Sequence Stratigraphy, Tectonostratigraphy and Basin Analysis

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Chapter 3
Sequence stratigraphy, tectonostratigraphy and basin analysis
A. J. REES1,2, A. T. THOMAS1*, M. LEWIS3,4, H. E. HUGHES1,5 & P. TURNER1,6

1
School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
2
Present address: Saudi Aramco, Box 782, Dhahran Mail Center, Abqaiq 31311, Saudi Arabia
3
School of Earth, Ocean & Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3YE, UK
4
Present address: ‘Brithdir’, Bethania Road, Acrefair, Wrexham, LL14 3TT, UK
5
Present address: School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus,
Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
6
Present address: Brigantia Resources Ltd, 7 Carlton Croft, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B74 3 JT, UK
*Corresponding author (e-mail: a.t.thomas@bham.ac.uk)
Abstract: The Dyfed Supergroup of SW Wales ranges from Terreneuvian to Furongian in age and represents a prolonged and nearly
continuous phase of siliciclastic sedimentation on the southern margin of the Cambrian Welsh Basin. The lower 564 m of the Supergroup
are included in an extended Caerfai Group (six formations), embracing strata previously assigned to the Solva Group. Predominantly
arenaceous, the Caerfai Group has important units of conglomerate and pebbly sandstone at its base, middle and top. The Caerfai
Group is overlain by 687 m of mainly argillaceous sedimentary deposits of the Porth-y-rhaw Group (five formations), a newly
erected unit that includes strata previously assigned to the ‘Menevian Group’ and ‘Lingula Flags’. This two-fold division of the
Dyfed Supergroup is comparable with the distinction of the laterally equivalent Harlech Grits and Mawddach groups exposed around
the Harlech Dome in North Wales.
High resolution sequence-stratigraphical techniques, constrained by biostratigraphical data wherever possible, are applied to the Dyfed
Supergroup across southern Britain: the revised lithostratigraphy is thereby integrated with a slightly modified version of the Avalonian
chronostratigraphy initially developed for the western Avalonian successions of maritime Canada. Sequences 1 and 2 are not recognized
in the Dyfed supergroup of SW Wales, reflecting the inner platform setting of the area. Those sequences are represented in North Wales
however, which was situated on the outer platform. The relative ease with which the Cambrian successions of southern Britain can be
incorporated into the general Avalonian framework reflects the shared epeirogenic history, sediment sources and accumulation history of
a microcontinent unified by early Cambrian times. The gross lithological similarities that exist between Cambrian successions across
Avalonia, and between SW Wales and North Wales in particular, are better understood when basin chronostratigraphy is placed
within a sequence stratigraphic framework defined by systems tracts. This is particularly evident during Unnamed Cambrian Series 3
(C3) and Furongian times, when clear systems links are demonstrated between paralic depositional environments in SW Wales and
deeper basin turbidites in North Wales.
Sequences 3 –7 (Terreneuvian– C3) in the Welsh Basin and its hinterland were dominated by siliciclastic deposition on an epeirogeni-
cally active platform. An extensional rift-like tectonic regime is proposed, where elongate basins dominated by mudstone deposition have
time equivalents formed on areas of apparent uplift that were probably tilt-block highs. Local accumulation history, the development of
regional unconformities, the extent of marine onlap, and the secular succession of lithofacies were controlled principally by phases of
fault-accommodated subsidence along the NE-trending lineaments that bounded these basins and their intervening horsts or platforms.
In southern Britain, movements first along the Menai Straits Fault System then the Welsh Borderlands Fault System, both of which are
terrane boundaries, were responsible for the dominantly coarse-grained arenaceous sedimentation of pre-Drumian times. In the Welsh
Basin, this is highlighted by a change in sediment source from the Monian Superterrane to the Wrekin Terrane. A rapid switch from
marginal to inner platform source areas accompanied a major phase of tectonic reorganization of the Avalonian Superterrane during
the development of the boundary between sequences 3 and 4. Although the role of secular variations in eustatic sea level as a control
on sequence development and architecture has been dismissed previously, prominent lowstands such as those recorded during the
basal Ptychagnostus gibbus Biozone, ‘Solenopleura’ brachymetopa Biozone (mid-Paradoxides forchhammeri Biosuperzone), and the
upper part of the forchhammeri Biosuperzone also influenced the depositional sequence stratigraphy.
The broad subdivision of Cambrian Avalonian stratigraphy into tectonically active and passive phases of sedimentation allows two
megasequences to be distinguished. Megasequence 1 (sequences 1– 7) represents the transform termination of Avalonian subduction fol-
lowing oblique convergence, and the accretion of island arcs onto the northern periphery of Gondwana. Under transpressional regimes,
late Precambrian arc-related basins were inverted and recycled into pull-apart successor basins. Initially, the margins of these were domi-
nated by alluvial fans and coarse-grained fan-deltas built by flood-generated sediment dispersal processes. In the later transform stage of
Cadomian–Avalonian orogenesis, there was a switch to sediment supplied from highlands to the east. Sequence 8, represented in Pem-
brokeshire by the Aber Llong and Ogof Velvet formations, lies at the base of Megasequence 2 (late C3– early Ordovician). Excellent
sections occur through these formations and their equivalents in North Wales, and their interpretation significantly improves understand-
ing of younger Cambrian sedimentary basins in Avalonia. These successions reflect passive margin sedimentation and the culmination of
the Avalonian– Cadomian orogenic cycle. Deposition occurred in part of a subaqueous delta platform at the mouth of a huge river system
that drained a substantial part of West Gondwana, with Avalonia acting as a sink for vast quantities of fine-grained sediment. Secular
variations in eustatic sea level and/or sediment supply, rather than active tectonism, were the main mechanisms controlling sequence
architecture and depositional environments at this time.
Geological and stratigraphical setting Nance & Murphy 1994). All are characterized by Neoproterozoic
histories of continental margin subduction, and by the peri-
Avalonia (Figs 3.1a & 3.16; also see Fig. 1.1b) is the largest of Gondwanan affinity of their early Palaeozoic shallow marine suc-
several exotic terranes within the Appalachian –Caledonide cessions (Nance & Thompson 1996; Landing 1996). Avalonia
Orogen that are interpreted to have evolved along an active extends from from New England and the Atlantic margin of
margin of Neoproterozoic Gondwana (Nance et al. 1991, 2002; Canada (West Avalonia) to southern Britain (East Avalonia).
Corresponding author: A. T. Thomas, University of Birmingham (a.t.thomas@bham.ac.uk)

From: Rees, A. J., Thomas, A. T., Lewis, M., Hughes, H. E. & Turner, P. 2014. The Cambrian of SW Wales: Towards a United Avalonian Stratigraphy.
Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 42, 101–134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/M42.3
# The Geological Society of London 2014. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics
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102 A. J. REES ET AL.
The remarkable lithological and palaeontological similarities sections in southern Britain, where he relied almost entirely
between Cambrian successions in East and West Avalonia have upon secondary accounts. Although Pembrokeshire exposes one
long been appreciated (e.g. Mohr & Allen 1965), but until the of the most complete successions of Cambrian rocks in southern
late 1970s work on the Avalonian cover sequence was dominated Britain, it was not included in Landing’s (1996) synthesis. Palaeo-
by macropalaeontological studies and generalized lithostratigra- geographically, Pembrokeshire is located between the inner and
phical descriptions from small areas (Landing 1996). With the marginal platform (Fig. 3.1a), and contains a succession not
advent of high-resolution sequence stratigraphy and precise U – straightforwardly incorporated into such an overview. The area
Pb radiometric dating techniques, a more unified picture of the therefore presents a good opportunity to test the applicability of
cover sequence has begun to emerge. This involves the correlation a unified Avalonian stratigraphy to Cambrian sections in south-
of chronostratigraphically significant, unconformity-bounded ern Britain. As explained below, the only significant revisions
depositional sequences identified in the type Avalonian (SE New- we propose to Landing’s (1996) scheme relate to sequences
foundland) with coeval sections in Nova Scotia, southern New 7 and 8.
Brunswick, eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Cape Breton The Terreneuvian–C3 successions on the Avalon Peninsula of
Island, the Carolina Slate Belt, and parts of southern Britain SE Newfoundland are appropriate standards for comparison across
(Landing 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996; Landing & Benus Avalonia because of their good continuous exposure, diverse
1988; Brasier 1989; Brasier et al. 1992; Landing & Westrop faunas, and numerous datable volcanic ash horizons (Landing
1996; Landing et al. 1998, 2013; McIlroy et al. 1998). 1994, 1996). Conversely, sections through the lower part of the
Cambrian palaeogeographical reconstructions based on west – Furongian (Sequence 8) there are generally fragmentary, discon-
east transects across these Avalonian cover sequences allow a tinuous, and found principally in fault-bounded inliers. This has
marginal (western) platform to be distinguished from an inner severely hampered meaningful sedimentological analysis, so
(eastern) one (Landing 1994, 1996; Landing & Westrop 1996; that little is known about younger Cambrian basins across the
Landing et al. 2013). In the sedimentary record, these broad Avalonian platform in terms of their sizes, depositional environ-
palaeogeographical regions are recognized by their differing ments and sediment sources. Sections in the Welsh Basin offer
depositional responses to the timing and scale of epeirogenic the potential to rectify this situation, as continuous sections in
activity (Landing 1992, 1996). Marginal platform successions excess of 600 m thick are not uncommon. The depositional
such as those of the Burin Peninsula (SE Newfoundland), St environments of the Aber Llong and Ogof Velvet formations
John (New Brunswick), Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia typi- are outlined in Chapter 2, and interpreted to represent a storm-
cally possess a thick lower sequence representing the Placentian dominated, tide-influenced subaqueous delta platform. This
Regional Series (Terreneuvian – early C3; see Peng et al. 2012, system is most characteristically developed during the prograda-
fig. 19.15, p. 476) passing downwards into the Ediacaran (e.g. tional stage associated with deposition of the Ogof Velvet For-
the Rencontre –Random formations on the Burin Peninsula; Fig. mation. Detailed sedimentary logging of later C3 and Furongian
3.2). Above, lie dominantly arenaceous Branchian Regional rocks in North Wales demonstrates a strong systems link with
Series (C2) and C3 successions punctuated by large unconformi- deltaic sedimentation in SW Wales, a conclusion reached also
ties (e.g. St John, New Brunswick; Fig. 3.2). These features are by Crimes (1970a) based on a study of depositional environments
comparable with the Cambrian successions of the Caernarfon and palaeocurrent patterns.
Slate Belt in NW Wales, which are situated on the northwestern The account that follows begins by discussing the depositional
periphery of the British Avalonian Superterrane (Fig. 3.1a), a sequences and their correlation in ascending stratigraphical
location consistent with the marginal platform of West Avalonia order. Their setting in a tectonostratigraphical and megasequence
(Landing 1996). context is discussed afterwards.
The characteristics outlined contrast with those of successions
on the eastern inner platform of Avalonia at locations such as
Trinity Bay (SE Newfoundland; Fig. 3.2) and Cradle Brook
(New Brunswick). These typically have a thin Fortunian (Terre- Sequence stratigraphy
neuvian) sequence below, lying unconformably on the latest Pre-
cambrian (e.g. the Random Formation at Trinity Bay; Fig. 3.2); The sequence stratigraphic nomenclature used here follows that
a mud-dominated CS2 (unnamed Cambrian stages are denoted of Vail et al. (1977), as modified by Van Wagoner et al. (1988).
CS2, CS3 etc.); and a Terreneuvian–Guzhangian (C3) succession Sequence boundaries are placed at surfaces showing substantial
above that contains units of limestone also (e.g. the Bonavista and fluvial incision and/or a significant basinward translation of
Brigus groups and Chamberlain’s Brook Formation at Trinity Bay; coastal onlap (Van Wagoner et al. 1988; Posamentier & James
Fig. 3.2). The dominantly fine-grained succession at Nuneaton on 1993). Utilising these basic principles, the Dyfed Supergroup is
the eastern part of the Midland Platform represents the inner plat- divided into six unconformity-bounded depositional sequences
form in southern Britain (Brasier 1989; Landing 1996). (Fig. 3.3), which correlate both lithologically and chronologi-
Based on a comprehensive synthesis of local studies, Landing cally with the epeirogenically-controlled sequences identified by
(1996) identified nine epeirogenically-controlled depositional Landing (1996) elsewhere in Avalonia (Fig. 3.2). Sequences 1
sequences in Avalonia, six of which can be recognized in the Dyfed and 2 of the Avalonian scheme (uppermost Ediacaran to mid-
Supergroup of southern Britain (Fig. 3.2). Landing’s sequence Fortunian) are not recognized in the Dyfed Supergroup of SW
stratigraphic framework was developed principally from sec- Wales (but see discussion of Sequence 3 below), a characteristic
tions in West Avalonia, and has yet to be applied in detail to typical of successions situated on the Avalonian inner platform
Fig. 3.1. (a) The Avalonian Superterrane in southern Britain (modified after Pharaoh & Carney 2000, fig. 1.1, p. 3; reproduced by permission of the Joint Nature
Conservation Committee) showing constituent terranes bounded by major faults (BSZ, Berw Shear Zone; MFS, Menai Strait Fault System; BF, Bala Fault, WBFS, Welsh
Borderland Fault System. Note the intermediate position of Pembrokeshire relative to the outer platform successions of North Wales and the inner platform ones of the
Welsh Borderland and England. See Figure 3.5 for reconstructed structural section along the line X–Y and Fig. 3.15 for basinal reconstruction. The Caernarfon Slate Belt
lies on the northwestern part of the Welsh mainland, NW of the Harlech Dome. (b) Summary of major lithostratigraphical units in the Cambrian of SW Wales).
(c) Geological sketch map of the area around St David’s. (d, e) Enlarged geological sketch maps of the boxed areas shown in (c); the principal localities mentioned in the
text are shown. Positions of geological boundaries in (c-e) based on Wilson (1992) with modifications; reproduced by permission of the British Geological Survey
(CP14/030 British Geological Survey # NERC. All rights reserved). Geographical details in c –e based on Ordnance Survey Second Series 1:50 000 Maps Sheet 157
# Crown copyright (1990); Ordnance Survey Licence 10004709090.
CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 103
(a) (b)
(d) (c)
(e)
104

