Yoredale Series Research Articles

Granite and Grit: A Walker’s Guide to the Geology of British MountainsGranite and Grit: A Walker’s Guide to the Geology of British Mountains by TurnbullRonald. 2011. Frances Lincoln Ltd, London. 208 pp. ISBN 978-0-7112-3180-1, £16.99 (pbk).

Contents 1. The Crunch of Continents - Various earth-shattering events of the last two billion years: Scotland crashes into England the UK drifts north through tropics the nudge from Africa the opening of the Atlantic. 2. The Work of Ice - Glaciers carved the shapes as we see them today 3. Gneiss Times - The Lewisian Gneiss, in the Outer Hebrides and Wester Ross landscape of knock and lochan a moment in the Malverns 4. The Monsters of Torridon - Sandstone lands of Wester Ross buried landscapes the origin of our oxygen 5. Quartz and Quartzite - Beinn Eighe and the Grey Corries the Moine Thrust 6. Squashed Stones: Slate to Schist - Metamorphism, rocks cooked and crushed shale to slate to schist the Mountains of Moine and the Dalradian schist 7. Greywacke and the Ruggednessof Rhinog - How ocean-bottom sludge became the rock of the Rhinogs 8. Shales and Underwater Mud - More ocean sludge in the Howgills, Isle of Man, mid-Wales and the Southern Uplands the life and times of the graptolite Charles Lapworth in Dobbs Linn 9. All-Terrain Lakeland - Volcanoes and slate, grey shale and granite four different sorts of country but only one Lakeland 10. Red-Hot Flying Avalanche: Ignimbrites in Snowdonia - Various cataclysms above Llyn Idwal 11. Walking the Fault Faults, and a walk along one in particularm the Rossett Gill Fault of Lakeland 12. Andesite and Rhyolite - More volcanoes, at Ben Nevis and Glen Coe collapsing cauldrons 13. Granite Lands - Cairngorms, Dartmoor, Arran, Mourne, Galloway - very different but all of them a bit grim the cause of tors 14. Stone Arriving Sideways: Dolerite Intrusions - The Whin Sill in the north Pennines, Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and God vs Mr James Hutton 15. The Sands of Time - The Old Red Sandstone of the Brecon Beacons the New Red Sandstone fails to make mountains 16. Mountain Limstone, Millstone Grit - Yorkshire and the Peak District lime to grit to shale: the Yoredale Series 17. The Black Magic of Gabbro - The Tertiary Volcanic Province the Black Cuillin of Skye 18. Basalt Lands and the Opening of the Atlantic - The Death of Gaia Lakeland Lavas, black rocks of Snowdonia, and the Quiraing on Skye a round-up of the red-hot rocks 19. A Two Hundred Million Year Walk Over Dufton Pike - Brekaing the Law of Superposition behind Dufton Pike, with a visit to the Great Whin Sill Conclusion - My country, your country, further reading and more things to see Reading about Rocks Glossary Index Index of Places Acknowledgements

Ostracods as palaeoenvironmental indicators in the Lower Carboniferous Yoredale Series of northern England

Abstract. The ostracod fauna and vertical changes in its composition were examined in a shale sequence of the 5-Yard Limestone cyclothem (Yoredale Series) at a locality in Bishopdale, N. Yorkshire. The ostracod tax a are mainly confined to three superfamilies: Kirkbyacea, Healdiacea and Bairdiacea. The co-occurrence of several relatively short-ranging species such as Kirkbya quadrata, Cribroconcha insculpta and Bairdiolites elevatus suggests a Late Brigantian age. Four new species are described: Cornigella posteroextensa, ? Eriella minima, Rectobairdia bavarica and Roundyella binoda.Fluctuations in influx of terrigenous mud and water turbulence, related to delta growth, appear to have been the main environmental parameters that controlled the ostracod distribution and abundance along a nearshore-offshore gradient. Three different ostracod assemblages are recognized. A Roundyella-Cribroconcha assemblage, dominated by kirkbyacean and healdiacean ostracods, represents a quiet, nearshore environment with a fairly high depositional rate of terrigenous mud. A Bairdia assemblage, higher in the section, is dominated by bairdiacean ostracods that lived in a more turbulent, relatively offshore environment with less input of terrigenous sediment. A third, intermediate assemblage consists of almost equal amounts of bairdiacean and kirkbyacean ostracods, and reflects a transition from the Bairdia to the Roundyella-Cribroconcha assemblage.

