The geological results of measurements of gravity in East Carmarthenshire

Abstract

Observations of gravity over the Palaeozoic rocks of East Carmarthenshire show this to be an area of positive Bouguer anomalies, and throughout the district the isogams are aligned in a «Caledonoid» direction. The regional gradient over the anthracite coalfield can largely be explained in terms of known structure, while the anomaly values in the Towy valley above Llandeilo seem to have been affected by facies variations and contemporaneous volcanic activity. Fairly large anomalies are recorded near Carmarthen, and these may be associated with similar anomalies known near Aberystwyth (Cook & Thirlaway, 1950); they are interpreted as an expression of the Welsh geosyncline. The gravity low discovered in St. George's Channel byBrowne & Cooper (1950) is re-interpreted in terms of the depth of the pre-Palaeozoic floor. There is no marked evidence to indicate the presence of a concealed «granitic» intrusion beneath the coalfield, nor to substantiate the view that there was once a great thickness of Permian or later cover.