A. J. REES ET AL.
Fig. 3.2. Cambrian sequence stratigraphy of the Avalonian platform. The column to the left summarizes the chronostratigraphy and biostratigraphy employed, which follows Rushton et al. (2011). Asterisks indicate key
points in the UK in the successions that are are biostratigraphically constrained; biostratigraphical details outside Pembrokeshire are after Rushton et al. (2011). Correlation of the North American sections follows
Landing (1996, parts of fig. 2, p. 33; fig. 5, p. 42; fig. 7, p. 50), with modifications from Rushton et al. (2011), Fletcher (2006) and data in this contribution. The names of the Guzhangian and Jiangshanian stages are abbreviated as
‘Guzhang.’ and ‘Jiang.’ respectively.
Fig. 3.3. Summary of the sequence stratigraphy of the Dyfed Supergroup in SW Wales. The names of the Guzhangian and Jiangshanian stages are abbreviated to
‘Guzhang.’ and ‘Jiang.’ respectively. HST, highstand systems tract; LST, lowstand systems tract; MFS, maximum flooding surface; SB, sequence boundary; TST,
transgressive systems tract. Numbering of depositional sequences follows Landing (1996); see text for further details.
(Landing 1996; Landing & Westrop 1996). Those sequences are Rushton 1974), and the Dolwen and Llanbedr formations
only fully developed on the marginal platform, which in East around the Harlech Dome (Allen & Jackson 1978, 1985). Due
Avalonia corresponds to localities in North Wales. Examples to erosion prior to the deposition of Ordovician (Floian) rocks
of Sequence 1 and 2 deposits include the lower part of the locally, rocks belonging to Sequence 9 are absent from Pembroke-
Llanberis Slates in the Caernarfon Slate Belt (Crimes 1970a; shire also.
The biostratigraphical and chronostratigraphical framework in that these data are consistent with either sequence stratigraphic
which the sequence stratigraphy is discussed is summarized in interpretation. However, we consider the balance of available bio-
Chapter 1; see Chapter 2 for an account of Cambrian lithostrati- stratigraphical information to be most easily reconciled with the
graphy and palaeoenvironments in SW Wales. sequence 2 –3 correlations shown in Figure 3.2. Additional biostra-
tigraphical data, and/or high resolution radiometric dates, are
needed to settle these questions of correlation finally.
Depositional sequences In correlating the Ogof Golchfa– St Nons and Random forma-
tions, Landing et al. (2013) placed significant emphasis on their
Sequence 3 shared feldspathic lithology and supposedly similar macro-tidal
As explained below, we consider Sequence 3 to extend from the depositional environments. However, the feldspathic nature of
base of the Ogof Golchfa Formation to the base of the Caerfai the Ogof Golchfa and St Non’s formations is to be expected irre-
Bay Formation (Fig. 3.3), attaining a maximum thickness of spective of their age given the feldspar-rich nature of the Pebidian
195 m. The basal unconformity that separates arc-related Precam- rocks in their source area. Additionally, use of the environmental
brian volcaniclastic and igneous rocks below from the overlying descriptor ‘tidalite’ overlooks the two dominant palaeoenviron-
Cambrian basal conglomerate demonstrates a slight angular dis- ments: alluvial plain and transgressive storm-dominated near-
cordance and is interpreted as a Type-1 sequence boundary. The shore. Tidal indicators are not clearly demonstrated, and are not
41 m of strata immediately overlying the unconformity comprise consistent with a macro-tidal setting. In view of these consider-
the poorly sorted cobble-pebble conglomerates, pebbly sandstones ations, we correlate the syntectonic signature apparent particularly
and medium- to coarse-grained sandstones of the Ogof Golchfa in the Ogof Golchfa Formation with the well-documented phase of
Formation, interpreted as lowstand alluvial fan and gravelly extension and rifting that has been determined for the Sequence 3
braided stream deposits. These are in turn overlain by the trans- succession of the Bonavista Cycle (Landing 1996).
gressive nearshore marine sandstones of the St Non’s Formation. The recognition of Sequence 3 in North Wales is severely ham-
A wave ravinement surface (transgressive surface of erosion) sep- pered by a complex and incompletely documented lithostrati-
arates syntectonic lowstand deposits below from post-tectonic graphy and poor biostratigraphical control. Based solely on
onlap strata of the transgressive systems tract above. A 1.5 m shared lithological characteristics, Landing (1996) correlated the
thick unit of intensely bioturbated mid-shelf silty mudstones marks Bonavista Cycle with the Dwndwr Grits, a subdivision of the Llan-
the maximum flooding surface at Porthselau. A return to nearshore beris Slate Formation of the Caernarfon Slate Belt (see Rushton
sedimentation is evident in the uppermost 7 m of the St Non’s For- 1974 for a review of Cambrian lithostratigraphy in England and
mation with the replacement of Teichichnus burrows by Skolithus. Wales, and Rushton et al. 2011 for more recent key references
This rapid shallowing is interpreted as an attenuated highstand and updated terminology). That unit, like the rocks comprising
systems tract. Sequence 3 in NW Pembrokeshire, was sourced from the
A U –Pb radiometric date from the base of the overlying Caerfai Monian Superterrane to the west (Crimes 1970a). Movements
Bay Formation is of early CS3 (C2) age (Harvey et al. 2011), along the Menai Straits Fault System that led to basin inception
suggesting that Sequence 3 belongs wholly in the Terreneuvian in Pembrokeshire may thus account also for the sudden influx of
and that it is coeval with the Bonavista Cycle (Fig. 3.2) in SE coarse detritus in the otherwise uniform mudstones of the Llan-
Newfoundland (Landing 1996). A strong tectonic control on beris Slates, making the lithological correlation of Landing
sequence development and sedimentation is evident throughout (1996) more secure. The earlier Cambrian formations of the
Avalonia at this time. Good examples include sediment-filled Harlech Dome are poorly understood in terms of facies and
fissures along the sub-Bonavista unconformity in SE Newfound- stratal stacking patterns, and it is not yet possible to determine
land interpreted by Landing (1996) as recording active exten- their depositional sequence stratigraphy.
sion, while compressional tectonic regimes appear dominant
in both the Lower Comley Sandstone of Shropshire and the Sequence 4
condensed limestones of the Home Farm Member (Hartshill For- Sequence 4 (Fig. 3.3) attains a maximum thickness of 179 m and
mation) at Nuneaton (Brasier 1989; Landing 1996). The occur- includes the red shaley mudstones, siltstones and tuffs of the
rence of alluvial fan and gravelly braided stream deposits at Caerfai Bay Formation, the purple argillaceous sandstones of
the base of Sequence 3 in Pembrokeshire is consistent with syntec- the Caer Bwdy Bay Formation, and the pebbly sandstones and
tonic sedimentation. The presence of blue and green amphibole, coarse sandstones of the Trwyncynddeiriog Member (basal div-
mylonite, and medium to high-grade metamorphic lithic fragments ision of the Newgale Formation). This lithostratigraphy closely
throughout Sequence 3 there, coupled with westerly-derived resembles that of the Hanford Brook Formation (New Bruns-
palaeocurrent patterns (Fig. 3.4) suggest sediment was shed from wick) and other successions on the marginal Avalonian platform
a southerly extension of the Monian Superterrane (Fig. 3.1a), (Landing & Westrop 1996). The paraconformity at the top of the
implying fault-accommodated subsidence along the Menai St Non’s Formation is considered a ‘drowning paraconformity’
Straits Fault System. The striking similarities between the late Pre- (see Proust & Hosu 1996), caused by rapid deepening, though
cambrian and early Cambrian geology of Anglesey and the Ros- emergence would be indicated if the recognition of a caliche at
slare Complex in southeastern Ireland (Baker 1955; Crimes & the top of the St Non’s Sandstone (Landing et al. 1998, 2013)
Dhonau 1967; Gibbons & Horák 1990) lend credence to this is confirmed. This surface is correlated with the Type-2 uncon-
palaeogeographical interpretation, which is the one favoured by formity that separates the pre-trilobitic Terreneuvian ‘Placentian
Anderton et al. 1992, p. 11). Series’ rocks from trilobite-yeilding ones (CS2 and younger) at
In partly revising the unified Avalonian stratigraphical scheme the top of the Bonavista Group in SE Newfoundland (Landing
presented by Landing (1996), Landing et al. (2013) proposed plac- 1996; Landing et al. 1998; Fig. 3.2), and records a major
ing the Ogof Golchfa Formation –St Non’s Formation sequence- phase of tectonic reorganization of basins across Avalonia.
bounded succession into the older Sequence 2, thus correlating it Depocentre migration, a change in provenance and a switch in
with the Random Formation of West Avalonia. On this basis, the sediment source to the east are features that characterize this
sequence boundary between the St Non’s and Caerfai Bay forma- sequence boundary in West Avalonia (Landing 1996; Landing
tions could represent several million years, and would embrace & Westrop 1996). Post-Home Farm Member (Hartshill For-
two episodes of basin reorganization (at the tops of the Random mation) and Obolella groomi Bed (basal Lower Comley Sand-
Formation and Bonavista Group respectively). Across England stone Formation, Ab1; for alphanumeric terminology applied
and Wales, only limited ichnofossil and body fossil data exist to the Shropshire sequence see Cobbold 1921) emergence at
for the part of the succession concerned, and it can be argued Nuneaton and Shropshire respectively (Fig. 3.2) suggest a
SEQ.
SEQUENCE PRIMARY PALAEOCURRENT MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
STRATIGRAPHY STRAT. DATA (10-6SI) DETRITAL MODES
M 100 1000 Q
QUARTZ ARENITE
1300 SUBLITHARENITE
SUBARKOSE
MEGASEQUENCE 2
PORTH-Y-RHAW GROUP Qm
CRATON QUARTOSE
HST 1200 INTERIOR RECYCLED
OGOF VELVET
FM
8 1100
MFS

1000
F L
ABER LLONG FM TST
SB 900 F Lt
CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

MENEVIA HST QFL - after Folk (1980)
FORMATION MFS Q
7 800 QUARTZ ARENITE
WHITESANDS BAY FM TST SUBLITHARENITE
SUBARKOSE
SB 700
ARKOSE LITHARENITE
PORTH CLAIS FM HST
MFS LITHIC
6 600 ARKOSE
ARKOSIC
LITHARENITE
NEWGALE
TST
MEGASEQUENCE 1
FM
SB 500 F L
CAERFAI GROUP
TST 5
SB SEQUENCE 3 SEQUENCES 4-7
CAER BWDY BAY 400
FORMATION HST QmFLt - after Dickinson (1985)
4 Qm
CRATON
CAERFAI BAY FM MFS 300 INTERIOR
TST QUARTZOSE
SB TRANSITIONAL RECYCLED
HST CONTINENTAL
MFS 200
ST NON’S MIXED
TRANSITIONAL
FORMATION RECYCLED
TST DISSECTED
3 100 ARC
LITHIC
OGOF GOLCHFA RECYCLED
LST
FORMATION F Lt
SB 0 BASEMENT TRANSITIONAL UNDISSECTED
UPLIFT ARC ARC
Fig. 3.4. Summary of the characteristics of megasequences 1 and 2 based on palaeocurrent data, magnetic susceptibility and petrography. In ascending stratigraphical order, the palaeocurrent roses respectively summarize
directional data from the Ogof Golchfa and lower part of the St Non’s formations (n ¼ 122), the Newgale, Porth Clais and Menevia formations (n ¼ 377) and the Ogof Velvet Formation (n ¼ 456). The measurements of whole
rock bulk magnetic susceptibility provide an indication of the petrophysical properties of the succession. Sandstone framework composition is represented by detrital mode data. Each point on the plots represents a single thin
section. A minimum of 400 framework grains were counted in each section to ensure a 2-sigma confidence range of 5% or less of the whole rock for any calculated modal percentage (Van der Plas & Tobi 1965). Cement and
(pseudo)matrix (,0.03 mm) were not counted and slides with .20% matrix were omitted. A clear distinction in palaeocurrent, magnetic susceptibility and detrital mode characteristics can be made between the successions lying
respectively below and above sequence boundary 7 –8. Megasequence 1 is characterized by immature litharenites and litharkoses, with detrital modes of arc and recycled provenance, while very mature quartz arenites typical of
the cratonic interior are characteristic of Megasequence 2. Tectonic reorganization of the basin at the megasequence boundary is associated with a change in palaeocurrent flow from southeasterly-derived to derivation from the
107
SW. A drop in magnetic susceptibility accompanies the obvious change in provenance. This fall reflects a change from magnetite-bearing (highly susceptible) juvenile basement in Megasequence 1 to less susceptible
phyllosilicate-bearing (mica-rich) quartzose detritus in Megasequence 2. For explanation of abbreviations used in the sequence stratigraphy column, see legend for Figure 3.3.
compressional regime on the Midland Platform (Brasier 1989; (Ac2 –Ac5, Ad) that record epeirogeny of the Longmynd and
Landing 1996). other blocks (Brasier 1989).
Rapid deepening across this sequence boundary in Pembroke- This variability in Sequence 4 across Avalonia can be accounted
shire is interpreted as the local expression of basin reorganization. for by major fault-block rotation in what appears to be a domi-
This is based on: the switch from westerly-derived sediment in the nantly extensional ‘rift’ regime. In this model (Fig. 3.5), succes-
St Non’s Formation to easterly-derived above (Fig. 3.4); the sions punctuated by hiatuses developed on tilt-block highs (e.g.
sudden shut-down of arenaceous sedimentation, a typical syntec- Shropshire, Carmarthen and the Malverns), while thick sand-rich
tonic lithological expression (the ‘anti-tectonic cycles’ of Paola intervals formed as progradational clastic wedges sourced from
et al. 1992 and Gordon & Heller 1993); and the abundance of the elevated tilt-blocks. Due to limited clastic penetration away
thick, coarse-grained feldspathic tuffs in this part of the succession. from the faults, reflecting the low depositional slopes, much depo-
The tectonic reorganization evident in Shropshire suggests that sition in the half-grabens was relatively condensed and mud-rich,
fault rejuvenation along the Welsh Borderland Fault System accounting for the nature of the sections in SE Newfoundland
(Fig. 3.1a) may have been responsible for the switch in sediment and at Nuneaton. This interpretation of the inner Avalonian plat-
source to the east, a conclusion consistent with the apparent lack form is consistent with and supported by the following: stratal
of C2 and C3 strata in the Carmarthen area, some 70 km east of thickening into faults evident on seismic profiles across the
St David’s, and in the Malvern Hills (Fig. 3.1a; Cope & Rushton Midland Platform (Smith & Rushton 1993); a rapid phase of dif-
1992; Rushton et al. 2011, fig. 10, p. 29). ferential subsidence apparent in subsidence curves constructed
The base of the Brigus Formation in SE Newfoundland from Terreneuvian –C3 successions throughout southern Britain
(Fig. 3.2) is marked by a rapid west to east onlap typical of the (Prigmore et al. 1997); a thin transgressive systems tract and thick
transgressive systems tract (Landing 1996), a retrogradational highstand systems tract in NW Pembrokeshire, reflecting rapid
motif mirrored in the tempestites and condensed shales of the initial subsidence by fault activation and block rotation followed
Caerfai Bay Formation. The rest of Brigus Cycle deposition com- by clastic wedge progradation during relative tectonic quiescence
pares well with the inner platform Purley Shale Formation at (the anti-tectonic cycle); and the onset of fan-delta sedimenta-
Nuneaton (Brasier 1989), both of which continue a retrogradation during clastic wedge outbuilding, a typical depositional sys-
tional (transgressive) trend. Zircon crystals from a bentonite low tem response to fault activation (Massari & Colella 1988).
in that Formation have yielded a U –Pb age of 517 + 0.34 Ma Sequence 4 in North Wales comprises the red and green slates of
(Williams et al. 2013). That date and the biostratigraphical data the upper part of the Llanberis Slates, which are similar in lithology
suggest that this part of the Purley Shale Formation lies at about to the Brigus and Purley Shale formations (Landing 1996), and the
the level of the Fallotaspis or basal Callavia biozones. In SW coarse-grained turbidites of the Hell’s Mouth and Rhinog for-
Wales, the Caer Bwdy Bay Formation and Trwyncynddeiriog mations of the St Tudwal’s Peninsula and Harlech Dome respect-
Member form a classic highstand systems tract sequence, 157 m ively (Figs 3.1a & 3.2). The regressive trend that characterizes
thick, which coarsens and shoals upwards from bioturbated Sequence 4 in marginal platform locations close to active fault
muddy shelf sandstones at the base to coarse-grained fan-delta- zones is evident in both the latter formations (Crimes 1970a),
front turbidites towards the top. Some turbidite bed tops record but particularly in the Hell’s Mouth Formation, where supposedly
reworking by tidal currents, so deposition above fair-weather deep-water turbidite-fan deposits (Bassett & Walton 1960; Crimes
wave-base is likely. A parallel change in lithology and deposi- 1970a; Young et al. 1994) pass rapidly into gravelly turbidites with
tional environment occurs in the Hanford Brook Formation on interference, asymmetrical and symmetrical ripples on bed tops
the marginal platform in southern New Brunswick (Landing & (Bassett &Walton 1960). These are virtually identical to the
Westrop 1996), while in Shropshire the Comley Limestones pebbly sandstones of the Trwyncynddeiriog Member, which may
(Figs 3.2 & 3.6) comprise five unconformity-bounded units suggest that the Hell’s Mouth Formation turbidites are Gilbert-type
SHROPSHIRE/ CHARNWOOD TERRANE