A New Survey of Ingleborough Hillfort, North Yorkshire

A survey of Ingleborough was undertaken by RCHME in the summer of 1988 at the request of the Yorkshire Dales National Park who are concerned by the considerable erosion and damage occurring on the Peak as a result of the popularity of the Three Peaks footpath. This is affecting not only the natural surface of the hill but also the archaeological remains.The summit of Ingleborough, one of the Three Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales, is a gritstone cap overlying the sandstone, shale and limestone beds of the Yoredale Series which, in turn, overlie the Great Scar Limestone. This formation gives Ingleborough its distinctive stepped profile, created by differential weathering, except where glacial drift forms smoother slopes on the flanks (Crutchley 1981, 41–44). The coarse gritstone forms a roughly triangular, plateau-like summit with only a slight rise from the rim to the highest point, at 723 m OD, now occupied by a triangulation pillar and cruciform walkers's shelter.

Abandonment Facies of high-constructive Lobate Deltas, with an example from the Yoredale Series

In high-constructive lobate deltas, the destructive phase of sedimentation which follows abandonment of the lobe, produces a thin, but distinct, stratigraphic marker horizon of variable facies, here termed Abandonment Facies. This horizon terminates the progradational sequences. In Recent deltas, the Facies in the proximal part of the abandonment lobe consist of a laterally persistent peat band, whilst distally thin sheet sands and fossiliferous lithologies occur. A similar facies pattern has been recognised in a Yoredale cyclothem. The model provides an explanation for localised marine bands and demonstrates a relationship between certain coal horizons and marine bands. The Abandonment Facies are also significant in determining delta type, history and palaeogeography.

Peat Deposits of Scar Close, Ingleborough, Yorkshire

The interest of the area known as Scar Close, Yorkshire, is evident from the number and variety of investigations which it has provoked. Jones (1965) has considered its geological aspects, Parry (1960) and Sweeting (1966) its geomorphology, and Moisley (1954) emphasized the need for further study in his account of karstic features of similar sites in the Malham area. This paper is the result of an attempt to add to the substantial body of knowledge from a botanical angle using amongst others the technique of pollen analysis. Scar Close (Grid Ref. SD 750773) is situated at the foot of the north-west side of Park Fell near the steep face of Ingleborough in the Craven district of Yorkshire. It lies on a shelf of Great Scar Limestone at a height of about 1000 ft (305 m). The fell is composed of rocks of the Yoredale Series and the boundary of these with the limestone is marked by a row of swallow holes. The limestone itself has formed pavement with well-developed clints and grykes. The rainfall is high with an annual average of about 70 in. (180 cm), but most of it drains down through the grykes and swallow holes into an underground system. Drainage is impeded to some extent on the inner side of the shelf by a layer of glacial drift, and even on the clints which are practically devoid of soil, some surface water is retained in solution hollows. The drift covered area carries a more or less continuous sheet of wet acid bog, but on the exposed pavement there are only isolated patches of peat lying in direct contact with the limestone and it is these 'islands' which are problematic. They may be relics of a once continuous peat cover or have developed independently from a number of centres and still be advancing. In any case it is unusual to find peat situated immediately upon a well-drained basic substratum. The vegetation of the inner and outer areas of the shelf reflects the difference in edaphic conditions (Fig. 1). The drift-covered limestone bears a typical hummock and pool formation with Eriophorum angustifolium,* E. vaginatum, Vaccinium myrtillus, Calluna vulgaris and various Sphagnum species on the hummocks, and a luxuriant growth of S. cuspidatum in the pools. The peat 'islands' on the pavement are much drier and are dominated by Calluna vulgaris and Vaccinium myrtillus with other species such as Convallaria majalis, Geranium sanguineum and Polypodium vulgare. Most of the peat patches are fringed with mosses including Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, Pleurozium schreberi and Cratoneuron commutatum. Where small pockets of soil have developed on the clints Sieglingia decumbens and Tortella tortuosa have become established, but they are mostly bare except for crustaceous lichens. A few trees of Acer pseudoplatanus, and Fraxinus excelsior are growing in the grykes with bushes of Corylus avellana, but all are comparatively small and rarely exceed 4 m in height. Other plants found in the grykes are * Nomenclature follows Clapham, Tutin & Warburg (1962) for vascular plants and Richards &

