas around Llanstephan (Chapter 4). A general N-S section at a scale of 1:250 000 through North Devon and the southern part of the Inner Bristol Channel, however, reveals a shortening of about 20%. This suggests that shortening estimates from Foreland Point may overemphasise complex deformation close to a major thrust (the North Devon Coastal Thrust, Chapter 6). Evidence for a lower regional shortening is the lack of deformation in Hangman Grits nearby, eg immediately south of Lynton. Example 2: Ilfracombe coastal section (SS524 479) Cleavage development and small-scale tension gash structures in the Ilfracombe Slates indicate a compressional and shear history associated with the formation of decametre structures such as at Capstone Point (Fig. 3.13b). The mesoscale structures are discordant suggesting that the compression was composite. No such development of cleavage and tension gashes is present in the Devonian strata of South Wales apart from areas close to Caledonoid trending faults, eg, the Swansea Valley and Carreg Cennen Disturbances. Cleavage development is far more intense in the Ilfracombe area than in South Wales. This points to a strongly deformed hangingwall and less deformed footwall sequence of the Bristol Channel Fault Zone (Chapter 6). In terms of the offshore structure a similar intensity of deformation is expected at depth beneath the Bristol Channel in the hangingwall of the Bristol Channel Thrust. The footwall probably contains large-scale Variscan folds but a lack of small scale deformation. Stratigraphically the Gravel Margin Thrust (Chapter 6) may mark a boundary between the marine Devonian and Old Red Sandstone of South Wales, the Devon Brigantian Cherts and Dinantian Limestone of South Wales and the turbidites of the Culm Basin and the Coal Measures of South Wales.
Seismic investigation of the deep structure of the North Devon by Brooks, Hillier & Miliorizos (1993) also suggests a change in basement type and depth to basement across the Bristol Channel Thrust. All the above points indicate a major Variscan fault zone occurs beneath the Bristol Channel. 3.5 THE VARISCAN TECTONIC LOAD Chapter 2 outlined the hypothesis that a load in the Variscan hinterland down flexed the lithosphere to form the South Wales foreland basin. Examination of the North Devon area reveals another Upper Palaeozoic basin which contrasts in terms of stratigraphy and structure with the basin of South Wales. It is possible that the major structures beneath the Bristol Channel represent the front of this load (Gayer & Jones, 1989; Hartley, 1991) which is now concealed by the Mesozoic Bristol Channel Syncline (Evans & Thompson 1979). Alternatively, the basins of North Devon may represent part of a composite load resulting from the northward propagation of thrusting. From the Devonian history of the Bristol Channel Borderlands it can be suggested that basement was at shallow depths up to Mid Devonian times. The Variscan load may therefore have been formed by basement which became allochthonous during Late Variscan times. The lateral extent of the load, judged from the lateral extent of the foreland coal basins and the extent of the Bristol Channel Fault Zone, would be a minimum of 200km. If the load was composite, a north-south normal distance of a similar value is estimated. However the occurrence of major transecting NW-SE trending cross faults eg the Sticklepath Fault and the Cothelstone Fault (Chapter 6) and, also, the limited lateral extent of the Gravel Margin Thrust may point to either a segmented Variscan load or a load of lateral extent limited to the present study area. 3.6 NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-EAST TRENDING 'CROSS' FAULTS OF NORTH DEVON AND NORTH CORNWALL. Measurement of the orientation of late faults which transect the Culm Basin and North Devon Basin, here termed cross faults, points to a bimodal set of faults trending NE-SW and NW-SE (Fig. 3.41). The movement sense tends to be oblique-slip to strike-slip, with the NW trending faults being dextral and NE trending faults being sinistral, indicating N-S compression. These faults tend to displace the chevron folds of the Culm Basin and the thrusts along the Devonian North Devon coastal section and have been assigned to a late compressional strike-slip event.
The Sticklepath Fault and Cothelstone Fault (Holloway & Chadwick, 1986; Chapter 6) involve major dextral displacement on a kilometre scale.
Offshore seismic data from the Bristol Channel (Chapter 6) suggests that the cross faults compartmentalised the Variscan structure, for example separating thrusts at Lower Palaeozoic levels to the east beneath the Vale of Glamorgan (Chapter 5) from limestone-related thrusts in the west. It is possible that prior to main Variscan compression a basement related system was present during the earlier reactivation event. Cross faults could have developed from eg Charnoid lineaments of Read & Watson (1975).