CYMRU TERRANE CARMARTHEN
NUNEATON
MALVERN (PURLEY SHALE FORMATION)
PEMBROKESHIRE
WREKIN TERRANE
CONDENSED SE NEWFOUNDLAND
LIMESTONE
(BRIGUS FORMATION)
UNCONFORMITY
MSFS WBFS
ML CBF
UNCONFORMITY
NEW BRUNSWICK WHITE LEAVED OAK SHALE
(HANFORD BROOK FORMATION (FURONGIAN)
FORMATION) COMLEY
LIMESTONES UNCONFORMITY
HOLLYBUSH SANDSTONE AND

MALVERN QUARTZITE FORMATIONS
Fig. 3.5. Structural model explaining lithofacies distribution, sequence architecture and location of unconformities in the Cambrian successions of SW Wales,
Malvern and Nuneaton (line of section X– Y in Fig. 3.1); see text for further details. Fault-block rotation with tilt-block highs can account for the temporal and spatial
distribution of such features in SE Newfoundland also, and the equivalent positions of the Hanford Brook (New Brunswick) and Brigus (SE Newfoundland) formations
are indicated. MSFS Menai Staits Fault System; WBFS,Welsh Borderland Fault system; ML, Malvern Line; CBF, postulated NE Charnwood Boundary Fault.
fan-delta deposits (see Postma 1990) rather than forming part of a section from the Comley area of Shropshire (Fig. 3.6). The tran-
deep-sea fan. Although the dominant source for both formations sition was interpreted by Cobbold (1925) as recording uplift,
was the Monian Superterrane to the north (Bassett & Walton tilting, and erosion of the Comley Limestones and Lower
1960), Crimes (1970a) identified pebbles in easterly-derived turbi- Comley Sandstone, characteristics now understood to be compati-
dites that he compared with the late Neoproterozoic Uriconian ble with fault-block rotation and an extensional tectonic regime
Volcanic Group of Shropshire. This provides a critical link (Fig. 3.5). A discontinuous 10– 20 mm thick phosphatic horizon
between fault rejuvenation on the Midland Platform and turbidite occurs in some sections in the Comley area between the Lap-
deposition in North Wales. worthella Limestone and basal conglomerate of the Quarry
Nielsen & Schovsbo (2011) published a detailed study of the Ridge Grits (Cobbold 1933), and may represent an erosional
Terreneuvian and C2 sequences of Scandinavia, the Baltic states remnant of Sequence 5 onlap and condensation prior to emergence
and NE Poland. Within the limits of biostratigraphical resolution, of the tilt-block high.
the Avalonian sequence 3 –4 boundary correlates with the LC1-4 – A comparable unconformity occurs between the Hanford Brook
LC1-5 boundary of the Scandinavian succession, defined by the Formation of Sequence 4 and the Fossil Brook Member (Chamber-
Snogebaek Lowstand below and the Nornetorp-1 flooding event lain’s Brook Formation) in New Brunswick (Fig. 3.2), which simi-
above (Nielsen & Schovsbo 2011, fig. 13, p. 225). If this corre- larly may be located on a tilt-block high. Such a situation could
lation with Baltica is confirmed, it would indicate a eustatic contri- account too for the lack of significant Sequence 4 deposition and
bution to the development of this sequence boundary. Nielsen & the large unconformity that separates the Random Formation
Schovsbo (2011) proposed a likely glacioeustatic cause for the (Sequence 2) from the Hanford Brook Formation. Sequence 5 at
Hawke Bay Event (CS4) higher in the sequence, which can be Nuneaton is represented by part of the Purley Shale Formation
identified in both Baltica and Laurentia. (Fig. 3.2). The stratigraphy is incompletely known because of
limited outcrop however, and no evidence has been reported for
Sequence 5 a Sequence 4 –5 boundary. A similar setting to that outlined for
The base of Sequence 5 is drawn at the flooding surface within the the lower part of the Purley Shale Formation of Sequence 4 may
Newgale Formation between the pebbly sandstones of the Trwyn- be inferred (Fig. 3.5).
cynddeiriog Member and the dark grey phosphatic shales of the
Pen-y-Cyfrwy Member. The latter is a condensed transgressive Sequence 6
sequence 13 m thick in sections south of St David’s, thinning dra- In SW Wales, this Sequence (Fig. 3.3) comprises a 172 m thick
matically to less than 1.5 m at Newgale. The rapid onset of con- succession which initially fines then coarsens-up, extending from
densed shaley mudstone deposition follows a prolonged phase of the base of the Cwm Mawr Member of the Newgale Formation
fan-delta progradation, with clastic wedge penetration from the to the base of the pebbly sandstone unit at the top of the Porth
faulted basin margin to the east, evident in the upper part of Clais Formation. The sequence boundary is marked by a change
Sequence 4. The flooding surface is similar to the drowning para- from the mid-shelf mudstones and thin sandstone turbidites of
conformity recognized at the top of the St Non’s Formation. The Sequence 5 to the alluvial fan/fan-delta conglomerates, pebbly
occurrence of slump structures immediately below the Sequence sandstones and tidal heterolithites of the Cwm Mawr Member.
4–5 boundary in successions at Newgale and Caerfai Bay, as This rapid alluvial incursion is associated with deep erosional
well as the almost instantaneous increase in accommodation incision, and is interpreted as a Type-1 sequence boundary based
space that led to drowning of the fan-delta environments, strongly on a major basinward shift in facies as well as subaerial exposure
suggests a renewed phase of fault-block downwarping and conse- and erosion (Van Wagoner et al. 1988). This initial, abrupt down-
quent ‘in-place drowning’ (Sanders & Kumar 1975; Swift 1975) of ward shift in coastal onlap is followed immediately by channel
the delta system. This phase of rapid subsidence accounts for the backfilling and general retrogradation of facies belts, forming a
low degree of clastic penetration into the basin, with coarse 60 m thick transgressive systems tract that culminates in dark
material trapped close to fault scarps and condensed shaley mud- grey prodelta shales. A phosphatic horizon characterized by
stone deposition in more distal locations. black organic-rich laminae separates retrogradational from progra-
The sparse trilobite fauna recovered from the Pen-y-Cyfrwy dational strata at Newgale, and may represent the maximum flood-
Member enables correlation with the condensed manganiferous ing surface. The overlying progradational sandstones and
shales (Member 1) of the Chamberlain’s Brook Formation of SE occasional pebbly sandstones record a sustained phase of delta-
Newfoundland (Fig. 3.2). In correlating Sequence 5 across Avalo- front outbuilding, and the development of a 100 m thick highstand
nia, Landing (1996) highlighted three characteristic features: (1) systems tract.
argillaceous sedimentation with high levels of manganese and Sequence 6, like Sequence 4, is lithologically variable across the
phosphate, (2) intense condensation associated with rapid flooding Avalonian platform. Locations on the inner platform, such as
of basin margins and rapid coastal onlap, and (3) a strong syntec- Trinity Bay in SE Newfoundland and Nuneaton, are characterized
tonic element to deposition. All these characteristics are evident in by shaley deposits (the Braintree Member of the Chamberlain’s
the Trwyncynddeiriog Member and are quite conspicuous in Brook Formation and upper part of the Purley Shale Formation
inferred Sequence 5 strata throughout southern Britain. respectively; Fig. 3.2), which mark a period of condensed sedi-
In North Wales, the manganiferous shales of the Hafotty For- mentation (Landing 1996). The marginal platform on the other
mation (Matley & Wilson 1946; Allen & Jackson 1985) abruptly hand is typically characterized by a hiatus such as that recorded
overlie the coarse-grained Rhinog Formation in the Harlech area at St John (New Brunswick), Fortune Bay (SE Newfoundland)
(Fig. 3.2). This transition resembles the one recorded in Pembroke- and probably in the Caernarfon Slate Belt in North Wales
shire, with a sudden switch from rapidly accumulating turbidites (Crimes 1970a). Rapidly deposited conglomerate, pebbly sand-
to condensed shaley mudstones. The enrichment in manganese stone, and medium– coarse-grained sandstones appear to charac-
has been related to the submarine exhalation of hydrothermal sol- terize locations intermediate between the inner and marginal
utions (Bennett 1987), further suggesting an important tectonic platforms. Examples include the fan-delta deposits of Pembroke-
influence. This phase of active tectonism is obvious too in the shire, the nearshore conglomerates and sandstones of the Quarry
Shropshire succession (Fig. 3.2), where Sequence 5 approximates Ridge Grits in Shropshire (Fig. 3.6), the coarse-grained turbidites
to an angular unconformity between the Lapworthella Lime- of the Cilan Formation on the St Tudwal’s Peninsula (Fig. 3.2),
stone (Ad) at the top of Sequence 4 and the Quarry Ridge Grits and its proximal equivalent, the Barmouth Grits Formation of
(¼Paradoxides groomi Grit, Ba1, basal Upper Comley Sandstone the Harlech Dome (Crimes 1970a; Allen & Jackson 1985). Land-
Formation), which forms the base of Sequence 6 (Landing ing’s (1996) correlation into Shropshire is biostratigraphically
1996). This unconformity is highlighted in a schematic cross secure. The reason for including the turbidite fan deposits of the
HILL HOUSE SHALES Bb2
7
HILL HOUSE GRITS Bb1
HILL HOUSE FLAGS Ba3
QUARRY RIDGE SHALES Ba2 6
QUARRY RIDGE GRITS Ba1 Ac5

Ad
Ac4
Ac3
4
LOWER COMLEY SANDSTONE Ac1-2
FORMATION (Ab)
WREKIN
QUARTZITE
FORMATION
2 3
DEPOSITIONAL SEQUENCES
Fig. 3.6. Diagrammatic geological cross-section and sequence stratigraphical interpretation of the Cambrian succession exposed at Comley, Shropshire. Ac2 – 5 and Ad
are the various units comprising the Comley Limestones (alphanumerical terminology follows Cobbold 1921; also see Cobbold 1927, fig. 9, p. 569, Rushton 1974, p. 95
and Harvey et al. 2011, p. 28). The higher units in the succession shown belong to the Upper Comley Sandstone Formation. Section redrawn after Rushton (1974, p. 96,
fig. 12), with permission. Black triangles represent the Comley Breccia Bed, which occurs where the Hill House Grits rest directly on the Lower Comley Sandstone.
Cilan and Ceiriad formations is less clear, but appears to be based construction is summarized in Figure 3.7. Important sedimentolo-
on their stratigraphical situation beneath the fossiliferous gical features that strengthen this model are: similar palaeocurrent
Sequence 7 deposits of the Nant-y-big Formation. directions on the shelf and in the basin, essentially defining the
The sharp contact between the Cilan Formation and the under- systems tract; a Type-1 sequence boundary in the paralic suc-
lying condensed manganiferous shales of the Trwyn-y-Fulfran cession in Pembrokeshire that demonstrates significant shelf
Formation (Sequence 5) marks a significant change in the shelf incision, erosion and sediment bypass; and an extension of the
regime that should be recognizable in coeval shallow marine suc- transfer zone beyond the offlap break during peak lowstand con-
cessions elsewhere in the Welsh Basin. The importance of thick, ditions. Evidence for the latter includes considerable canyon
rapidly deposited turbidite fan complexes in basin analysis has erosion prior to deposition of the Barmouth Formation (Crimes
been appreciated fully only since the advent of sequence strati- 1970a) and a thicker fan sequence in the more distal Cilan For-
graphy. The definition of systems tracts (Brown & Fisher 1977; mation (Young et al.1994; Pratt 1995), suggesting signifi-
Posamentier & Vail 1988) was of particular importance in pro- cant bypass prior to Barmouth Formation sedimentation (Mutti
viding a critical link between the shelf and the basin, enabling et al. 1999).
deep marine sedimentary deposits to be incorporated into a Stage 1 of this model (Fig. 3.7) occurred during a fall in relative
basinwide sequence framework. Most large submarine fans are sea level at the offlap break, enabling the efficient transfer of
considered coeval with the generation of Type-1 sequence bound- clastic sediment from the source area to the shelf-break created
aries in paralic successions, and are thus intimately associated by the previous highstand clinoform slope. The resulting inherent
with periods of relative sea-level fall at the offlap break instability led to large-scale slope failure and the generation of
(Mitchum et al. 1977a, b; Vail & Todd 1981; Posamentier & accumulative (Kneller 1995), and thus highly erosive, high-density
Vail 1988). During progressive sequence boundary development, turbidity currents that eroded canyons in the Harlech Dome and
the shelf becomes incised and acts as a sediment bypass/transfer transferred their load out onto the basin plain which included the
zone (Mutti et al. 1999), where erosional rather than depositional St Tudwal’s Peninsula. The progradational character of coarse-
processes dominate. Depositional zones that once operated on the grained lobes at the base of the Cilan Formation (Crimes 1970a)
shelf are consequently displaced beyond the offlap break, result- records migration of the depositional zone during the early low-
ing in deep marine sedimentation either directly through flood- stand systems tract, placing those turbidites in a similar evolu-
generated hyperpycnal flows or indirectly through resedimenta- tionary context to the ‘basin floor fan units’ of Van Wagoner
tion processes (Mutti et al. 1999). As both the Cilan and Bar- et al. (1988). Stage 2 was marked by deposition in canyons at Bar-
mouth formations were derived from the southern margin of the mouth and lobe retrogradation on the St Tudwal’s Peninsula
Welsh Basin (Crimes 1970a), a correlation with the Type-1 (Crimes 1970a), representing a reduction in the efficiency of sedi-
sequence boundary at the base of Sequence 6 in SW Wales ment transfer across the shelf. Channel backfilling and lower
is proposed. clastic penetration into the basin are associated typically with
The relationship between sequence boundary development, small rises in relative sea level, and the filling of accommodation
shelf transfer, depositional zone translation, and submarine fan space created on the outer-shelf (Mutti et al. 1999). This shift in
PEMBROKESHIRE ALLUVIAL PLAIN SHELF SLOPE BASIN
DELTA PLAIN DELTA FRONT PRODELTA
TRANSGRESSIVE SYSTEMS TRACT

60

Sediment locked on the
PORTH CLAIS FM
50 HAFOTTY alluvial plain; fan-delta

4 CEIRIAD FM
FM retrogrades culminating HARLECH DOME ST TUDWAL’S PEN.
40 in shelf and basin (BARMOUTH FM) (CILAN FM)

condensation M M
200 400
30
Main depositional zone
DISTAL LOBE
20 shifts to the shelf with
NEWGALE FM
TRANSFER
3 ZONE fan-delta sedimentation
DISTAL LOBE
10 starving the basin of 300
clastic input
100
0
Reduction in efficiency
CANYON EROSION PROXIMAL LOBE

of the shelf transfer zone
LOWSTAND SYSTEMS TRACT
EROSION AND SEDIMENT
leads to deposition in
submarine canyons in 200
DELTA PLAIN INCISION
2 TRANSFER ZONE the Harlech area.

(channel backfilling)
and lobe retrogradation
BYPASS
on St Tudwal’s peninsula 0
EROSION AND
Sediment bypasses
PROXIMAL LOBE
SEDIMENT
100
Pembrokeshire and
BYPASS
TRANSFER ZONE Harlech Dome, feeding
1 progradational turbidite
lobes on St Tudwal’s
peninsula 0
HARLECH DOME ST TUDWAL’S PENINSULA
PEMBROKESHIRE (BARMOUTH FM) (CILAN FM)
Fig. 3.7. Diagram summarizing the depositional model and systems tract linkages proposed for SW and North Wales during the deposition of Sequence 6. See Figure 3.2 for overall stratigraphical summaries of the sections
represented. See text for discussion of stages of development 1–4 which are distinguished in the lowstand and transgressive systems tracts.
111
the main depositional zone to the base of slope during the late low- black-mudstone-dominated Menevia Formation (Fig. 3.3), attain-
stand systems tract is paralleled in the ‘slope fan units’ of Van ing a maximum thickness of 215 m. Of this thickness, 208 m
Wagoner et al. (1988). are transgressive deposits, culminating in black, laminated pro-
Sedimentation during stages 3 and 4 occurred principally on delta –shelf mudstones. The return of thin sandstone beds in the
the shelf, and records basin margin onlap during a rapid rise in uppermost 7 m is construed as facies belt progradation and the
relative sea level associated with the transgressive systems tract. development of a thin highstand systems tract.
Fan-delta plain and fan-delta front deposits above the sequence Faunal and lithological variations through Sequence 7 can be
boundary in Pembrokeshire suggest that the main depositional directly matched with the Drumian –Guzhangian stratigraphy of
zone had migrated as far as the inner shelf, while the transfer West Avalonia (Fig. 3.2); as explained below, our concept of
zone was restricted to the alluvial plain. As most of the sediment Sequence 7 is significantly revised from that of Landing (1996).
liberated on the alluvial plain remained on the shelf, the basin The fine sandstones, bioturbated mudstones and occasional discon-
became undersupplied and retrogradation of facies belts is seen tinuous limestones of the Whitesands Bay Formation occur also in
in both the Barmouth and Cilan formations. The final stage of trans- the Fossil Brook Member of the uppermost Chamberlain’s Brook
gressive sedimentation occurred almost entirely on the alluvial Formation (Landing & Benus 1988), while the black laminated
plain, culminating in fan-delta front flooding and ultimately shelf mudstones with pale-weathering bentonites are mirrored in the
and basin condensation. The latter is recorded in the condensed Manuels River Formation (Poulsen & Anderson 1975). Landing
mudstones of the Ceiriad Formation (Young et al. 1994) and the (1996, fig. 2, p. 33) regarded the Manuels River Formation as
lower part of the Gamlan Formation (Crimes 1970a; Allen & belonging to Sequence 8. However, its Drumian trilobite faunas
Jackson 1985) of the St Tudwal’s Peninsula and Harlech Dome (Fletcher 2006; Landing et al. 2008; also see Fletcher & Greene
respectively (Fig. 3.2). The upper part of the Gamlan Formation 2013) confirm that it is an equivalent of the Whitesands Bay and
includes a number of sandstone turbidites (Matley & Wilson 1946) Menevian formations, which we consider integral parts of
suggesting that coarser material was finding its way to the shelf Sequence 7. This biostratigraphical correlation is strengthened
edge once again, albeit in greatly reduced amount. This seems to by our identification of a submarine erosion surface in the
correlate approximately with fan-delta progradation across the Menevia Formation identical to that described by Howell (1925)
shelf during the highstand systems tract in Pembrokeshire. from within the Manuels River Formation. Landing (1996) ident-
The widespread unconformity at the base of Sequence 6 across ified an unconformity at the base of the Manuels River Formation,
Avalonia (Fig. 3.2) was construed to represent a further phase of which he correlated across the Avalonian platform. The uncon-
Avalonian epeirogenesis by Landing (1996). While it is often dif- formable interpretation was based on apparent thickness variation
ficult to separate the effects of varying eustatic sea level from in a bentonite bed, taken to signify basin margin onlap, and a
active tectonism, a number of features of Sequence 6 are more change in the trilobite fauna. However, variations in bentonite
consistent with eustasy as the controlling parameter. Firstly, sea- thickness, as seen many times in the succession in Pembrokeshire,
level curves determined from C3 sequences on the tectonically may be entirely of depositional origin, and the faunal changes
stable Baltic shield demonstrate a major sea-level lowstand in observed in SE Newfoundland are regarded by some as represent-
the middle Eccaparadoxides oelandicus Biosuperzone (drafts ing as a biofacies shift, reflecting the development of a more dys-
of this curve were kindly supplied to Rees by Prof. A. Nielsen, aerobic environment (Hutchinson 1962; Fletcher 2007). A similar
2003–2005). Secondly, epeirogenically controlled sequences on biofacies transition occurs in the succession in Pembrokeshire
the Avalonian platform are typically associated with minor vol- (Jefferies et al. 1987; Prigmore & Rushton 1999). Elsewhere in
canic activity such as tuffaceous horizons, lahars and pillow East Avalonia, no evidence has been published for an erosion
basalts, none of which can be allied with sequence boundary devel- surface between the Hill House Shales and Hill House Grits in
opment. Thirdly, unconformities appear most prominently on the the Shropshire succession (Rushton 1974; Fig. 3.6), nor between
Avalonian marginal platform in the west, yet little sediment the Ceiriad and the Nant-y-big formations on the St Tudwal’s
appears to have been derived from that direction. This is not con- Peninsula, both of which are unconformable contacts according
sistent with major fault-block movements, which would have to Landing (1996). Uninterrupted sedimentation is evident too in
created highlands conducive to the liberation of large quantities the black mudstones of the Clogau Shales exposed in the
of sediment. Fourthly, if epeirogenesis was occurring across the Harlech Dome (Allen et al. 1981) and to the south of the Mawd-
Avalonian platform, one might expect to detect either conden- dach Estuary (Pratt et al. 1995).
sation or hiatus(es) in sections in Shropshire, given its location The base of Sequence 7 forms a readily recognizable surface
on a tilt block high (Fig. 3.5). In fact, the Quarry Ridge Grits – across the Avalonian platform (Fig. 3.2) that was interpreted by
Hill House Flags and Shales of Sequence 6 (Landing 1996) Landing (1996) as signifying a major phase of basin reorga-
attain a thickness above 120 m (Rushton 1974; Fig. 3.6). Finally, nization. In SE Newfoundland, a Glossifungites ichnoassemblage
development of the Type-1 sequence boundary is associated with has been observed within the onlap deposits of the Deep Cove
exposure, incision, and stripping of the shelf during a fall in rela- Limestone (Chamberlain’s Brook Formation; Landing 1996),
tive sea level that led ultimately to the construction of a coarse- suggesting burrowing of an overcompacted mud exposed by
grained turbidite fan. This systems response is the opposite of marine erosion. This implies that the erosion surface is also a
that expected during a syntectonic phase of sedimentation (Blair Type-2 sequence boundary. Volcanism associated with sequence
& Bilodeau 1988), instead being typical of ‘passive-margin’ boundary development includes a 4.5 m-thick volcaniclastic
basin evolution during a eustatic fall in sea level, consistent with debris flow and the 61 m thick Cape Dog pillow basalt (see
the Exxon model for lowstand and transgressive systems tracts Fletcher 2006, p. 78), both of which are roughly coeval with a
(see Van Wagoner et al. 1988). switch in sediment source from the inner to the marginal platform.
In southern Britain, this phase of tectonic reorganization is
Sequence 7 more subtle, but is reflected in the occurrence of numerous bento-
The base of Sequence 7 in SW Wales is drawn at a facies dislo- nites both above and below the sequence boundary. Such bento-
cation in the uppermost part of the Porth Clais Formation, where nites occur in the upper part of the Porth Clais Formation and
thickly bedded turbidites of the fan-delta plain abruptly overly the Menevia Formation in Pembrokeshire, the Ceiriad Forma-
stratified sandstones and bioturbated shaley mudstones of the tion (upper part) and the Nant-y-big Formation on the St
distal fan-delta front. This rapid downward shift in coastal onlap Tudwal’s Peninsula (Young et al. 1994), and the Gamlan For-
involves subaqueous rather than subaerial erosion, a feature mation (upper part) and Clogau Formation of the Harlech Dome
that typifies Type-2 sequence boundaries (Van Wagoner et al. (Allen et al. 1981; Pratt et al. 1995). Manganese enrichment at
1988). In SW Wales, Sequence 7 extends to the top of the the top of the Gamlan Formation was interpreted as due to the
submarine exhalation of hydrothermal fluids by Bennett (1987). the basin through marginal platform uplift and the restriction on
Additionally, there was a switch to a northerly sediment source circulation that this would ultimately produce, provides a suffi-
in the upper part of the Ceiriad Formation on the St Tudwal’s cient explanation. Palaeocurrent patterns in fine-grained turbidites
Peninsula (Crimes & Oldershaw 1967; Crimes 1970a; Young of the Clogau Formation at Fairbourne suggest that the basin may
et al. 1994), suggesting uplift of the marginal platform like that have been closing from the SW. This suggests linkage of the
recorded in West Avalonia. This uplift continued throughout marginal and inner platforms to the SW, and the development
Sequence 7, as witnessed by the regressive trend in the Nant-y-big of a near land-locked basin similar to the modern anoxic Black
Formation (Young et al. 1994) during a period when locations Sea basin (Stow et al. 1996). This analogue may be extended to
away from the platform were undergoing widespread and con- account for the submarine erosion surface found within the
tinued transgression (see Rushton 1974). Menevia Formation, interpreted here as recording the intercep-
An erosion surface towards the base of the Abbey Shale For- tion of a pycnocline (and internal waves) with a gentle prodelta
mation (Fig. 3.2) may mark sequence boundary development at slope, a process probably intensified by the density stratification
Nuneaton (Illing 1916). Rushton (1974, p. 110) did not regard typical of basins with restricted circulation (Stow et al. 1996).
this surface as having any clear stratigraphical significance, but
its position in the gibbus Biozone places it close to the base of Sequence 8
Sequence 7. In Shropshire, Landing (1996) correlated his Below the basal Arenig Regional Stage (basal Floian) unconfor-
sequence 6 –7 unconformity with the base of the Hill House mity in SW Wales, Sequence 8 attains a minimum thickness of
Grits (Upper Comley Sandstone, Bb1), which abruptly and poss- 432 m. It includes the black transgressive mudstones with subordi-
ibly unconformably overly the Hill House Flags (Ba3, Upper nate sandstones and limestones of the Aber Llong Formation, and
Comley Sandstone). This surface, like that in SE Newfoundland, the regressive stratified sandstones and blue silty mudstones of the
coincides too with an abrupt change in the trilobite fauna Ogof Velvet Formation (Fig. 3.3). This transgressive –regressive
(Landing 1996). The significance of this sequence boundary in motif, which spans the Guzhangian (Agnostus pisiformis
terms of tectonic regime is uncertain. There is no evidence for Biozone) to early Jiangshanian in Pembrokeshire, is recognized
an angular unconformity and thus fault-block rotation prior also in the MacLean Brook Formation in SE Newfoundland
to deposition of the Hill House Grits (Fig. 3.6) but, conversely, (Landing 1996), the Maentwrog to Ffestiniog formations in
the local development of the so-called Comley Breccia Bed North Wales, and the Mancetter Shale to Moor Wood Sandstone
(Cobbold 1913a, b) – composed of fragments of Lower Comley formations at Nuneaton (Fig. 3.2). In North Wales and at Nunea-
Sandstone – could be interpreted as reflecting some type of fault ton, the regressive trend continues well into the Parabolina spinu-
rejuvenation. Alternatively, and probably more likely, the Hill losa Biozone (Allen et al. 1981; Landing 1996). Highly condensed
House Grits could mark a rapid eustatic lowstand, with the black mudstone deposition, which affected all locations in Avalo-
Breccia Bed forming a local onlap deposit. This interpretation nia during the development of Sequence 7, ended abruptly with the
fits better with the cross-section represented in Figure 3.5, the rapid influx of large quantities of well-sorted, compositionally
timing being consistent with a prominent erosion surface and mature fine sand and silt. Based on the significant facies dislo-
abrupt change in fauna recognized worldwide at the base of the cation and basinward shift in coastal onlap, the sharp contact
gibbus Biozone below (Henderson & Southgate 1978; Rowell between mid- to outer-shelf mudstones and nearshore to inner-
et al. 1982; Robison 1984; Evans et al. 1995). The subsequent shelf sandstones is everywhere unconformable. Examples of this
eustatic sea-level rise (Rowell et al. 1982), would then account contact include the surfaces between the Menevia and Aber
for the apparent onlap and erosion of the Lower Comley Sandstone Llong formations in SW Wales, the Nant-y-big and Maentwrog
at Shropshire, as well as the transgressive nature of coeval for- formations on the St Tudwal’s Peninsula (Crimes 1970a; Young
mations that occur away from the rising marginal platform. et al. 1994), and the Abbey and Mancetter Shales at Nuneaton
The position of the sequence boundary in the Harlech Dome (Taylor & Rushton 1972). In the Harlech Dome, the influx of
succession is not constrained biostratigraphically, except that it sand is represented by the deposits of high-density turbidity cur-
must be situated somewhere below the Clogau Formation (Tomag- rents at the base of the Maentwrog Formation, which abruptly
nostus fissus Biozone; Allen et al. 1981), which correlates with overlie condensed basinal shaley mudstones of the Clogau For-
part of the Whitesands Bay Formation. The most likely position mation (Allen et al. 1981; Pratt et al. 1995).
based purely on facies development is below the coarse-grained The cause of this sequence boundary on the Avalonian plat-
turbidites that form the top of the Gamlan Formation (¼Cefn form is uncertain, but Taylor & Rushton (1972, p. 9) proposed
Coch Grits of Matley & Wilson 1946). The sharp contact that a single tectonic event affected sedimentation in the whole
between these thickly bedded turbidites and the underlying Anglo-Welsh area and SE Newfoundland at this time. The main
shaley mudstones is similar to that seen at the base of the Barmouth unconformities occur in successions located on the uplifted mar-
Formation, and again records a significant change in the shelf ginal platform (e.g. the St Tudwal’s Peninsula; see Fig. 3.2).
regime to the south. This is most readily accounted for by matching Marked facies changes in the Maentwrog and Ffestiniog Flags
turbidite deposition with a downward translation in coastal onlap formations across the Cwm Pennant Fracture Zone, west of the
on the shelf. The restricted vertical and lateral extent of the tur- St Tudwal’s Peninsula, provide some evidence for fault-controlled
bidite fan, which attains a maximum thickness of 17 m when sedimentation (Wilkinson & Smith 1988). There is a substantial
associated with a canyon in the succession at Fairbourne, may be unconformity below the Orusia Shale in Shropshire, which
more typical of a Type-2 sequence boundary, where the shelf may suggest reactivation of fault-blocks and relative uplift of the
transfer zone does not migrate as far as the offlap break. tilt-block high. Tectonic reorganization of basin geometry is
The appearance of organic-rich black shales in the Drumian has suggested as well by the rapid change in provenance recorded
been considered by some (e.g. Pratt 1995) to mark a major event across Avalonia (Thorogood 1990; Landing 1996, see Fig. 3.4), and
in the evolution of the Welsh Basin. The reason for the onset of by the shift in palaeocurrent patterns in southern Britain from an
anoxic sedimentation after such an extended period of strongly easterly to a southwesterly source (Crimes 1970a; see also
oxidizing conditions has never been accounted for, but is most Fig. 3.4). Eustatic sea-level changes may have played a fundamen-
easily explained in terms of tectonic reorganization of the Avalo- tal role in the facilitation of a more arenaceous style of sedimen-
nian platform with concomitant changes in basin morphology tation also. A global lowstand during the brachymetopa Biozone
and water circulation (Thickpenny & Leggett 1987). Although it (mid-forchhammeri Biosuperzone; see Rushton et al. 2011, fig.
is not possible to exclude other factors such as upwelling of nutri- 4, p. 10) followed immediately by a eustatic sea-level rise in the
ent-rich water masses (e.g. Chamley 1979) or the existence of an Lejopyge laevigata Biozone (highest forchhammeri Biosuperzone)
oxygen minimum zone (e.g. Rhoads & Morse 1971), narrowing of is now well-documented in many parts of the world (e.g. Rushton
1978; Rankey et al. 1994; Artyushkov et al. 2000). Retrogradation Allen et al. 1981; Pratt et al. 1995) to shelf storm deposits
of facies belts following sequence boundary development is well- (Young et al. 1994). Redistribution by persistent contour currents
recorded in southern Britain at the base of the Maentwrog For- has been suggested too, based on the occurrence of wavy and len-
mation in North Wales (Crimes 1970a; Allen et al. 1981), in the ticular bedding (the ripple drift bedding of Crimes 1970a) with
Mancetter Shales at Nuneaton (Rushton 1978), and in the dark unimodal cross-lamination (Allen et al. 1981).
mudstones of the Aber Llong Formation in SW Wales. The canyon-fed submarine fan model proposed by Crimes
The lower part of the Aber Llong Formation represents the (1970a) and endorsed by Pratt et al. (1995) is not easily reconciled
transgressive systems tract. There is no evidence for nearshore with the lithofacies identified in the Maentwrog Formation at
incision and bypass, so accommodation must consistently have Fairbourne (Fig. 3.10). Problems with that interpretation include:
exceeded the rate of sediment accumulation at the time, resulting the lack of evidence for a single large feeder canyon that could
in accommodation-unlimited conditions throughout the sea-level have served as a point source for turbidity current generation; a
cycle. The upper 74 m of the Aber Llong formation belong to slope facies that appears abbreviated, suggesting only minor
the early highstand systems tract. Three coarsening- and bed- bathymetric relief; a slope traversed by multiple shallow channels
thickening-upwards parasequences occur, reflecting a change to or gullies, that lack any type of levée deposit; a turbidite succession
accommodation-limited conditions. The late highstand systems that lacks pronounced differentiation into distinct channel, inter-
tract is represented by the Ogof Velvet Formation. This reflects a channel and overbank areas; the lack of asymmetrical cycles,
protracted period of foreset progradation, as the rate of sedi- suggesting spatially random sedimentation without the construc-
ment supply almost always exceeded the rate of accommodation tion of discrete lobate bodies. Neither does this model readily
space creation, irrespective of the position of relative sea level. account for the turbidites being extremely well-sorted. Redistri-
Sediment that could not be accommodated on the delta topsets bution by deep basinal contour currents has been criticized by
was therefore redistributed basinwards, so driving progradation. Fitches & Woodcock (1987), who found no evidence for a deep
The occurrence of numerous forestepping parasequences in the basin setting. Although the wavy and lenticular bedding style
Ogof Velvet and Ffestiniog Flags formations in South and North requires persistent low energy unidirectional currents, the contour-
Wales respectively suggests major highstand sedimentation ite interpretation favoured by Crimes (1970a) and Allen et al.
during the Olenus Biozone and spinulosa Biosubzone. Consider- (1981) fails to explain why their distribution is confined to the
ing their scale (typically ,30 m thick) and number, the parase- most proximal locations such as the slope and outer shelf, why
quences probably reflect secular variations in eustatic sea level wavy beds are associated with trace fossils more typical of the
and/or sediment flux. Similar progradational parasequences have shelf (e.g. Rusophycus; see Crimes 1970b), and why contour cur-
been reported from coeval strata on the tectonically stable Baltic rents would be important in a basin that was relatively small,
Platform (Prof. A. Nielsen, pers. comm. to Rees 2003, 2004) and restricted and possibly land-locked on three sides (Crimes
other locations around the world (Leggett et al. 1981; Conway 1970a; Brasier et al. 1992).
Morris & Rushton 1988), while variations in sediment supply, More recently, Young & Dean (1995) speculated on the possible
although difficult to quantify, should not be discounted considering role of storm-generated combined-flows in deposition of the
the deltaic nature of both formations. Maentwrog Formation, although they gave no evidence support-
The most complete section through Sequence 8 anywhere in ing that interpretation. The lack of symmetrical ripples, elliptical
Avalonia occurs in the coastal section at Fairbourne in North scours and hummocky cross-stratification effectively rule out
Wales (Fig. 3.1a; Pratt et al. 1995). The lithostratigraphical and combined-flow processes, while ungraded and unstratified thickly
sedimentological characteristics of the Maentwrog to Dolgellau bedded sandstones with floating rip-up clasts imply a non-
formations are summarized in Figures 3.8 and 3.9. Similar features Newtonian rheological state requiring sediment concentrations at
have been reported from coeval strata in the Harlech Dome area least an order or magnitude greater than those usually associated
by Crimes (1970a) and Allen et al. (1981). The Ffestiniog Flags with storm erosion and sedimentation (Lowe 1988).
Formation, interpreted by Allen et al. (1981) as deltaic in origin, In terms of process sedimentology, the sandstone beds in the
can be matched lithologically with the Ogof Velvet Formation. Maentwrog Formation have features compatible with the deposits
The bypass-zone tempestite model used to interpret the spatial of high- and low-density turbidity currents (Lowe 1982). It is not
and temporal distribution of facies in the Ogof Velvet Formation surprising that Crimes (1970a) opted for the point-sourced
can be applied to the Ffestiniog Formation as well, and this corre- canyon-fed turbidite model, as only more recently has it become
lation into North Wales suggests a major phase of delta front evident that such a system is just one of a spectrum of submarine
progradation, tracking northwards during the Olenus Biozone (Fig. fan depositional styles. All of the characteristics highlighted in
3.8), consistent with a detailed palaeocurrent analysis (Crimes Figure 3.10 are instead compatible with the delta-fed submarine
1970a). The distinctive pattern of trace fossil distribution reported ramp model first described by Heller & Dickinson (1985). That
by Crimes (1970b) from North Wales may reflect the huge quan- model, with some amendments based on characteristics of the
tities of fresh water derived from the southern margin. The Maentwrog Formation discussed below, is summarized in Figure
degree of bioturbation is significantly higher in sedimentary 3.10. In ramp systems, sediment is transported off the shelf
deposits derived from the northern, non-deltaic margin, even through numerous channels, with no individual channel serving
though the coarse sandstones and conglomerates concerned were as a point-source for sedimentation. The network of channels
originally highly mobile sediments less conducive to trace fossil instead acts as a linear source for turbidites that are deposited con-
preservation. Rocks derived from the southern deltaic margin are tinuously along the base of slope to form an aggrading ramp-like
largely devoid of burrowing, implying significant environmen- depositional feature. Because many slope gullies are available
tal stress, most likely related to variable salinity levels. for turbidity current transport, no single channel is preferentially
Below the subaqueous delta platform deposits of the Ffestiniog developed into a larger canyon feeder system. Hence the network
Formation in North Wales lies the Maentwrog Formation (the persists, and there is a less pronounced differentiation into distinct
Vigra Flags and Penrhos Shales of Matley & Wilson 1946), a channel, interchannel or overbank areas. This random juxtaposi-
thick monotonous succession of fine sandstone turbidites and tion of confined and unconfined flow reflects the disorganized
dark mudstones (Crimes 1970a; Allen et al. 1981; Pratt et al. nature of the depositional system, with each flow being an indepen-
1995) which is coeval with deltaic sedimentation in South Wales dent event that could start at any point along the linear source
(Fig. 3.8). The Maentwrog Formation in the southern part of its region. Asymmetrical cycles representing lobe construction and
outcrop area has been notoriously difficult to understand in terms abandonment are thus poorly developed.
of depositional processes and environments, with previous inter- Although the original Heller & Dickinson (1985) model offers
pretations ranging from deep-sea turbidite fan (Crimes 1970a; a good first approximation of the depositional system represented
KEY FOR SEQUENCE 8

Storm-dominated subaqueous platform Distal submarine ramp
Outer shelf and slope Delta abandonment
Proximal submarine ramp Hiatus
Acerocare
Jiangshanian CS 10
DOLGELLAU
Peltura FM
Leptoplastus
? ?
Parabolina
?
FFESTINIOG
Furongian
FM
?
SEQUENCE 8
HST
?
Paibian
Olenus
OGOF
VELVET FM
pisiformis
MAENTWROG
Guzhangian
FM
ABER
LLONG FM
TST
forchhammeri
5
C3 (part)
HST
punctuosus
Drumian
MENEVIA
SEQUENCE 7
parvifrons FM
CLOGAU
fissus FM
TST
WHITESANDS
BAY FM NANT-Y-
BIG FM
CS 5
(part)
gibbus
1 0 25 50 km 2 3 6
Fig. 3.8. Chronostratigraphic chart for sequences 7 and 8 (gibbus Biozone, CS5 to Acerocare Biozone, CS10) of SW and North Wales. Section numbers: 1,
Pembrokeshire; 2, Fairbourne; 3, Harlech Dome (from Crimes 1970a and Allen & Jackson 1985); 4, Borth-y-Gest; 5, Black Rock Sands; 6, St Tudwal’s Peninsula
(from Crimes 1970a and Young et al. 1994). Borth-y-Gest and Black Rock Sands are coastal sections situated near Porthmadog, near the NE edge of the Harlech Dome.
For explanations of abbreviated sequence stratigraphic terms, see legend for Figure 3.3.
by the Maentwrog and Ffestiniog formations, one major modifi- unidirectional currents orientated perpendicular to the shoreline.
cation is required. The deltas in both examples presented by Heller On the outer shelf, these offshore-directed flows were balanced
& Dickinson (1985) have a significant subaerial component that, by the Coriolis Force (Duke 1990) resulting in shore-parallel flows
like the Nile and Mississippi deltas, provided an extremely effi- like those that define the geostrophic zone on modern shelves
cient mode of sediment transfer onto the ramp slope at the shelf (Swift et al. 1985). The occurrence of weak, but persistent geos-
break. The delta that produced the Ogof Velvet and Ffestiniog trophic currents provides a means by which gullies can be con-
formations was instead a wholly subaqueous platform, analogous tinuously charged with fine, very well-sorted sediment, and
to the Amazon and Ganges –Brahmaputra deltas (Nittrouer et al. accounts also for the proximal location on the outer shelf of
1986). Sediment must therefore have been transported to the ramp wavy and lenticular bedding. This appears to be analogous to
slope by currents acting on the shelf. Based on palaeocurrent data the outer-shelf polishing discussed by Stow (1998) and Stow &
from the Ogof Velvet Formation, the delta platform can be Mayall (2000), and was reported by Stauffer (1967) from a suc-
divided into two broad zones. The friction zone, which occupied cession later interpreted as a ramp system (Heller & Dickinson
the inner- and mid- shelf, was characterized by storm-generated 1985).
Fig. 3.9. Block diagram summarizing depositional model for the Maentwrog and Ffestiniog Flags formations in North Wales. In landward to seaward order, the
subaqueous delta platform is characterized by wavy and lenticular bedding, with storm-channel fills on the delta plain and amalgamated tempestites on the delta front.
Slope facies include channel fills and slumped wavy bedding. High- and low-density turbidites respectively characterize the proximal and distal ramps. See Figure 3.8 for
details of lithostratigraphy, lithofacies and depositional environments and their spatial distribution.
Overlying the Ffestiniog Flags Formation in North Wales is the accounted for more readily by assuming a rapid decrease in
Dolgellau Formation (Fig. 3.8), a c. 60 m thick succession of dark sedimentation rate set against a highstand in Cambrian eustatic
laminated mudstones with carbonate concretions and thin wispy sea level, a feature of most of the published sea-level curves for
siltstone beds. In his sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the this time (Leggett et al. 1981; Conway Morris & Rushton 1988;
Welsh Basin, Woodcock (1990) proposed a sequence boundary Popov & Koren’ 1996; Peng et al. 2012, fig. 9.13, p. 472).
immediately below the base of the Tremadoc (the Dol-cyn-afon The development of submarine ramp systems is closely linked
Formation in North Wales), but did not discuss evidence for its to high sedimentation rates: rapid delta progradation, with con-
identification. Two amalgamated medium- to coarse-grained, comitant deeper basin aggradation (Fig. 3.9), is necessary for
erosively-based tuffaceous sandstones (Allen et al. 1981) were loss of structural relief along basin flanks (Heller & Dickinson
interpreted by Landing et al. (2000) as marking this unconformity 1985; Surlyk 1987). Rapid accommodation space creation dur-
in the forestry section at Bryn-llin-fawr (9.5 km SE of Trawsfy- ing the Furongian highstand would render the system susceptible
nydd, North Wales; SH 790 306), near the northern margin of to rapid transgression as soon as sediment supply began to fall
the Harlech Dome. Those sandstones, which display internal sedi- below the rate of accommodation space creation. A change in
mentary structures typical of the shoreface, record the sudden this equilibrium may simply reflect lateral movement of the
appearance of high energy waves in what was formerly a deep main fluvial feeder channels or the complex feedback mechanisms
shelf environment (Landing et al. 2000). This facies dislocation associated with delta autoretreat (Muto & Steel 1992, 1997). The
and rapid basinward shift in coastal onlap is typical of a forced autoretreat effect – the inbuilt tendency for strongly regressive
regression (Posamentier & James 1993; Ainsworth & Pattison shorelines (particularly deltas) to turn around to transgression –
1994), an interpretation consistent with the eustatic sea-level low- provides an especially appealing explanation, as it is caused by
stand close to the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary recognized in the inability of sediment supply to fill the ever-increasing area
many parts of the world (Fortey 1984; Landing 1988, 1993; also behind the regressive/aggrading delta front (Cattaneo & Steel
see Haq & Schutter 2008). 2003). Although this occurs naturally on any type of delta, the
The transition from progradational subaqueous delta platform subaqueous delta platform with its nearshore zone of sediment
sedimentation in the Ffestiniog Flags Formation to the condensed, bypass must be particularly susceptible.
deep shelf, black shaley mudstones of the Dolgellau Formation is
not easily explained. Clearly, the rate of sediment supply suddenly
fell below the rate of accommodation space creation, leading either Tectonostratigraphy, provenance and basin analysis
to delta retrogradation or, more likely considering the rapid onset
of condensed sedimentation (Allen et al. 1981), complete delta To place Avalonian chronostratigraphy into a wider tectonostrati-
abandonment through in-place drowning (Sanders & Kumar graphic framework requires the identification of megasequences,
1975). Woodcock (2000) interpreted this deepening as signify- unconformity-bounded lithotectonic units deposited during dis-
ing a renewed phase of active tectonism, with fault-controlled tinct phases of tectonic evolution (Hubbard 1988). The only pre-
subsidence accommodated along the Menai Straits and Welsh vious tectonostratigraphic interpretation of the Avalonian cover
Borderland fault systems (Fig. 3.1a). Those areas were either successiion is that of Woodcock (1990), who utilized rock pre-
below or very close to sea level during the Furongian however servation curves tentatively to subdivide the Cambrian –Devonian
(Brasier et al. 1992), and there is no evidence of coarse clastic succession of the Welsh Basin into three megasequences. Because
wedge progradation away from active scarp zones. The highly of the many uncertainties concerning Welsh Cambrian stratig-
quartzose composition and fine-grain size of the sandstones are raphy, Woodcock favoured a conservative approach, equating
not at all consistent with sedimentation during active rifting. In the whole Dyfed Supergroup with ensialic intra-shelf sedi-
fact, sediment composition is the same as that of the Maentwrog mentation on a passive continental margin, which he recognized
and Ffestiniog formations (Allen et al. 1981) which, based solely as Megasequence 1. He did suggest (1990, p. 540) however, that
on palaeocurrent patterns, was sourced neither from the Midland the C3 –Furongian unconformity in the former ‘Menevian’, which
Platform to the east nor the Irish Sea Platform to the NW equates to sequence boundary 7 –8, might be a candidate megase-
(Crimes 1970a). Instead, deepening and condensation following quence boundary. In the sequence stratigraphic framework pre-
delta progradation in the Ffestiniog Flags Formation can be sented in Figure 3.3, this regional unconformity separates
Fig. 3.10. Summary of lithofacies and sedimentary processes for the Maentwrog, Ffestiniog and Dolgellau (Sequence 8) formations exposed at Fairbourne, North Wales.Sketch maps to the right summarize the spatial
distribution of sedimentary environments; see Figure 3.9 for three-dimensional reconstruction. See legend for Figure 3.3 for explanations of abbreviated sequence stratigraphic terms.
117
tectonically-active basin-forming regimes (identified in sequences 3–7. Key characteristics include: fault-block rotation on the Ava-
1–7) from the tectonically quiescent, passive margin sedimentation lonian inner platform; numerous intra-formational unconformities,
that characterizes Sequence 8: this is essentially the definition of a some of which demonstrate angular discordance; in-place drown-
megasequence boundary sensu Hubbard (1988). Megasequence ing of depositional systems during active phases of fault-block
definitions based on depositional environments and tectonic downwarping; coarse grained feldspathic tuffs located within syn-
regime are presented in Figures 3.11 and 3.12 respectively. These tectonic transgressive facies; and the proliferation of coarse-
are supplemented by palaeocurrent data, whole rock magnetic sus- grained depositional systems such as alluvial fans and fan-deltas.
ceptibility (as an indicator of petrophysical properties), and sand- Due to piedmont requirements, the latter are almost always associ-
stone framework composition utilising the detrital modes of ated with tectonically active basins (McPherson et al. 1988;
sandstone (Dickinson et al. 1983; Dickinson 1985) in Figure 3.4. Postma 1990; Blair & McPherson 1994). The importance of tec-
Two distinct lithotectonic packages can be identified, and these tonic activity during the deposition of Megasequence 1 is particu-
are discussed separately below. larly well-seen in the Ogof Golchfa Formation and the lower part
of the St Non’s Formation, at the bottom of the Caerfai Group, as
discussed separately below.
Megasequence 1 (sequences 1 – 7) In West Avalonia, evidence for depocentre migration and alter-
nating periods of extension and compression has led to a more
General remarks refined interpretation, with transtensional regimes in a dominantly
Evidence for mechanical subsidence under a dominantly exten- strike-slip or pull-apart tectonic setting favoured by Murphy et al.
sional tectonic regime was highlighted in the analyses of sequences (1985), Keppie & Murphy (1988) and Landing (1996). A similar
STRATIGRAPHY DEPOSITIONAL ENV. BASIN TYPE TECTONIC REGIME
CALEDONIAN
ORDOVICIAN
MEGASEQUENCE
SUPERGROUP
GWYNEDD
FLOIAN
CYCLE
Ogof Hen Shallow marine - Back-arc Subduction
2
Formation shelf basin
Angular unconformity
FURON
-GIAN
-SEQUENCE 2
MEGA
Porth-y-rhaw Subaqueous delta Epeiric sea Passive margin

