Slopes, submarine fans, and syn-depositional faults: sedimentology of parts of the Middle and Upper Dalradian in the SW Highlands of Scotland

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Abstract
Summary: The depositional palaeogeography of the metasediments between the Jura Quartzite and Craignish Phyllites was dominated by a series of fault-bounded blocks and basins. The position of the basin margins, and hence the faults, is inferred from the location of submarine fan and slope facies and lateral thickness variations. These syn-depositional faults had trends either approximately parallel with, or normal to, the subsequent Caledonoid grain and had throws of up to several kilometres. Such faults may have exerted a major control over sedimentation throughout the Middle and Upper Dalradian. Many of the Dalradian sedimentary bodies therefore have a complex geometry, and persistent stratigraphical horizons may reflect regional climatic and tectonic events, rather than persistent sedimentary facies.