3.7 SUMMARY The geological survey of North Devon has revealed a composite fault history extending from the Mid Devonian to Late Variscan, as well as later Mesozoic extension (see Chapter 7). Case studies have shown that the Variscan faults have composite histories even though they probably developed within a consistently compressional regime. However, further work is required near the Bideford area to investigate the role of extension in the distribution of the Carboniferous formations. The main problem that arises from the deformation style in North Devon is whether near surface structure was controlled by deep basement fault movement as well as by later structural overprinting during the main compression. 3.8 ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL VARISCAN MODELS IN THE LIGHT OF THE RESULTS FROM FAULT SURVEYS IN NORTH DEVON. Evidence was provided by Badham (1982) for major strike-slip displacement during the Variscan orogeny. A more recent model based on SWAT seismic data by Le Gall (1990, 1991) has emphasised the role of ramp thrusting in the Variscan fold belt beneath the Celtic Sea and Bristol Channel area. There is good evidence for mesoscale ramp thrusts along the whole of the North Devon coastal section. Le Gall (1991) suggested that major thrusts originated from lower crustal levels and may represent reactivated extensional margins of Devonian basins. From the fault study in North Devon the evidence for Devonian extension is minimal, so that the application of this seismic model to North Devon is highly questionable. However studies of fault spacing and fold facing in the Bideford area could reveal new evidence for basement related faulting. Presently the Devonian to Carboniferous positive inversion event remains open to debate. Le Gall (1991) also suggested that the shallow structure is dominated by detachment-related folding and thrusting. It is difficult to envisage how Devonian extensional margins could have been incorporated into a thin-skinned thrust system, unless the structural interpretations of Selwood (1990) are considered applicable to North Devon. Two structural events are recorded in North Devon: (1) initial folding and thrusting, hypothetically related to reactivation, and (2) late folding, thrusting and strike-slip, hypothetically related to the main phase of basin uplift involving structural overprinting. These two events may represent the D1 and D2 phases observed in North Cornwall by Warr
(1991). It is possible that reactivation was followed by detachment-related folding and thrusting (Le Gall, op cit) In agreement with Le Gall's model, Variscan thrusting extends north of the front defined by Gardiner & Sheridan (1981) so that the South Wales coal basin represents part of, or is intimately related to, the Variscan foreland rather than a separate intracratonic structural unit. Le Gall inferred that Devonian rocks at depth in South Devon and Cornwall represent intensely stacked previously thinned crust. To the north this crust buttressed against pre-existing Devonoid faults. Le Gall finally stated that Caledonoid basement was wrench faulted in the foreland footwall of the frontal ramp. This view is in agreement with the reactivation phase model for the Bristol Channel Borderlands in which NW, NE and ESE trending structures were kinematically linked during N-S Variscan compression. It does, however, conflict with observations that NE & NW faults transect earlier Devonoid lineaments and Variscan thrusts. A critical point in Le Gall's conclusion about the Variscan structure of the Bristol Channel Borderlands is that the geometry of reflection events suggests thrusting rather than strike-slip faults in a transpressional system (Sanderson & Marchini, 1984). This raises the question of the Variscan transportation direction. Evidence from thrusting and folding in the Culm Basin suggest an N-S compression whilst in the North Devon Basin and Bristol Channel ESE striking thrusts transported strata towards the NNE. North of the Bristol Channel, main thrust transport is approximately due north in the lower and western section of the coalfield (Chapter 4). Seismic data and mesoscale structure therefore point to northward directed thrusting.
sequence the proportion of sandstone increases, though Appendix 3.1 Upper Devonian Stratigraphy more fine sandstone and less siltstone with an upward increase in size and amount of ripple cross lamination. Lower Incomplete Section (central Morte Bay): Near the base of the Pickwell Down Sandstones there are metre bedded centimetre colour banded ferric mafic lithic quartz wackes which are medium to fine grained and contain subangular to subrounded low sphericity quartz grains signifying a submature texture. Passing up sequence metre trough cross stratified and centimetre cosets are within light grey to tea green fine grained quartz wacke containing subangular, moderate sphericity grains. Upper Complete Section (south headland of Morte Bay): At the base of the upper section measured in Putsborough Sand, South Morte Bay metre bedded and centimetre banded medium grey and buff red very fine grained silty ferric quartz wacke shows decimetre trough cross stratification with centimetre cosets in upper parts of the metre beds. Sedimentary structure then changes into centimetre planar bedding showing flat planar bases accompanied by an upward transition in petrological composition from quartz wacke to fine grained About 8m of decimetre upward fining subsequences follow which contain three transitional constituent units. At the base of each subsequence cross bedded sandy siltstone passes to ripple laminated and parallel laminated muddy siltstone. Further inspection shows that in mid subsequence levels grey green and buff red silty wacke and sandy siltstone pass into laminated muddy siltstone and that in upper subsequence levels there is buff red decimetre bedded sandy siltstone and muddy siltstone (Fig. 3.3b). Following subsequences extend over 2m and consist of upward fining units containing buff red and grey very In upper parts of the incomplete section, light grey and tea green decimetre bedded centimetre laminated and centimetre ripple bedded passing to centimetre planar bedded calcareous quartz wackes show a range in grain size from silty to very fine and fine grained sandstone indicating a moderate sorting in a submature texture. The lower section contains deep buff purple very fine grained sandy, medium grained green chloritic silty quartz wacke which is ferric rich and poorly sorted. Decimetre to coarse centimetre bedding is characteristic in upward fining subsequences of centimetre ripple cross laminated to ripple laminated and parallel laminated siltstones. 4m of buff red and grey green ripple cross laminated siltstones complete a larger metre scale subsequence trending from a sandstone to siltstone dominated grainsize. Within these siltstones sedimentary structure changes from planar bedding to rippled bedding. On closer inspection an upward decrease in grainsize on a decimetre scale from siltstone with very fine grained sandstone through to mudstone with siltstone is accompanied by a change in sedimentary structure from decimetre cross bedding to centimetre and millimetre In uppermost sections of the Pickwell Down Sandstone there is an overall upward coarsening of sediment, with ripple cross lamination. Towards the top of the 4m About 20m up sequence from the base of the upper section new subsequences begin. These consist of decimetre to metre ripple bedded grey brown silty and very fine grained quartz wacke. Centimetre cosets form the metre beds and Planar decimetre bedded red sandy siltstone displaying wavy tops to beds forms separate units from succeeding centimetre ripple cross laminated muddy siltstone and centimetre thicknesses of green shale at the top of each subsequence. fine grained sandy micaceous quartz siltstone displaying centimetre lamination and decimetre planar bedding. A change in subsequence type occurs on passing up sequence. The transition between the previous Buff red and tea green siltstone continue until the upper section with sigmoidal ripples observed to be asymmetric towards the west (Fig. 3.4b). There then follows a 2m upward coarsening transition from buff red sandy siltstone to tea green sandy siltstone with silty wacke. The wacke contains low amplitude (10cm) trough cross bedding with 3m wavelengths and centimetre ripple cross lamination. Compositionally it contains mica, lithics and quartz. the subsidiary subsequences remain upward fining.
the megaripples are asymmetric towards the north. Centimetre tops to the subsequences consist of tea green parallel laminated and ripple laminated siltstone. There is a marked absence of siltstone sections of the subsequences. within the metre bedded
Subsequences that follow consist of decimetre planar bedded, light grey very fine grained micaceous lithic quartz wacke with planar tops and sharp cut offs occurring between the wacke and succeeding centimetre layers of light grey to tan brown silty claystone showing no lamination (Fig. 3.3c).
Decimetre subsequences pass transitionally into dark tea green silty wacke. Cross bedding indicates a southerly directed sediment transport. Centimetre bands in the wacke outline possible wave forms. These pass into slightly banded grey brown and tea green decimetre cross bedded silty very fine grained quartz wacke and fine grained lithic quartz wacke. The silty wacke is centimetre bedded and ripple cross laminated. There is an upward darkening in colour of spotted grey sandstone.
Composite subsequences on a 5m scale follow and consist of decimetre to centimetre bedded grey green calcareous lithic quartz wacke with very fine to fine grained centimetre wavy tops to the bedding and loaded bases. The wacke passes upwards rapidly through a ripple cross laminated siltstone into tea green silty claystone near the top of the sandstone unit (Fig. 3.3d). Closer inspection of middle to upper parts of the subsequence reveals an increase in bedding thickness to a decimetre scale and a transition of the fine grained sediment from silty claystone to muddy siltstone and predominantly ripple cross laminated siltstone. Following sandstone units show centimetre trough cross stratification with centimetre cosets and millimetre laminae showing colour banding which pass into centimetre ripple cross
micaceous very fine grained to silty quartz wacke. Sharp cut offs define the tops of these subsequences (Fig. 3.3a).
subsequences and the new sequence is marked by a rapid upward thinning in bedding and an accompanied decrease in grainsize.
lamination (Fig. 3.3e). In uppermost sections of the 5m thick composite subsequence decimetre trough cross bedded intraformational conglomerate passes into an orange brown wacke containing phosphatic debris which may represent fish or pelletal remains. These are succeeded by tea green ripple cross laminated sandy siltstone (Fig. 3.3f).