Group platform
DYFED SUPERGROUP
Erosional unconformity
C3
AVALONIAN/CADOMIAN CYCLE
Porth-y-rhaw Gp
CAMBRIAN
MEGASEQUENCE 1
Flood-dominated Transtensional
Caerfai Group fan-delta successor Late transform
basin
C2
TERRENEUVIAN
Paraconformity
Transtensional
Caerfai Group Alluvial fan - successor Early transform
inner shelf basin
Angular unconformity (uplft and erosion)
CAMBRIAN
Oblique subduction
PRE-
Pebidian Island arc - Volcanic arc

Supergroup fan-delta basin
Subduction
Fig. 3.11. Summary of lithofacies, depositional processes and sedimentary environments developed in the Dyfed Supergroup of SW Wales.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

Fig. 3.12. Tectonostratigraphy of the late Precambrian to Ordovician succession exposed in SW Wales. The Pebidian and Dyfed supergroups record sedimentation during the Cadomian/Avalonian Orogenic Cycle, with
the accretion of Avalonian island arcs to the northern periphery of Gondwana. In ascending stratigraphical order, the summaries of lithofacies, depositional processes and environments, and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions
respectively relate to Sequence 3, sequences 4– 7 and Sequence 8; formation- and member-level correlations with the lithostratigraphy shown to the left are not implied. Megasequence 1 of the Dyfed Supergroup records the
transform termination of Avalonian subduction following oblique convergence. Megasequence 2 reflects passive margin sedimentation, with Avalonia acting as a sink for vast quantities of fine-grained sediment transported from
Gondwana by large, mature fluvial systems. Renewed subduction in the Ordovician (Caledonian Orogenic cycle) led to rifting of Avalonia from Gondwana and ultimately to its collision with Laurentia. For explanation of
abbreviated terms used in the sequence stratigraphy column, see legend for Figure 3.3.
119
setting for East Avalonia was tentatively proposed by Prigmore to the suturing of volcanic arc terranes during the transform
et al. (1997) based on subsidence curves from earlier Cambrian termination of Avalonian subduction and microcontinent for-
successions throughout southern Britain. Those authors related mation (Fig. 3.12), a tectonostratigraphic interpretation mirrored
this tectonic regime to the transform termination of Cadomian/ in coeval successions in the Avalonian belt of North America
Avalonian subduction and the suturing of arc-related terranes to (Nance 1990; Nance et al. 1991).
form the Avalonian Superterrane, a suggestion proposed also by
Murphy & Nance (1989), Nance (1990), and Nance et al. (1991, The lower part of the Caerfai Group: tectonosedimentary
2002) for West Avalonia. model and basin margin evolution
The recognition of strike-slip basins can be difficult, even in
well-exposed basin-fill successions, because their depositional Stratal architecture and controlling mechanisms. The lithofacies
and structural histories are complex (Nilsen & Sylvester 1999). developed in the Ogof Golchfa Formation and lower part of
However, many features considered typical of strike-slip regimes the St Non’s Formation form a .68 m-thick, coarsening-up –
by Reading (1980), Steel & Gloppen (1980) and Miall (2000) fining-up succession (Fig. 3.13; for full details see Chapter 2).
are evident in the East Avalonian sequences of Megasequence Overall, coarsening-up in the basal 32 m is arranged into two
1. These include: fault-accommodated subsidence along major higher-order coarsening-up cycles composed exclusively of
structural lineaments with a known component of strike-slip dis- prograding coarse-grained continental deposits separated by a
placement (Menai Straits and Welsh Borderland fault systems); distinctive silt-dominated ‘flooding surface’ interpreted as of
unconformity-bounded successions which record twin phases ephemeral pond/lacustrine origin. The arrangement of lithofacies,
of extension and compression (e.g. the Hartshill Formation at and their progradation and retrogradation through time, indicate
Nuneaton; Brasier 1989; Bridges et al. 1998); intense reworking both rapid and prolonged variations in the ratio between sediment
and cannibalization of basin margins; sparse igneous activity supply and the rate of accommodation space creation (Ravnås &
except locally in zones of transtension (e.g. bentonites in transgres- Steel 1998). These two variables, which ultimately control sedi-
sive facies associated with in-place drowning); bentonites with ment transfer processes and depositional architecture (Stokes &
intra-plate geochemical signatures (e.g. the Clogau Shales in Mather 2000), develop in response to a number of internal (auto-
North Wales; Roberts & Merriman 1990) typical of pull-apart cyclic) and external (allocyclic) controls, which operate over a
rifts (Keppie et al. 1997). range of spatial and temporal scales. Typical allocyclic mec-
The petrological characteristics of the basin-fill and their hanisms include syn-depositional tectonism and climate change,
relationship to tectonic setting during Megasequence 1 are high- while source rock lithology and lateral switching of the allu-
lighted in Figure 3.4. Composition is typically immature, with vial tract constitute the most important autocyclic controls
lithic arkoses and arkosic litharenites dominant (QFL after Folk (Collinson 1996).
1980). These are typical framework modes for alluvial fan and fan- The palaeotectonic implications of mass-flow-dominated allu-
delta systems deposited in tectonically active basins (Corcoran vial fan sedimentation have been highlighted already. The required
et al. 1999). Relatively high feldspar, volcanic lithic fragments piedmont setting – with juxtaposition of bedrock block and
and magnetic susceptibility are typical properties of sediment actively subsiding valley – is the most commonly invoked allocyc-
derived from juvenile basement (Dickinson 1985; Floyd & lic control in coarse-grained largely continental successions (Eliet
Trench 1989; Piper et al. 1996). In terms of tectonic provenance & Gawthorpe 1995; MartinsNeto 1996; Ryang & Chough 1999;
indicators, Megasequence 1 is extremely varied and thus difficult Stokes & Mather 2000; Benvenuti 2002), as both accommodation
to classify (QmFLt after Dickinson 1985). Detrital modes plot space and sediment flux are generated simultaneously with valley
within both the magmatic arc and recycled orogen global sand- subsidence in extensional regimes or source uplift in compres-
stone provenance fields, a tectonic setting consistent with the abun- sional ones. Evidence for phases of synorogenic sedimentation
dance of sedimentary and volcanic lithic fragments. These in the studied section includes: rapid vertical lithofacies changes
framework modes clearly record recycling of a diverse source and an unconformable basement–cover relationship (Mueller &
area that originated in a number of semi-discrete plate tectonic pro- Corcoran 2001); coarse-grain size, high lithic fragment content
vinces, and is consistent with derivation from the structurally and immature composition, coupled with mixing of local and
accreted terranes that form the basement of Avalonia and from more exotic source terranes (Lee & Sheen 1998; Hendrix 2000;
late Precambrian sedimentary basins inverted during final terrane Qayyum et al. 2001; Lawton et al. 2003; Robinson et al. 2003);
accretion (Nance 1990). evidence for tilting of the fan surface reflected in deeply incised
Similar modal compositions have been reported from a num- basal units (Ryang & Chough 1997, 1999; Stokes & Mather
ber of basin-fills sourced from discrete allochthonous terranes 2000); footwall-derived alluvial fans and a consequent drainage
incorporated within suture zones (Graham et al. 1993; Trop & system (Leeder et al. 1988); and a sharp flooding surface reflecting
Ridgeway 1997; Robinson et al. 2003). Such basins, commonly almost instantaneous cut-off of sediment flux to the fan surface
termed ‘late-stage’ successor basins, are developed typically (Crews & Ethridge 1993; Graham et al. 1993; Benvenuti 2002).
during the terminal phases of long-lived orogenic cycles. The Clay-dominated intervals sharply overlying phases of alluvial
most distinctive characteristic of successor basins, and the one fan progradation are generally considered excellent indicators
that defines their position in such cycles, is the recycling of detritus of synorogenic sedimentation, having been documented in rift,
from older basins that developed earlier in the cycle. Examples of transtensional, and foreland basin settings (Blair & Bilodeau
this in East Avalonia include the recycling of the late Precambrian 1988; Steel 1988; Crews & Ethridge 1993; MartinsNeto 1996;
Arvonian Basin (Arfon Group) into the Dolwen Basin (Dolwen Mutti et al. 1996, 2000). This stratal architecture of coarsening-up
Formation) in North Wales (Allen & Jackson 1978), and the intervals separated by flooding surfaces has been linked specifi-
uplift and inversion of the Monian Basin (Monian Supergroup of cally to the balance between fault-controlled subsidence (accom-
Anglesey), which was a source for Sequence 3 sedimentary modation space creation) and relative source uplift (sediment
rocks in both SW and North Wales. This process of compositional flux) by a number of authors (e.g. Paola et al. 1992; Crews &
inheritance from juvenile Precambrian basins is supported also by Ethridge 1993; Gordon & Heller 1993; Benvenuti 2002). A graphi-
Sm– Nd isotope values from earlier Cambrian sedimentary depos- cal interpretation of the coarsening-up successions recorded in the
its (Thorogood 1990). section at Ogof Golchfa along with the inferred response of the
The petrographic properties of the basin-fill outlined associate alluvial system to tectonic activity (fault rejuvenation) is presented
Megasequence 1 with the terminal phases of Avalonian subduction in Figure 3.13. The coarsening-up Phases 2 and 4 correspond to
and orogenesis. The structural inversion of Precambrian basins periods of increasing sediment flux to subsidence rate ratios,
and the opening of transtensional successor basins appear related resulting in basinward growth (progradation) of the alluvial fan.
STAGE 1: SYN-EXTENSION
RENEWED
ALLUVIAL FAN PHASE 3
PROGRADATION
BACK FAULTING DEBRIS FLOWS ACCOMMODATION-UNLIMITED:
TRAPPED AGAINST SEDIMENT SUPPLY<SUBSIDENCE
TALUS CONES? FLOOD PLAIN
LOW CLASTIC BACK-FAULTING REDUCES DEOPOSITIONAL
PENETRATION GRADIENT INDUCING LACUSTRINE SEDIMENTATION
Cl Sa Gr
a nd av PHASE
M y el
26

