A foreland basin on the southern margin of Iapetus

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Abstract
The Windermere Group basin was situated on the northwestern margin of Eastern Avalonia, dose to the suture with Laurentia. Sediment accumulation rates within the basin, estimated using a graptolite time-scale, show a history of accelerating subsidence through the mid- to late Silurian, with rates exceeding 1mm per year in the Ludlow. The characteristic subsidence curve, high sedimentation rate, and lack of syndepositional extensional faulting or basic magmatism indicate a foreland basin. The basin was generated by subduction of Avalonian continental crust beneath Laureutia from the mid-Wenlock onwards, which resulted in a slowing of continental convergence. Further slowing occurred towards the end of the Silurian.