The succeeding new subsequence consists of thick centimetre planar bedded tea green to light grey very fine grained quartz wacke. The base of the subsequence shows a sharp cut off. The top 60cm of the sequence fines upward to silty wacke with centimetre ripple cross lamination. Similar subsequences follow with the addition of new structures such as convoluted bedding, nodular bedding and load structures near the base of the subsequences.
Pickwell Down Sandstone to the Upcott Slate. Details of the ripples show that their wavelength is 4cm and amplitude is 0.5cm with straight ripple crests plunging ESE and sigmoidal ripple crests plunging WSW (due to Variscan folding). The stoss sides of these asymmetric ripples face towards the north (Fig. 3.4a). Ripple interference patterns occur of straight crested ripples asymmetric to the north and sigmoidal ripples
asymmetric to the south. These are very suggestive of a bimodal or tidal influence in sedimentation.
A prominent development of ripples is found in the banded buff red, tea green part of the sequence about 45m from the base of the section. Bimodal current ripples are well developed in this part of the section showing straight crested and sigmoidal crested forms in a siltstone dominated sequence of millimetre banded light and dark buff red siltstone with less sandstone than in lower parts of the section. This may represent the transition from the Examples of chevron folds from the North Devon - North Cornwall coastal section between Bude and Millook Haven. Appendix 3.2
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Thomas, J.M., 1988. Basin history of the Culm Trough of South-west
Whittaker, A., 1975. Namurian strata near Cannington Park, Somerset.
Fig. 3.9 a. (i) Map of the Morte Slate between Woolacombe and Flat Point. ESE trending thrusts, bedding and cleavage FIGURE CAPTIONS constitute the structure. nb Dips inland are from BGS 1:50 000 scale sheet 292, Bideford and Lundy. Key: spotted ornament, Pickwell Down Sandstone; wavy ornament, Ilfracombe Beds; plain ornament, Morte Slate. (ii) Stereographic projections of Fig. 3.1 a. Sketch map of the Culm Synclinorium showing the position of the North Devon Basin, the Culm basin (and the Trevone Basin). The Lithostratigraphic columns show the approximate thickness of the major formations in the North Devon and Culm Basins. Key to North Devon Basin stratigraphy: LQB, Little Quantock Beds; LB, Lynton Beds (Lynton Slate); HG, Hangman Grit; IB, Ilfracombe Beds; MS, Morte Slate; PDS, Pickwell Down Sandstone; US, Upcott Slate; ByS, Baggy Sandstone; PS, Pilton Shale. Key to Culm Basin stratigraphy: CoCh, Codden Chert; Cr, Crackington Formation; Bi, Bideford Formation; Bu, Bude Formation. Structure: the sketch map also shows the trends of the North Devon Anticline north of Exmoor and in the Quantock Hills and the Sticklepath fault zone transecting the Culm Basin. 3.1 b. Sketch map of the North Devon Basin. Locations: B, Bideford; I, Ilfracombe; L, Lynmouth; M, Minehead. Key: 1. Lynton Beds; 2. Hangman Grit; 3. Ilfracombe Beds; 4. Morte Slate; 5. Pickwell Down Sandstone & Upcott Slates; 6. Baggy Sandstone; 7. Pilton Shales; 8. Carboniferous; 9. Triassic & Jurassic. (After Webby, 1965 and Edmonds et al, 1975). Fig. 3.12 Schematic diagram illustrating the differences in facing of a back thrust deformed by late folding (a & b.) and Fig. 3.2 a. (i) The early Palaeozoic north-directed flow from Pretannia into South Wales. (ii) The reversal of drainage due to Caledonian uplift. 