Sedimentation Units in Sandstones of the Yoredale Series (Lower Carboniferous) of Yorkshire, England

ABSTRACT The typical sandstone of the cyclothems of the Yoredale Series is a sheet sandstone which consists of a number of tongues of massive, cross-bedded sandstone lying on more continuous flaggy sandstone into which they pass laterally. Each tongue of massive sandstone has its origin in the bank of a channel sandstone, and the radially distributed cross-bedding of the massive sandstone can be used to locate the point of origin. Local relief existing before sandstone deposition and that created by sandstone deposition can be demonstrated. The latter often was sufficiently pronounced to cause emergence of the surface of the sheet sandstone. The emergence is revealed by the occurrence of seat-earths, coals, and sandy patches in the overlying thin limestones. The features described compare so closely with crevasse deposits in the Mississippi delta that their can be no doubt of their deltaic origin.

A Unique Chert Nodule from the Hawes Limestone (Lower Carboniferous, D1) of Wensleydale, Yorkshire

AbstractA unique chert nodule, bowl-shaped, ten feet in diameter and three feet deep, with a mass of crystalline calcite in the bottom, occurs in the lower part of the Hawes Limestone at the base of the Yoredale Series. The overall peculiarities of the nodule require an origin after consolidation of the enclosing work.

Role of Deltas in the Formation of Some British Lower Carboniferous Cyclothems

Well-developed cyclothems are characteristic of the Yoredale Series of the Lower Carboniferous in northern England and Scotland. Each cyclothem consists of up to eight members, all impersistent, some especially so. The presence of the top three members is conditional upon the occurrence of sandstone. A maximum of eight major cyclothems is present in the English outcrops; some of the major cyclothems contain minor cyclothems of much more restricted extent, whose appearance is again conditional upon the occurrence of sandstone in the major cyclothem. Individual cyclothems have not yet been traced into the Scottish outcrops. Each major cyclothem is the result of interplay of two environments: a shallow epicontinental sea, whose normal sediment was limestone, and the delta of a large river draining the continent north of the sea. Comparison of the ancient delta with that of the Mississippi River suggests that the ancient delta advanced laterally down the coast of the continent, pushing out southwestward from ...

THE YOREDALE SERIES OF UPPER WENSLEYDALE AND ADJACENT PARTS OF NORTH-WEST YORKSHIRE

Summary The type succession for the Yoredale Series is slightly amended at the base to include the Hawes Limestone, a name resurrected for the topmost beds (parts of D 1 and D 2 ) of the Great Scar Limestone. The lateral variations of the series, up to the top of the Main Limestone, are described in detail, particularly the “Non-Calcareous Measures” between the major limestones. These may contain minor limestones, capable of limited correlation, as in the Hardrow Scar and Simonstone Cyclothems. The rock types are compared with those of a modern delta and an extensive correlation is found possible, leading to the suggestion that the Yoredale Series results from the intermittent deltaic invasions of a shallow limestone sea. It is deduced that periodic diversions of the delta river produced silting up of the main channel upstream; regional subsidence carried the abandoned delta below sea-level and limestone was deposited. During this time the river was building up a second delta to the east which eventually was similarly abandoned, and the river returned to its old course. Repetition of these events produced the Yoredale Series.

Neoglyphioceras cf. spirale (Phillips) from Ingleborough

AbstractThe occurrence of a goniatite horizon in the Yoredale Series exposed on Ingleborough can now be recorded. The goniatite, Neoglyphioceras cf. spirale (Phillips) was found in shales underlying a limestone which may probably be the Five Yard.

