Quantitative relationships between numbers of fluvial cycles, bulk lithological composition and net subsidence in a Scottish Namurian basin

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Abstract
This detailed quantitative basin analysis of fluvial deposits in a subsiding Namurian structural basin is aimed at discovering underlying statistical relationships between numbers of fluvial cycles, bulk lithological composition and net subsidence which could be used as a background to future sophisticated computer simulation experiments and would also facilitate comparison with other ancient basins. The succession studied lies between two widespread marine bands, one of Arnsbergian (E2) and one of Kinderscoutian (R1) age, and is dominated by upward‐fining cycles: 94% of the semi‐cycles containing sand, here termed grain‐size cycles, are upward‐fining and the ratio of fine members (mudstone+siltstone) to coarse members ranges from 0·23 to 5·0.Trend‐surface analysis reveals basement structures, which influenced sedimentation, including a Caledonoid graben. Correlation coefficient values and results of principal component analysis demonstrate that the numbers of rooty horizons and grain‐size cycles, together with the total thicknesses of sandstone and of mudstone+siltstone, all tend significantly towards a linear relationship with the total thickness of strata and hence net subsidence. The average thickness of grain‐size cycles tends towards an inverse linear relationship with net subsidence. This probably reflects the presence of stacked, relatively thin, channel‐fills within persistent channel belts. These belts tend to be localized in the areas of greatest subsidence within the basin and follow courses basically similar to channels already discovered in the underlying deltaic sediments. The highest concentrations of mudstone+siltstone tend to lie on the flanks of the basin, but high local sand concentrations found at points on the margin where channels entered the basin from the NW and NE and left to the SW, effectively disrupt any significant relationship between net subsidence and the proportion of sand.Coal has been selectively preserved on the flanks of the basin and the number of rooty horizons is greatest in an area of low subsidence which lay somewhat remote from the main channel belts.