3.2 b. (i) North-directed flow over a segmented basement. (ii) South-directed flows in South Devon during the Early Devonian unrelated to the Caledonian uplift in South Wales. Fig. 3.13 a. A cross section (AB) and plan of part of the wave cut platform at Capstone Point illustrating a late ramp anticline and north-verging thrust in the Combe Martin Slates of the Ilfracombe Beds. 3.13 b. Minor structures (minor folding, Fig. 3.4 a. (i) Various current directions derived from the lee-stoss facing geometry of asymmetric current ripples. Key: RCA, ripple crest axis; , sigmoidal ripple crest; l, linear ripple crest; B, bedding plane for restoration; CD, current direction. (ii) Comparison of current directions obtained from a cross bed (Xb) and a sigmoidal ripple crest. 3.4 b. Interference patterns of bimodal ripples in fine grained siltstone of the Upcott Slates. Fig. 3.14 a. Southward, back-tilted thrusts at Heddon's Mouth, near the boundary between the Lynton Beds and the Hangman Fig. 3.5 Sketch map of the North Devon Basin showing the location of the survey areas described in the case studies. The major cross faults and anticlinal fold axial traces along the North Devon coast are also presented. Stereographic projections (i), (ii) & (iii) summarise the structure along this coastal section. Fig. 3.15 a. A view looking east at Hangman point and the faulted boundary between the Wild Pear Slates and Hangman Grits. Folding is evident at the base of the Headland. 3.15 b. The stereographic projection summarises the structure around Fig. 3.6 Mesoscale in-sequence thrusts in the lower part of the Hangman Grit Formation at Woody Bay. Key: spotted beds represent thick sandstone units. Fig. 3.16 a. Examples of faulting east of Foreland Point. Glenthorne Beach: there are complex folds associated with northFig. 3.7 Change from thrust ramp to thrust flat geometry in the Lynton Beds at Crock Pits. Beneath the thrust flat there is a development of tension gashes. The lower sandstone unit indicates a decimetre-scale displacement along the thrust ramp. verging thrusts. Yellowstone: a particular hangingwall anticline contains a pervasive cleavage with an anomalous asymmetry in relation to a north-verging thrust indicated by the hangingwall fold geometry. Ivystone: possible low-angle cross fault or early thrust. Hurlstone Point (near the Timberscombe Fault): open, north-facing chevron folds. Minehead: north-facing folding (west Fig. 3.8 Thrust ramps in the upper part of the Lynton Beds at Lee Bay showing the typical geometry of thrusts found also in the Hangman Grits of Foreland Point. The hangingwall anticlines contain a non-pervasive cleavage. The footwall to a particular thrust ramp (immediately above another ramp) contains a minor northward verging duplex. of Minehead harbour). 3.16 b. The Stereographic projection summarises the structure between Wingate (east of Foreland Point) and Porlock. Hangman Point. Grits. 3.14 b. The stereographic projection summarises the structure near Heddon's Mouth. cleavage, tension gashes) in the Ilfracombe Beds showing cross-cutting relationships. The figures above illustrate that the structural of the Ilfracombe Beds is composite. 3.13 c. The stereographic projection shows the relationship between cleavage, tension gashes and bedding. thrusts formed by accommodation and fold tightening (c. & d.). Fig. 3.11 Cleavage duplex along an early, reoriented back thrust showing good evidence for south-directed transportation prior to folding. Fig. 3.10 A pair of mesoscopic south-dipping and south-verging ramp thrusts within the Kentisbury Slates of the Ilfracombe Beds at The Outfalls near Ilfracombe. The thrusts probably represent early back thrusts reoriented by late folding. bedding and fault poles from the Morte Slate and a rose diagram of the cross faults transecting the coastal section indicating a dominant NW trend. 3.9 b. Section from Barricane Beach (north of Woolacombe) illustrating the thrust related folding in the Morte Slate.