FAULT BLOCK ROTATION
24 LOW CLASTIC PENETRATION INTO BASIN
20

EPHEMERAL PONDS/LAKES
4
18
FAULT PHASE 2
16 REJUVENATION SLIGHT RECESSION
OF WATERSHED ACCOMMODATION-LIMITED:
SEDIMENT SUPPLY>SUBSIDENCE
14
12
3
10
TECTONIC QUIESCENCE
8 ALLUVIAL FAN
2
PROGRADATION RAPID ALLUVIAL FAN PROGRADATION
6
HYPERCONCENTRATED FLOWS NON-COHESIVE DEBRIS FLOWS
4
1 PHASE 1
2 METAMORPHIC N
SOURCE
FOOTWALL ACCOMMODATION-UNLIMITED:
FAULT PLAIN UPLANDS W SEDIMENT SUPPLY<SUBSIDENCE E
TALUS CONES?
FAULT COHESIVE
ACTIVATION DEBRIS HANGINGWALL HIGH GRADIENT INDUCES INCISION
FLOWS LOWLANDS
LOW CLASTIC PENETRATION INTO BASIN

HYPERCONCENTRATED FLOWS (FAN INCISION)
ALLUVIAL PALAEOVALLEY
(LOCAL PRECAMBRIAN BASEMENT)
Fig. 3.13. Tectonosedimentary model for syn-extensional (Stage 1) sedimentation in the Ogof Golchfa Formation.
121
Increase in the ratio of sediment flux to subsidence rate was prob- time the Caerfai Group was deposited. Evidence for compressional
ably driven solely, at least during Phase 2, by a decrease in the rate tectonics remains more speculative, with possible early Cambr-
of accommodation space creation following initial fan surface ian folding and thrusting associated with low-grade metamor-
incision. The second coarsening-up profile (Phase 4) may have phism occurring during accretion of the Monian Superterrane
been influenced also by an increase in sediment flux, because clast (Gibbons 1987).
and lithic fragment composition is more varied, perhaps reflecting This discussion argues for a strong tectonic control on sedimen-
expansion of the drainage basin. The coarsening-up successions tation, one that influences both depositional processes and strati-
therefore appear to record the transition from tectonically-active graphical architecture. Although changes in climate and source
to tectonically-quiescent stages, depositional signatures com- rock can generate cyclic patterns similar to those recorded here
monly referred to as anti-tectonic cycles (Heller et al. 1988; (Mutti et al. 1996, 2000), the mass-flow-dominated alluvial fans,
Paola et al. 1992; Gordon & Heller 1993). Conversely, finer- ephemeral braided streams, red haematite staining, and discrete
grained intervals (Phase 3 in Fig. 3.13) represent periods of rapid masses of detrital haematite documented here indicate consistent,
differential subsidence, which counters the tendency of sediment semi-arid, climatic conditions. A dramatic change in source rock
shed from rapidly-rising uplands to prograde across the adjacent lithology is unlikely given the similarities in clast and lithic frag-
basin by absorbing sediment and lowering or reversing the deposi- ment composition, and palaeocurrent direction, throughout the
tional slope (Blair & Bilodeau 1988; Crews & Ethridge 1993). The section. The most likely autocyclic process that may have gener-
sedimentary response to source rejuvenation is therefore delayed, ated the observed cyclicity is lateral switching of the main alluvial
resulting in low clastic penetration into the basin, and the phase of tract. The effects of this mechanism are difficult to assess because
maximum subsidence being relatively starved of sediment. of outcrop restrictions, but the sharp flooding surface that separates
Limited regional exposure severely hinders detailed analysis the two discrete phases of alluvial fan progradation is difficult to
of palaeoslope trends, and evidence for lowering or reversal of account for by any means other than fault-accommodated
depositional slopes during fault rejuvenation is limited. How- tectonically-induced subsidence.
ever, fault block rotation may explain the almost instantaneous
switch from alluvial fan sedimentation in the form of steep gradi- Tectonosedimentary model and basin margin evolution. Assum-
ent debris flows to substantially lower gradient ephemeral pond ing that the internal cycles in the studied section were formed in
deposits. A similar transition involving identical lithofacies was response to variations in fault-accommodated subsidence, a
reported by Ryang & Chough (1999) from well-exposed alluvial 3-stage (6-phase) tectonosedimentary model is proposed to
fan and braided stream deposits of the Eumsung Basin in Korea. account for the observed vertical evolution in lithofacies and
According to those authors, the transition from debris flow to clast composition. Variations in sediment flux and accommoda-
ephemeral pond/lacustrine sedimentation can be accounted for tion space may be expressed in terms of syn-extension, transitional
by assuming differential subsidence with a zone of maximum extension, and post-extension (here termed stages 1–3) as advo-
downwarping proximal to the fault plane. As illustrated in cated by numerous authors (e.g. Dietrich et al. 1993; Rainbird
Figure 3.13 (Phase 3), fault block rotation will most likely counter- et al. 2003). These stages of basin margin evolution are illus-
act the depositional slope constructed by alluvial fan processes trated in a series of palaeoenvironmental reconstructions (Figs
and, in so doing, allow areas of the largely inactive alluvial plain 3.13 & 3.14).
to become the locations of standing bodies of water.
The fining-up that characterizes the upper part of the Ogof Stage 1: syn-extension (Phases 1–4). Syn-extensional sedi-
Golchfa Formation and lower part of the St Non’s Formation mentation at the base of the Cambrian in NW Pembrokeshire
(Fig. 3.14) implies a more prolonged variation in the ratio resembles many other examples of tectonically active stages of
between sediment supply and accommodation space. The position basin evolution in being composed exclusively of alluvial fan
of the inflection point between coarsening- and fining-upwards lies deposits (Lithofacies Association A of the Ogof Golchfa For-
close to the transition between alluvial fan and braided stream sedi- mation). In Phase 1 (Fig. 3.13), intense bedrock incision by hyper-
mentation (Phase 5 in Fig. 3.14), suggesting a common causal concentrated flows marks the onset of piedmont generation, a
factor for process sedimentology and stratigraphical architecture. typical basal signature associated with the initial phases of fault-
A quantitative measure of relative subsidence rates and sedi- controlled subsidence (Ryang & Chough 1999; Hendrix 2000;
ment flux from an alluvial fan to braided stream transition was Lawton et al. 2003): accommodation space creation outstrips sedi-
reported by Soegaard (1990), who concluded that the required ment flux, resulting in increasing fan gradient, and sediment
reduction in gradient necessary to induce a more fluvial style of bypass. This phase of bedrock incision produces an inherited
sedimentation necessitates the rate of sediment supply to exceed magmatic arc petrographic signature, as locally sourced sediment
that of accommodation space creation. This increase in the ratio eroded from the relict arc terrane of the Pebidian Supergroup was
between sediment supply and subsidence can be accounted for combined with detritus shed from the fault scarp. Cohesionless,
by assuming waning tectonic influence coupled with recession of and to a lesser extent, cohesive debris flows are the main elements
the watershed (Phase 5 in Fig. 3.14), a feature consistent with of alluvial fan sedimentation during Phase 2, and reflect a pro-
the more varied clast composition evident in the braided stream longed period of alluvial fan construction, expansion, and drainage
deposits. Waning tectonic influence and aggressive source area basin enlargement. This essentially corresponds to stages 1 and 2
denudation without repeated reactivation of the source will lead of alluvial fan evolution identified by Blair & McPherson
ultimately to diminished siliciclastic input and fining-upwards (1994). Evidence for cohesive debris flows sourced from local
(Crews & Ethridge 1993). bedrock implies some topographic expression on the footwall low-
Although evidence for a piedmont setting maintained over lands. Since there is no evidence for later rejuvenation of this local
more than one cycle strongly implies a tectonic control on deposi- source, these highlands probably represent topography formed
tional architecture (Benvenuti 2002), it is difficult to determine prior to the onset of Cambrian sedimentation. The strongly progra-
whether the highlands were initiated by basin subsidence (exten- dational character of Phase 2 signifies a reversal in the ratio
sional regime) or source uplift (compressional regime). Evidence between sediment flux and accommodation space, a feature con-
for fault-block rotation favours a purely extensional setting, an trolled by both expansion of the drainage area and waning of
interpretation consistent with the lack of internal angular unconfor- fault-accommodated subsidence.
mities within the sedimentary succession (MartinsNeto 1996). The flooding surface that forms the base of Phase 3 heralded a
Subsidence analysis conducted on outcrops throughout the second pulse of tectonic subsidence that reset the gradient estab-
Cambrian Welsh Basin (Prigmore et al. 1997) also indicates a lished during alluvial fan progradation. Rapid backfaulting
protracted period of regional extension (transtension) during the allowed ephemeral lakes to become established on the alluvial
Fig. 3.14. Tectonosedimentary model for transitional (Stage 2) and post-orogenic (Stage 3) sedimentation in the Ogof Golchfa and St Non’s formations.
123
plain, while rapid accommodation space creation resulted in low basins proximal to the Menai Strait Fault System record pull-apart
clastic penetration into the basin, with the probable development rifting associated with the final docking of the Monian Superter-
of talus cones close to the mountain front. Phase 4, like Phase 2, rane with the Avalonian Superterrane (Fig. 3.1a).
records a protracted period of alluvial fan progradation away
from the now inactive fault plane (Fig. 3.13). The high run-out The basin-fill. The difficulties involved in recognizing strike-
capabilities of debris flows and continued recession of the water- slip basins (Nilsen & Sylvester 1999) have been noted already.
shed resulted in an overall decrease in depositional gradient Accepted characteristics (Reading 1980; Steel & Gloppen 1980;
(Blair & McPherson 1994), consistent with the dominance in Miall 2000) such as alternating periods of transtension and
Phase 4 of non-shearing debris flows (Kim et al. 1995), as well transpression, basin asymmetry, differential subsidence, syn-
as an increase in water/sediment discharge that ultimately led to depositional tectonism, sparse igneous activity except locally in
a switch to the braided stream deposition characteristic of Stage 2. zones of transtension, basin margin cannibalisation, depocentre
migration, lateral offset of the basin from its source and a restricted
Stage 2: transitional extension (Phase 5). Due to uncertainties basin size, are difficult or impossible to determine from the
regarding the evolution of basin margins from synorogenic to post- succession in Pembrokeshire because of limited outcrop and lack
orogenic stages (see Ravnås & Steel 1998 for discussion), the of an exposed fault and source. There is some evidence for a
general term ‘transitional extension’ is used to denote those sedi- common variant on the transtensional –transpressional cycle,
ments passively shed from an established topography that displays with the syn-, transitional and post-extensional stages evident in
no evidence for rejuvenation (Pavelic 2001; Rainbird et al. 2003). the Ogof Golchfa and St Non’s formations interrupted by a
The switch from alluvial fan to braided stream sedimentation renewed phase of extension (rapid deepening) rather than com-
records this passive phase of hinterland erosion and drainage pression (rapid shallowing). A sudden switch to an easterly-
basin expansion, as relief was worn down and depositional gradi- derived depositional system during sedimentation of the overlying
ents reduced (Fig. 3.14). Petrographically, a decrease in labile frag- Caerfai Bay Formation, and the occurrence of numerous coarse-
ments and increase in monocrystalline quartz (Fig. 3.4) is grained feldspathic tuffs, are consistent with a major phase of
consistent with denudation of the post-tectonic landscape associ- basin reorganization generated under transtensional regimes.
ated with synorogenic to transitional orogenic phases (Cox et al. Many of the features of strike-slip basins listed are evident in the
2002; Arribas et al. 2003). Cambrian successions analyzed by Prigmore et al. (1997). Excel-
lent examples of transtensional –transpressional cycles occur at
Shropshire and Nuneaton (Fig. 3.1a). The basal part of the Harts-
Stage 3: post-extension (Phase 6). The final stage of the model
hill Formation at Nuneaton (Brasier 1989; Landing 1996;
corresponds to the destructive onlap phase of Eriksson (1978), and
Bridges et al. 1998) is a good example of the typical strike-slip
records marine inundation and reworking of transitional orogenic
depositional succession outlined by Massari & Colella (1988):
material under highly reflective nearshore conditions, on crust
syn-extensional Gilbert-type fan-delta deposits (Boon’s Member)
that had become relatively stable (Fig. 3.14). Based on similarities
are overlain by post-extensional marine clastic rocks (Park Hill,
in clast composition between transitional and post-orogenic detri-
Tuttle Hill and Jee’s members), followed by post-Jee’s Member
tus, sediment supply appears to have been tied to ravinement pro-
uplift, erosion and deposition of highly condensed carbonates
cesses, while accommodation space creation was likely created by
(Home Farm Member). Those successions also record intense
thermal contraction of the lithosphere following active extension,
reworking and cannibalization along the basin margin (Rushton
as well as a contribution from a eustatic rise in sea level (Conway
1974), differential subsidence (Smith & Rushton 1993), and an
Morris & Rushton 1988). A steep reflective shoreline and narrow
eastward shift in the principal depocentre (Landing 1996).
littoral zone are typical geomorphological expressions of post-
Evidence for syn-depositional tectonism in C3 times includes
tectonic nearshore sedimentation, particularly after fault block
intraformational folds in the Newgale Formation of NW
rotation (Massari & Colella 1988).
Pembrokeshire, bentonites in North Wales with intra-plate geo-
chemical signatures (Roberts & Merriman 1990) typical of pull-
apart rifts (Keppie et al. 1997), and manganese precipitated from
The extensional regime metal-bearing submarine exhalative hydrothermal solutions in
General remarks. The tectonostratigraphic model outlined ore beds in North Wales (Bennett 1987).
requires a dominantly extensional tectonic regime to generate
the piedmont setting required for alluvial fan and gravelly Implications for the late Neoproterozoic –Cambrian
braided stream sedimentation. If the source area existed as a tectonostratigraphic evolution of East Avalonia
southerly extension of the Monian Superterrane, then fault- Evidence for strike-slip tectonics during early Cambrian sedimen-
accommodated subsidence must have taken place along the tation in East Avalonia requires a revaluation of the relationship
Menai Strait Fault System (Fig. 3.1a). This terrane boundary has between the late Precambrian magmatic arc complex and the
a protracted history of strike-slip displacement and contains kin- Cambrian overstep succession. The association of what were
ematic indicators that record substantial pre-Ordovician sinistral regarded as two discrete lithotectonic packages has previously
shearing combined with dip-slip movement (Gibbons 1990). defined this interval of tectonic evolution in southern Britain.
Syn-extensional downwarping in locations adjacent to this base- The first comprises late Precambrian, calc-alkaline granitoid
ment lineament in both North Wales (Harlech Dome; Fig. 3.1a) bodies and cogenetic terrestrial volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks
and NW Pembrokeshire is most likely to have occurred under (see reviews in Pharaoh & Gibbons 1994; Gibbons et al. 1994;
transtensional regimes, with mechanical subsidence accommo- and Pharaoh & Carney 2000). This package is attributed to the
dated along high-angle oblique-slip normal faults. The kinematic development of a magmatic arc and associated intra-arc, inter-arc,
indicators described are similar to those reported from pull-apart and back-arc basins during the late Precambrian – Avalonian oro-
rift basins (Nance et al. 1991; Dorsey et al. 1995). genic cycle (Allen & Jackson 1978; Reedman et al. 1984;
Subsidence analysis of Cambrian successions throughout East Pauley 1990; Cope & Bevins 1993; Compston et al. 2002). The
Avalonia (Prigmore et al. 1997) suggests a regional phase of trans- second consists of Cambro-Ordovician platformal overstep suc-
tension accompanied by periods of more local transpression during cessions deposited during passive overlap of the decayed mag-
Terreneuvian –mid-C3 times. Prigmore et al. related this tectonic matic arc (Woodcock 2000; Compston et al. 2002). Critical to
regime to the transform termination of Cadomian/Avalonian sub- this simple two-phase interpretation is the almost universal recog-
duction and the suturing of arc-related terranes to form the Avalo- nition of a supposedly nearshore basal conglomerate (e.g.
nian Superterrane (Fig. 3.1a). We suggest that transtensional Crimes 1970a; Rushton 1974). This has been taken to signify a
wholly passive early Cambrian tectonic regime, with accommo- underlying accreted terranes (Fig. 3.1a), a further characteristic
dation generated solely by thermal rather than mechanical of successor basins (Graham et al. 1993; Trop & Ridgeway
(fault-accommodated) subsidence. The transition from magmatic 1997). The structural inversion of Precambrian basins and the
arc to stable cratonic platform has been variously termed the Ava- opening of transtensional successor basins throughout East
lonian or Cadomian Orogeny (Rast 1979; Rast & Skehan 1983), Avalonia appears related to the suturing of volcanic arc terranes
thus implying collision, despite the lack of compelling evidence during the transform termination of Avalonia subduction and
for regional orogenesis, crustal shortening/thickening, and wide- microcontinent formation, a tectonostratigraphic evolution mir-
spread metamorphism (Dupret et al. 1990; Nance 1990; Nance rored in coeval successions in the Avalonian belt of North
et al. 1991; Gibbons & Horák 1996). America.
The role of strike-slip tectonics in the diachronous cessation of
arc volcanism in West Avalonia is well-documented (Murphy &
Nance 1989, 1991; Nance et al. 1991, 2002), with Terreneu- Megasequence 2 (Sequence 8)
vian –mid-C3 sedimentation principally confined to pull-apart
rift basins on an epeirogenically active platform (Murphy et al. The sudden arrival of huge quantities of fine-grained, very well-
1985; Landing 1992, 1996; Barr et al. 1993; Keppie et al. 1997). sorted sediment during Sequence 8 (Fig. 3.9) heralded a new
To account for this transition from subduction-related to phase of Cambrian sedimentation across the Avalonian platform
wrench-related tectonism in the apparent absence of a major colli- (Fig. 3.15). Sequence architecture (Fig. 3.9) and depositional
sional episode, Murphy & Nance (1989) proposed that Avalonian environments are consistent with the mature, passive margin,
subduction was terminated as a result of transform activity. Murphy ensialic intra-shelf sedimentation proposed by Woodcock (1990)
et al. (2000) later postulated ridge-trench collision as a mechanism for the whole Dyfed Supergroup. Secular variations in eustatic
for the diachronous cessation of arc volcanism, and the initiation of sea level and sediment supply are inferred to be the principal con-
the continental transform (also see Gutiérrez-Alonso et al. 2003; trolling mechanisms on the nature of the basin-fill stratigraphy
Linnemann et al. 2008). (3.7). Although subsidence does not appear to have been uniform
The tectonostratigraphic model presented for basal Cambrian across Avalonia (Prigmore et al. 1997), there is little evidence for
sedimentation in SW Wales, as well as evidence for strike-slip significant accommodation space creation along major basin-
tectonics from other parts of southern Britain, is compatible with bounding faults. For example, deep shelf mudstones correlative
the subduction –oblique-subduction –continental transform model with the Maentwrog Formation occur in the Caernarfon Slate
proposed for West Avalonia. Strike-slip faults such as the Menai Belt (Crimes 1970a) suggesting marine overstep of the Menai
Strait Fault System and the Welsh Borderland Fault System were Straits Fault System, and coeval mudstones in Shropshire, the Mal-
probably initiated as trench-linked strike-slip faults (see Wood- verns and Carmarthen indicate a similar depositional setting for
cock 1986; Sylvester 1988), a suggestion first proposed by the Welsh Borderlands Fault System and the Malvern Line
Reading (1980). The NE –SW-trend of these faults (Fig. 3.1a), (Fig. 3.15). The Furongian highstand in eustatic sea level therefore
orthogonal to the southeastwards polarity of Avalonian subduction appears to have produced sedimentary basins more extensive than
(Thorpe et al. 1984) and thus parallel to the trench, is consistent the internal platforms that are the most obvious sediment sources
with this interpretation (Sylvester 1988). (Soper & Woodcock 1990).
A ‘late-stage’ transform regime during the early Cambrian This change in tectonic regime and provenance is well-
accounts also for the gross similarities between the detrital mode illustrated by the shift in depositional environment, palaeocurrent
data summarized above and modal compositions described from direction, magnetic susceptibility and sandstone composition (Figs
‘late-stage’ successor basins developed during the terminal 3.4 & 3.15) at sequence boundary 7 –8. Detrital modes reveal a
phases of orogenic cycles. The most distinctive defining character- dominantly quartzose detritus typical of the continental interior
istic of successor basins is the recycling of detritus from older global provenance field, suggesting a rapid switch from juvenile
basins, developed earlier in the cycle, into younger ones basement to long-established continental crust. This evolution
(Graham et al. 1993; Trop & Ridgeway 1997; Robinson et al. is evident in both magnetic susceptibility (Fig. 3.4) and Sm –Nd
2003). In the NW Pembrokeshire succession, the stage of subduc- isotope values (Thorogood 1990). Magnetic susceptibility records
tion and oblique convergence is recorded in the the Pebidian a change from magnetite-bearing (highly susceptible) juvenile
Supergroup of the Avalonian Superterrane (Pharaoh & Gibbons basement to less susceptible phyllosilicate-bearing (mica-rich)
1994; Compston et al. 2002), and the formation and dissection quartzose detritus (Floyd & Trench 1989). Woodland (1946) con-
of more outboard parts of the subduction system (e.g. frontal arc sidered this change to reflect nothing more than the increased topo-
slivers and accretionary prism) to form the Monian Superterrane. graphic maturity of the flanking margins of Avalonia, and Cope &
The angular unconformity that separates arc-related volcanics Bassett (1987) concurred in referring to a supposed metamorphic
of the Pebidian Supergroup from pull-apart sedimentary deposits source now submerged beneath the Bristol Channel, which they
of the Ogof Golchfa Formation could record either the ridge – termed Pretannia. Although some input from a metamorphic
trench collision proposed by Murphy et al. (2000) with the initi- source is likely considering the high levels of muscovite encoun-
ation of the continental transform, or the docking of the Monian tered in all Sequence 8 sedimentary rocks (Allen et al. 1981;
Superterrane with the Avalonian Superterrane. Irrespective of Cope & Bassett 1987; Pratt et al. 1995), a source close to the
origin, this collisional event appears to have inverted the forearc basin margin flanks is not consistent with: the absence of coarse-
sedimentary rocks of the Monian Supergroup and related terranes grained detritus; the extremely high sedimentation rates; rounded
(Gibbons 1983, 1987), which were then recycled under a transform quartz grains and a mature suite of heavy minerals (Woodland
regime into transtensional successor basins during sinistral strike- 1946; Allen et al. 1981); the absence of juvenile detritus typical
slip displacement on the Menai Strait Fault System. of the Avalonian basement; and Sm –Nd isotope values that indi-
Cambrian pull-apart basins appear to be generally coincident in cate derivation from a large area of long-established continental
space with Precambrian basins throughout East Avalonia (Fig. crust (Thorogood 1990).
3.1a), suggesting a strong degree of inheritance. In North Wales, An interpretation that resolves these matters is that large vol-
the early Cambrian Dolwen Basin was sourced by the late Precam- umes of fine clastic sediment were supplied to the region from a
brian Arfon Basin (Allen & Jackson 1978), while in the English major continent to which Avalonia was attached. Based on litho-
Midlands the Hartshill and Hanging Rock basins were both tectonic correlations and facies indicators (Schenk 1997), faunal
sourced by the Neoproterozoic Maplewell Basin (Charnian Super- provinces (Fortey & Cocks 1992), palaeomagnetic data (McNa-
group; Bridges et al. 1998; McIlroy et al. 1998). The positions of mara et al. 2001), and provenance studies (Thorogood 1990),
these basins seemingly correspond with the boundaries of this source area must have been on the supercontinent of

