THE NAMURIAN OF ALPORT DALE, DERBYSHIRE

Abstract

I. Introduction The Pennines may be divided on a structural basis into the Northern Pennines, a fault block of slightly tilted strata; the Mid-Pennines, an area of steep N.E.—S.W. folds; and the Southern Pennines, an asymmetrical anticline pitching northwards and at its southern end opening into a broad uplift in the inner part of which the rocks have little or no dip. Carboniferous Limestone outcrops over the greater part of this inner area, which is known as the Derbyshire Massif. On the west, north, and east, of the massif the rocks are flexed into a series of subsidiary folds of varying intensity. Immediately to the north of the limestone outcrop is the High Peak district of Derbyshire and here a shallow syncline divides the limestone massif from the Edale Anticline. On the northern flank of this anticline the rocks dip into the shallow syncline of Kinderscout, rising again further north to the anticlinal structure known as the Alport Dome, the geology of part of which is described in this paper. The lowest thick grits in the Millstone Grit of North Derbyshire are those collectively known as the Kinderscout Grit. Between this group of grits and the Lower Carboniferous is a series of sandstones and shales: it is these beds which outcrop in the Alport area. As in Edale they are divided on the basis of their lithology into— | | | | | | Alport Dale | |:---------------- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ------------ | | Grindslow Shales | | . . | . . | . . | 200—300 feet | | Shale Grit | . . | . . | . . | | |