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The rocks of the carboniferous period and what they tell us about britains
- Thread starter arghh
- Start date
plant matter > Peat ( a sedimentary rock) >> coal
In order to have lots of plant matter, you need lots of moisture, usually moisture is associated with heat..
and for the large amount of coal we discovered that tells us the carboniferous was WARM AND HUMID..
thick lush jungle .. when the thick lush vegitation died it became PEAT a sedimentary rock, and then with time, heat, and pressure it became coal..
Limestone is found in the early carboniferous.. limestone means under water ( limestone originates from dead ANIMAL matter)
Coal was found in the late carbonifers.. coal forms from plant matter, so IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WATER)
sea levels may have dropped
In order to have lots of plant matter, you need lots of moisture, usually moisture is associated with heat..
and for the large amount of coal we discovered that tells us the carboniferous was WARM AND HUMID..
thick lush jungle .. when the thick lush vegitation died it became PEAT a sedimentary rock, and then with time, heat, and pressure it became coal..
Limestone is found in the early carboniferous.. limestone means under water ( limestone originates from dead ANIMAL matter)
Coal was found in the late carbonifers.. coal forms from plant matter, so IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WATER)
sea levels may have dropped
plant matter > Peat ( a sedimentary rock) >> coal
In order to have lots of plant matter, you need lots of moisture, usually moisture is associated with heat..
and for the large amount of coal we discovered that tells us the carboniferous was WARM AND HUMID..
thick lush jungle .. when the thick lush vegitation died it became PEAT a sedimentary rock, and then with time, heat, and pressure it became coal..
Limestone is found in the early carboniferous.. limestone means under water ( limestone originates from dead ANIMAL matter)
Coal was found in the late carbonifers.. coal forms from plant matter, so IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WATER)
sea levels may have dropped
In order to have lots of plant matter, you need lots of moisture, usually moisture is associated with heat..
and for the large amount of coal we discovered that tells us the carboniferous was WARM AND HUMID..
thick lush jungle .. when the thick lush vegitation died it became PEAT a sedimentary rock, and then with time, heat, and pressure it became coal..
Limestone is found in the early carboniferous.. limestone means under water ( limestone originates from dead ANIMAL matter)
Coal was found in the late carbonifers.. coal forms from plant matter, so IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WATER)
sea levels may have dropped
There are volumes of work on the Carboniferous System going way beyond the space available here. The rocks aren't just the iconic coal measures, although the cyclic nature of coal seams is a popular topic and "coal bog to beach to off shore deposition" is a cycle that applies through out the world as it did in lower and middle Carbs of Britain. Largely GB was astride the equator throughout most of this period and at the close out of the period (upper) the "Island" was enclosed within the super-continent Pangaea. The period was known for expansion of ice sheets which gave rise (no pun) to changes in sea level, facilitating the development of coal beds.
The relative scarcity of variety of upper Carboniferous formations in Britain supports the cnclusion that GB was land locked within the desert that was the Pangean interior. This climate continued deeply into the Permian. These rocks are the red beds showing a region given to flash flooding transport of older reworked sediments , stream channel braiding, delta environment generally void of fossils,
If you read through the notes on what was going on during the carboniferous world wide, then to the specifics of the Carboniferous under the Geology of Britain, you should have a good start on organizing your paper. Email me directly if you have lengthy specifics.
From the Wikipedia article on GB's geology through the ages:
Carboniferous period
Around 360 Ma during the Carboniferous period Great Britain was lying at the equator, covered by the warm shallow waters of the Rheic Ocean, during which time the Carboniferous Limestone was deposited, as found in the Mendip Hills, north and south Wales, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, north Lancashire, the northern Pennines and southeast Scotland. Caves have developed more recently in the limestone in some of these areas.
These were followed by dark marine shales, siltstones, and coarse sandstones of the Millstone Grit. Later, river deltas formed and the sediments deposited were colonised by swamps and rain forest. It was in this environment that the cyclic Coal Measures were formed, the source of the majority of Britain's extensive coal reserves that powered the Industrial Revolution. Coal can be found in many areas of Britain and Ireland, as far north as the Midland Valley of Scotland, as far south as Kent and in Ireland, though it has largely been mined in the English midlands, northern England and Wales.
Throughout the period, southwest England in particular was affected by the collision of continental plates. The Variscan orogeny (mountain building period) around 280 Ma caused major deformation in south west England. Towards its end granite was formed beneath the overlying rocks of Devon and Cornwall, now exposed as Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, giving rise to mineralised deposits of copper and tin. The general region of Variscan folding was south of an east–west line roughly from south Pembrokeshire to Kent. The main tectonic pressure was from the south or south-east, and may have resulted in dextral strike-slip faulting. The Devon-Cornwall massif may originally have been some distance further east, then to be moved westwards. Lesser Variscan folding took place as far north as Derbyshire and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
By the end of the period the various continents of the World had fused to form one super-continent of Pangaea, with Britain in the interior, where it was again subject to a hot arid desert climate, with frequent flash floods leaving deposits that formed red beds, somewhat similar to the later, Triassic New Red Sandstone.
Google: Britton and the Carboniferous to access the many online books written about this subject.
The relative scarcity of variety of upper Carboniferous formations in Britain supports the cnclusion that GB was land locked within the desert that was the Pangean interior. This climate continued deeply into the Permian. These rocks are the red beds showing a region given to flash flooding transport of older reworked sediments , stream channel braiding, delta environment generally void of fossils,
If you read through the notes on what was going on during the carboniferous world wide, then to the specifics of the Carboniferous under the Geology of Britain, you should have a good start on organizing your paper. Email me directly if you have lengthy specifics.
From the Wikipedia article on GB's geology through the ages:
Carboniferous period
Around 360 Ma during the Carboniferous period Great Britain was lying at the equator, covered by the warm shallow waters of the Rheic Ocean, during which time the Carboniferous Limestone was deposited, as found in the Mendip Hills, north and south Wales, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, north Lancashire, the northern Pennines and southeast Scotland. Caves have developed more recently in the limestone in some of these areas.
These were followed by dark marine shales, siltstones, and coarse sandstones of the Millstone Grit. Later, river deltas formed and the sediments deposited were colonised by swamps and rain forest. It was in this environment that the cyclic Coal Measures were formed, the source of the majority of Britain's extensive coal reserves that powered the Industrial Revolution. Coal can be found in many areas of Britain and Ireland, as far north as the Midland Valley of Scotland, as far south as Kent and in Ireland, though it has largely been mined in the English midlands, northern England and Wales.
Throughout the period, southwest England in particular was affected by the collision of continental plates. The Variscan orogeny (mountain building period) around 280 Ma caused major deformation in south west England. Towards its end granite was formed beneath the overlying rocks of Devon and Cornwall, now exposed as Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, giving rise to mineralised deposits of copper and tin. The general region of Variscan folding was south of an east–west line roughly from south Pembrokeshire to Kent. The main tectonic pressure was from the south or south-east, and may have resulted in dextral strike-slip faulting. The Devon-Cornwall massif may originally have been some distance further east, then to be moved westwards. Lesser Variscan folding took place as far north as Derbyshire and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
By the end of the period the various continents of the World had fused to form one super-continent of Pangaea, with Britain in the interior, where it was again subject to a hot arid desert climate, with frequent flash floods leaving deposits that formed red beds, somewhat similar to the later, Triassic New Red Sandstone.
Google: Britton and the Carboniferous to access the many online books written about this subject.