On the Geological Distribution of Carboniferous Blastoids in the Craven Area, Based on a Study of Their Occurrence in the Yoredale Series of Grassington, Yorkshire

Summary An abundant Carboniferous blastoid faunain the Middle Limestone of the Grassington area, Yorkshire, has been used as the basis of a study of the geological factors which influence the distribution of blastoids. In this area, Lower Carboniferous sedimentation was influenced by the craven fault-belt, which separated a shelf-sea over the Askrigg massif to the north from the rapidly subsiding craven basin to the south. In the northern part of the Grassington area the Cockleshell division of the Middle Limestone is characterized by bands of the brachiopod Gigantoproductus . When traced in the direction of the basin, Gigantoproductus decreases in abundance and finally disappears. The lower beds pass laterally into the knoll-bearing marginal facies. The knoll phase is succeeded by a crinoid-bank phase, which, on the massif side of the knoll region, contains abundant blastoids ( Orbitremites and Codaster ). An Orbitremites band has been traced northwards into the area characterized by Gigantoproductus . The association between the occurrence of Orbitremites and the knoll-forming limestones is confirmed by other blastoid localities in the Craven area. Blastoids are abundant in the crinoid-bank deposits which cap the clitheroe knolls (C 2 ), and also in the upper pat of the Whitewell knolls (C 2 ). In the Slaidburn anticline Orbitremites has been found in shales (C 2 ) which are the lateral equivalent of nearby knoll limestones. Orbitremites, Codaster and Zygocrinus have also been found in the marginal facies (D 2 ) of the Malham area.

The Upper Carboniferous Rocks of the Stainmore Coalfield

AbstractThe sequence of Upper Carboniferous rocks in the outlier at the western end of Stainmore Pass is described. The Upper Yoredale Series is shown to be separated by an unconformity from the overlying “Millstone Grit” series. The Coal Measures are about 800 feet thick and appear to be unconformable on the “Millstone Grit”. Hitherto unrecorded non-marine faunas and floras indicate horizons near the base and at the top of the Modiolaris zone. The sequence of Upper Carboniferous rocks at Stainmore is briefly compared with those of surrounding coalfields.

THE MIRK FELL BEDS (NAMURIAN, E 2 ) OF TAN HILL, YORKSHIRE

INTRODUCTION The Mirk Fell Beds outcrop on the high moorlands of North-West Yorkshire in the area drained by the headwaters of the Swale, Eden and Greta. They are mainly shales and occur at the top of the Yoredale Series immediately below the Millstone Grit. They were first discussed by Chubb and Hudson (1925) in a paper dealing with the nature of the junction between the Lower Carboniferous and the Millstone Grit of this region. In that paper the Millstone Grit was shown to be unconformable on various beds in the Yoredale Series in that immediately south of Wensleydale it rests on the Main Limestone but northwards the unconformity lifts and newer beds appear from beneath its base. North of Wensleydale the position of these newer beds in the Yoredale succession of the Northern Pennines is clear: they include the Little Limestone, the Ten Fathom Grit and the Crow Limestone and Cherts. North of Swaledale, however, still newer beds appear beneath the Millstone Grit; they are found in Stonesdale and Arkengarthdale and on the flanks of Rogans Seat and Water Crag moorlands, and are very variable and difficult to place in the Yoredale succession of the Northern Pennines. The lower part consists of a series of shales and cherts with occasional thin limestones; the upper part only occurs beneath the Millstone Grit in the northern part of Stonesdale and Arkengarthdale and around Tan Hill and Mirk Fell. It is these upper beds that are the Mirk Fell Beds. They begin with ...

