THE GEOLOGY OF THE AREA AROUND LEINTWARDINE, HEREFORDSHIRE

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Wenlockian, Ludlovian, and lowest Downtonian strata have been mapped over an area of about ten square miles east of Leintwardine, where the structure is an asymmetrical syncline plunging east-north-east. The southern limb dips northward at about 35°, the northern limb eastward at about 8°. Wenlock Shale and Wenlock Limestone (together 1560 feet thick) are succeeded by up to 1900 feet of Ludlovian rocks, divided into Elton, Bringewood, Leintwardine, and Whitcliffe Beds (Holland, Lawson & Walmsley 1959 ). Where complete, the succession is similar to that at Ludlow, but is thicker and less calcareous and with more evidence of instability (crinkle-marks and slump-structures) reflecting deposition nearer to the edge of the shelf. Basin elements in the fauna support this view of the palaeogeography. The lowest Downtonian strata (140 feet mapped) compare closely with those of neighbouring areas. There is one major break in the sequence, within the Lower Leintwardine Beds ; six parallel channels, trending and deepening towards the west-southwest (i.e. from shelf to basin), are interpreted as Ludlovian submarine canyon-heads and show many features in common with their modern counterparts. Later these tended to fill up, with occasional ‘flushing out’, until they were eliminated by Upper Leintwardine and later sedimentation.

This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit: