THE LOWER CARBONIFEROUS IN A BORING AT ALPORT, DERBYSHIRE

Abstract

I. Introduction and Acknowledgements During the years 1937 to 1941 borings were drilled in Edale and Alport Dale in the Millstone Grit country of north Derbyshire a few miles north of the Carboniferous Limestone outcrop at Castleton. Both borings passed through the lower part of the Namurian and the upper part of the Dinantian and since they were both cored, that at Edale to 757 ft. and that at Alport to 2555 ft., they gave a valuable record of both the lithological and faunal successions in that part of the Carboniferous, all the more interesting since the borings were in beds that were laid down to the northwest of the Derbyshire massif (fig. 1) and thus illustrate the change in sedimentation from basin towards massif. The surface rocks in Alport Dale are Edale Shales of Lower Reticuloceras and Homoceras Ages, the local representatives of the Kinderscoutian and Sabdenian Stages of the Namurian. The boring in Alport Dale was drilled in 1939 to 1941 near Alport Castles Farm, passing the division between the Namurian and Dinantian at 1080 ft. The faunal stratigraphy of the Namurian of both borings and that of the Dinantian of the Edale boring have been described in previous papers (Hudson & Cotton, 1943 and MS.): that of the Dinantian of the Alport boring is discussed in this paper. The authors record their thanks to Messrs. Steel Brothers & Co. Ltd. for permission to describe the results of this boring; to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Ltd. for permission ...