ON THE CARBONIFEROUS CORALS : ZAPHRENTIS CARRUTHERSI SP. NOV. FROM THE MIRK FELL BEDS AND ITS RELATION TO THE Z. DELANOUEI SPECIES-GROUP

The new species of Zaphrentis described in this paper belongs to the group of Z. delanouei which Carruthers described in 1910. He arranged the members of this group in a lineage, the earliest species of which he took to be Z. delanouei Ed. and H., which he had previously redescribed in 1908. In order to clarify the relations between the new species and the members of this group the morphology and development of the latter are reviewed. The new species is named after Carruthers in recognition of his work both on the development of Zaphrentis delanouei and on the stratigraphy of the upper beds of the Yoredale Series in which the species occurs. THE MORPHOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ZAPHRENTIS DELANOUEI GROUP This review of the morphology and structural change in the various members of the Z. delanouei lineage is based on Carruthers’ descriptions (1908 and 1910) and on an examination of the type specimens in the palaeontological collection of the Geological Survey. Of the species described by Carruthers Z. lawstonensis was doubtfully included in the Z. delanouei main lineage and is not here considered in relation to the other forms. The other known species of the group are Z. delanouei Ed. and H., Z. parallela Carr., Z. constricta, Carr. and Z. disjuncta Carr. Included in the species Z. disjuncta were three forms, Z. disjuncta early form, Z. disjuncta typical form and Z. disjuncta advanced form. These forms are structurally distinct; they represent three stages in the morphological development of ...

The Genesis of the North Pennine Ore Deposits

I. Introduction The North Pennine area of northern England, drained by the Tyne, Wear, and Tees and their tributaries, is a dissected plateau, uplifted along the Pennine fault-line to the west, and sloping gently down to the lowlands of East Durham. Its physiographic boundaries are, on the north, the main valley of the Tyne; on the west, the Pennine escarpment, overlooking the Vale of Eden; and on the south, the natural pass of Stainmoor. This region has been called the “Alston Block” by F. M. Trotter and S. E. Hollingworth (1928). Gently domed Carboniferous sediments resting on an eroded surface of closely folded Lower Palæozoic slates and volcanic rocks form the country-rock, and the area is structurally a fault-block, the limits of which correspond closely with the physiographic boundaries. The Carboniferous limestones, sandstones, shales, and coals have a total thickness of more than 5000 feet, and throughout their whole thickness rhythmic alternations of beds are well exhibited. In the Carboniferous Limestone series (S 1 -D 1 ), which is the lowest Carboniferous member, limestones predominate. Limestones are co-important with sandstones and shales in the overlying Yoredale series (D 1 -D 3 ), but are absent from the higher horizons. Coal seams alternating with sandstones and shales make up the Upper Carboniferous succession. As a result of the gentle outward inclination of the beds from the highest part of the dome, near Cross Fell, progressively higher horizons outcrop round the northern, eastern, and southern margins of the area. The Millstone Grit thus appears along the Tyne valley and over

THE GLACIATION OF WHARFEDALE, YORKSHIRE

Topography and Structure of the Valley. The area to be discussed in this paper is the valley and drainage area of the River Wharfe, from its source in the Oughtershaw Moss near Ribblehead, to the neighbourhood of Wetherby, a distance of approximately fifty miles; with its tributaries, the River Skirfare flowing from Penyghent and joining the Wharfe between Kettlewell and Kilnsey, and the Washburn, which drains the moors between the Wharfe and the Nidd, south-east of Greenhow Hill. These two are the only considerable tributaries of the Wharfe. From its source to Appletreewick, a little over twenty miles, the valley is cut entirely in rocks of the Yoredale Series of the Carboniferous, the rock types of the valley being restricted to limestones, shales, and thin sandstones plus the coarser sandstone of the Millstone Grit which caps the fells on both sides of the Dale. Near Appletreewick the Millstone Grit occurs at a much lower level, due to the influence of the Craven Faults which cross the Dale about Linton. The river for about three miles runs through a gorge-like cut in the Millstone Grit between Earls Seat on the east and Barden Moor on the west of the valley. Near Bolton Abbey the continuation of the Skipton anticlinal axis brings up the Yoredale Series of limestones and shales, and for about a mile the river again cuts through these rocks. On the west of the river the Yoredales in this anticline form the subsidiary valleys by Embsay and Draughton which ...

