The post-Triassic structural evolution of north-west England and adjacent parts of the East Irish Sea

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Available data suggest that, subsequent to Triassic basin development, syn-depositional normal faulting continued in Jurassic and early Cretaceous times with subsidence of the East Irish Sea and Solway basins relative to the Lake District Block. Cessation of extension in the mid-Cretaceous led to regional subsidence with little distinction between blocks and basins. Palaeogene times heralded a period of regional uplift and erosion, associated with development of the Icelandic Plume and emplacement of the Scottish Tertiary igneous province. Superimposed upon this, Alpine crustal compression produced minor oblique-reversal of the basin-margin faults and weak basin inversion. Depth of burial estimates from well-log data agree with uplift values computed from thermal modelling of apatite fission-track palaeotemperatures. They indicate that post-Cretaceous uplift ranged from less than 1750 m over the Lake District Block, to 2000 m at Sellafield and more than 2200 m over the surrounding basins.