Depositional setting of the Lower Old Red Sandstone at Pantymaes Quarry, central South Wales: new perspectives on the significance and occurrence of ‘Senni Beds’ facies

Abstract

AbstractThe 200 m long face of Pantymaes Quarry, central South Wales, exposes part of the upper (Dittonian) Red Marl Group (Lower Old Red Sandstone). A lower Sandstone Facies Association (up to 15 m thick) comprises interbedded grey-green micaceous sandstones, pebbly intraformational conglomerates, and grey siltstones. Major bounding surfaces define stacked channel complexes, representing the deposits of braided river systems. An erosively overlying Mudstone Facies Association (up to 15 m thick) comprises tabular-bedded, bioturbated and calcretized red siltstones and fine sandstones representing overbank deposits, possibly from a meandering system. The change in fluvial style is interpreted as a local response to pulses of oblique-slip movement on nearby fault systems. The period of fault activity resulted in the braided Sandstone Facies Association, the Mudstone Facies Association recording a gradual return to a meandering system. Individual pulses of activity produced the stacked channels within the Sandstone Facies Association. The Sandstone Facies Association is similar in character to the overlying Senni Beds, suggesting that ‘Senni Beds’ may describe a recurring, possibly tectonically controlled, braided channel facies in the Lower Old Red Sandstone.