Fluvial, inertia‐dominated deltaic deposition in the Namurian (Carboniferous) of northern England

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Namurian (Upper Carboniferous) Scar House Beds of Yorkshire, northern England, are an example of a fluvial‐dominated deltaic sequence that cannot be adequately described using existing classification schemes for deltas. For substantial periods of the Scar House delta history, inertial processes and hyperpycnal mixing prevailed in the river mouth area due to repeated, frequent flooding in the distributary system. This generated voluminous density currents which deposited their sandy loads in successively stacked lobes beyond the river mouth bar in the prodelta area. The position of a lobe was directly controlled by the position of an active river mouth. Only during periods of low discharge in the distributary system did homo‐ and hypopycnal mixing take place. In these periods, frictional and buoyant forces operated, and sand was deposited from tractional sheet flow on the mouth bar while mudstone was laid down in the otherwise density‐current‐dominated prodelta.Because of the dominantly hyperpycnal mixing mode, the river effluent experienced a low lateral spread causing an elongate delta lobe to form that in geometry can be compared with some recent and ancient ‘bar finger’ sands. Important differences exist in terms of dominant depositional processes however. Most other ‘bar finger’ sands were controlled by a hypopycnal mixing mode and buoyant forces (e.g. South Pass, Mississippi), while the Scar House delta was controlled by hyperpycnal mixing and inertial forces.This study shows that similar sand‐body geometries can be generated from different river mouth processes. In the future, particularly in the field of hydrocarbon exploration, there may be a need to classify deltas both in terms of geometry and dominant river mouth processes. In that respect, the Scar House Beds represent a fluvial, inertia‐dominated elongate delta.