Fig. 3.17 Tight rounded folds and folded north verging thrusts in the Bude Formation at Hartland point. The diagram also shows the location of synsedimentary extensional gravity slides in relation to the folding. A thrust duplex is illustrated immediately to the south of the gravity slides which incorporated in the thrusting the upper rotated segment of one of the extensional faults. Fig. 3.34 Comparison of the coarseness of the stratigraphic sequence immediately above the Sandy Mouth Shale, at Sandy Fig. 3.18 The synsedimentary gravity slides in the Bude Formation at Hartland Point showing the thickening of sandstone units, in the hangingwall, towards the extensional fault planes. (Growth Faults). Mouth and Stanbury Mouth. The pre-deformational horizontal distance (restored length) between the sections at Sandy Mouth is about 100m. The present distance between these sections and Stanbury Mouth is 3.5km. (Prior to folding it is about 7km). The measurement of coarseness was calibrated against a detailed stratigraphic section along the Sandy Mouth section Fig. 3.19 Early extensional faults, in the Bude Formation at Upton Cross, associated with the Black Rock Slump Bed (BRSB). Late folding deformed the slump bed and probably reactivated the extensional fault planes. where (1) represents a shale sequence; (2a) represents a sequence of siltstone and very thin bands of sandstone; (2b) represents a sequence of thin siltstone beds and decimetre sandstone beds and (3-4) represents a sandstone dominated sequence. Fig. 3.20 The reactivation of the rotated early extensional fault plane within the thrust duplex at Hartland Point, Bude Formation. Fig. 3.35 Cartoon of the Culm Basin relating the facing of folds to reactivation above extensional blocks. In the case of the Culm Basin folds escaped towards the south above a gently dipping basement topography. (Fold axial planes are steeply Fig. 3.21 Structure in Crackington Formation showing the superposition of thrusting and chevron folding on an early decametre-scale listric fault template. Fig. 3.36 A section through the Bude Formation from Higher Sharpnose to Sandy Mouth illustrating the wavelength of the Fig. 3.22 Sketch section of the chevron folding in the Bude Formation near Sandy Mouth. (The arrow indicating the location of Sandy Mouth also locates the position of the structure in Figs. 3.23 & 3.24). Fig. 3.37 Sketch section of the structure between Abbotsham and Greencliff in the Bideford Formation marking an area of Fig. 3.23 Sketch section of a reactivated decametre-scale fault zone in the Bude Formation at Sandy Mouth. The lower part of this section displays a thicker hangingwall sequence indicating early synsedimentary extension. The upper part of the section displays a distinct reverse displacement associated with folding in the hangingwall. Fig. 3.38 Schematic structural history of the reactivation of the pre-fold thrust as a post-fold strike-slip fault (after Fig. 3.24 Sketch section showing the kinematics of the thrusting and folding events along the fault zone. Repetition of the sequence, between bed (a) - highlighted with finely spotted ornament) and bed (b) - highlighted with speckled grey ornament, in the hangingwall, contrasts with the smaller displacement, by the fault, of the main sandstone unit (c) above. This may point to an oblique section through the structure. Fig. 3.39 Chronostratigraphic diagram showing the variation in facies across the Bristol Channel Borderlands in a. the Devonian and b. the Carboniferous. Key: plain ornament, Hiatus; 1, shallow siliciclastic marine; 2, chert, starved basin; 3, Fig. 3.25 Sketch section of a pop-up structure in the Bude Formation at Sandy Mouth illustrating a composite compressional history for faults a-d. Details of the fault planes illustrate early and late duplexes pointing to various directions of movement prior and during folding. Fig. 3.40 Compression related microstructures in the Lynton Beds at Foreland point. A strongly pervasive cleavage deforms sedimentary features pointing to a significant amount of shortening in addition to that caused by folding and thrusting. Fig. 3.26 Sketch section of chevron folding (including 'diamond' folding) at Welcombe Mouth in Crackington Formation. The diagram illustrates the composite nature of folding in the Culm Basin. Various cleavage fabrics developed close to the hinge of a particular diamond fold which points to refolding or flattening of a tightened chevron fold probably by later shear. Faulting along the axial planes of the folds emphasises further the composite nature of deformation. Fig. 3.41 Stereographic projection summarising the orientation of cross faults in the North Devon and Culm Basins. NW and NE trending sets are evident.
Marios Miliorizos 7th June 2006 File name: PhD Chapter 3 Three
Fig. 3.33 Location of the Sandy Mouth Shale (SMS) in the stratigraphy of the Bude Formation. Key: HQS, Hartland Quay Shale; SPS, Saturday's Pit Shale; WGS, Warren Gutter Shale.
dipping due to the buttressing effect of a steep northern basin boundary expected in the Bideford area.
second order folds in the Culm Basin. (From Freshney et al, 1979; 1:50 000 scale sheet 307/308 Bude).
gradual change in fold facing ascribed either to the modifying effects of a buried basement fault or to the fanning across a first order fold.
reorientation due to folding). This history is based on the structure of a cross fault found in the wave cut platform at Westward Ho!
carbonate platform; 4, fluvial and marine (mainly marine); 5, fluvial and marine (mainly fluvial); 6, Braided fluvial.

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