The Lynchet Groups of Upper Wharfedale, Yorkshire

The area considered in this study is roughly the drainage of the Wharfe and its tributary the Skirfare, above Burnsall, a typical ‘Yorkshire Dale’. The valley is excavated through the Yoredale series of alternating limestones, shales, and sandstones, into the Great Scar Limestone, the lowest member of the Carboniferous series. This lower limestone forms very imposing and massive scars along the valley sides, above which the fells rise in a series of steps and scars corresponding with the limestone and sandstone outcrops. The valley bottom is occupied by a series of glacial lake flats and moraines which have played a very important part in the settlement of the valley, the lake flats being swamp until recently drained, and still liable to flood through a great part of winter, the moraines providing dry crossing places and village sites throughout the upper dale. The dale under discussion is about 20 miles long, and from ¼ to ½ mile wide between the lower scars of limestone. The valley floor rises from 500 ft. above sea-level at Burnsall to 1250 ft. at the head of the valley near Oughtershaw,while the top of the first scar varies from 800 ft. to about 1600 ft., being a platform of good pasture about a third of a mile wide, on each side of the valley.

A CARBONIFEROUS LAGOON DEPOSIT WITH SPONGES

The frequent occurrence of sponge spicules in the Yoredale Series of North West Yorkshire was noted by Dr. G. J. Hinde1 who also remarked on the association of such spicules with the numerous chert beds present in that series, beds which he considered were formed from the debris of siliceous sponges. Sponge spicules are also common both in the limestones and the calcareous shales, and there is no doubt that sponges were most abundant organisms in the seas in which the Yoredale beds were formed. Entire sponges are, however, rare in the Carboniferous. Only two specimens have been described from the Yoredales— Pemmatites constipatus, G. J. Hinde, and Pemmatites sp., Garwood and Goodyear. The few specimens from the Lower Limestones of Ayrshire, described by Young and Carter as entire specimens, were regarded by Zittel as aggregates of spicules. This paper records the occurrence of a sponge bed packed with fossil siliceous sponges which have been preserved entire and with recognisable form and from which spicules are easily isolated. This sponge bed has been traced in the Carboniferous rocks of the Lake District and in those of the Pennines of Yorkshire, Durham and Westmorland; it is of constant, horizon, and was apparently deposited under lagoon conditions. For the most part the sponges described in this paper occur as small well-defined nodules either in shale or in limestone. When broken they are red or dark grey in colour and, therefore, stand out from the surrounding limestone. The occurrence of this nodular band ...

Faunal Horizons in the Lower Carboniferous of North-West Yorkshire

Recent papers and discussions have called attention to the fauna of the Yoredale facies of the Lower Carboniferous. These beds are well exposed in the valleys of Wensleydale and Swaledale in North West Yorkshire and they are there, perhaps, the most fossiliferous. As this is the type district for the Yoredale series, a brief statement of the more important faunal horizons would not be out of place.

THE NATURE OF THE JUNCTION BETWEEN THE LOWER CARBONIFEROUS AND THE MILLSTONE GRIT OF NORTH-WEST YORKSHIRE.

The greater part of North-West Yorkshire is composed of almost horizontal Lower Carboniferous rocks capped by Millstone Grit. The Lower Carboniferous, divided into Great Scar Limestone and Yoredale Series, is exposed over most of this area in the dales eroded by the Yorkshire rivers, and the Millstone Grit occurs as isolated outliers on the hills dividing one dale from the other. In the east, however, the general easterly dip of both Millstone Grit and Lower Carboniferous results in the occurrence of the Millstone Grit at a lower level, where it forms extensive tracts of moorland. The area under discussion includes the upper part of Swaledale, Wensleydale and Arkengarthdale in the north, and Semerdale, Bishopdale, Upper Coverdale and Wharfedale as far as Grassington in the south. The geology of part of the area has been described in the Mallerstang and Ingle-borough Memoirs (Sheet Memoirs 97 N.W. and 97 S.W.), while the entire area is geologically mapped on the One Inch Sheets 97 and 92 S.E. (Old Series). The mapping by the members of the Geological Survey was largely lithological. The rocks are exposed in a series of stream sections, and the intermediate country is usually covered with drift or scree detritus. As the lithology of the Lower Carboniferous gradually changes from north to south from a series of sandstones, shales and limestones to a facies composed of limestone only, the relation of the Lower Carboniferous and the Millstone Grit is not brought out. The work of Professor Garwood and Miss Goodyear ...