(a)
(c) (b)
Fig. 3.16. The subaqueous delta platform of the Furongian of the Welsh Basin in its stratigraphical and plaeogeographical context. (a) Correlation between the
West African Craton and the peripheral outboard terrane of East Avalonia, based in part on Woodcock (1990), Soper & Woodcock (1990) and Schenk (1997; particularly
see his fig. 7, p. 402). Unconformity-1 is a major regional pediplain that bypassed sediment from the continental interior to the northern margin, where a large subaqueous
delta formed at the end of the fluvial system. (b) Schematic palaeogeographical map showing positions of Avalonia and West Gondwana (modified from for the
late Neoproterozoic reconstruction of Linnemann et al. 2008, fig. 15; also see Gutiérrez-Alonso et al. 2003). Noting similarities between the Cambrian successions of the
Meguma Zone of Nova Scotia and the Harlech Dome, Waldron et al. (2011) suggested that they originally belonged to a single palaeogeographical entity (Megumia) that
was subsequently dispersed; see Waldron et al. (2011, fig. 8, p. 94) for alternative palaeogeographical reconstructions. S indicates approximate position of the south
geomagnetic pole (for apparent polar wander path see Torsvik & Cocks, 2011, fig. 4, p. 142). Thompson et al. (2010) estimated the palaeolatitude of West Avalonia in the
early Cambrian to be 658S. (c) Summary of directional palaeocurrent data from the Ogof Velvet Formation (n ¼ 456).
Gondwana, more specifically the West African Craton which day Amazon and Ganges–Brahmaputra; the extremely high sedi-
formed part of its northern periphery. This interpretation accounts mentation rates required for the construction of a ramp margin
for: the high levels of muscovite and occasional oligioclase (Allen (Heller & Dickinson 1985), that through northerly prograda-
et al. 1981), grains consistent with erosion of the metamorphic tion during the Olenus Biozone almost filled the Welsh Basin
and granitic core of Africa (Schenk 1997); the construction of a during the spinulosa Biosubzone (Fig. 3.8); and the continental
subaqueous delta platform, as a fluvial system of such great areal interior provenance signal determined from sandstone detrital
extent would produce at its terminus a delta to rival the present- modes (Fig. 3.4). The regional palaeogeography envisaged is
Fig. 3.15. Summary of the characteristics of megasequences 1 and 2 based on tectonic setting and basin characterization. The lower and upper block diagrams show the
Welsh Basin during the deposition of megasequence 1 and 2 respectively; the views are from the north, using present-day co-ordinates. The middle part of the diagram
summarizes the overall characteristics of the sedimentary successions developed along the line X– Y in Figure 3.1a.
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Sequence Stratigraphy, Tectonostratigraphy and Basin Analysis

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org/ at University of St Andrews on February 24, 2015

Sequence stratigraphy, tectonostratigraphy and basin analysis

A. J. REES1,2, A. T. THOMAS1*, M. LEWIS3,4, H. E. HUGHES1,5 & P. TURNER1,6

Corresponding author: A. T. Thomas, University of Birmingham (a.t.thomas@bham.ac.uk)

102 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 103

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CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 105

106 A. J. REES ET AL.

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CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

108 A. J. REES ET AL.

SHROPSHIRE/ CHARNWOOD TERRANE

HOLLYBUSH SANDSTONE AND

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 109

110 A. J. REES ET AL.

HILL HOUSE SHALES Bb2

HILL HOUSE FLAGS Ba3

QUARRY RIDGE SHALES Ba2 6

QUARRY RIDGE GRITS Ba1 Ac5

DELTA PLAIN DELTA FRONT PRODELTA

TRANSGRESSIVE SYSTEMS TRACT

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50 HAFOTTY alluvial plain; fan-delta

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

CANYON EROSION PROXIMAL LOBE

2 TRANSFER ZONE the Harlech area.

112 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 113

114 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 115

KEY FOR SEQUENCE 8

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STRATIGRAPHY DEPOSITIONAL ENV. BASIN TYPE TECTONIC REGIME

Formation shelf basin

Porth-y-rhaw Subaqueous delta Epeiric sea Passive margin

Pebidian Island arc - Volcanic arc

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120 A. J. REES ET AL.

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CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

LOW CLASTIC PENETRATION INTO BASIN

122 A. J. REES ET AL.

124 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 125

126 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 127

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CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 131

132 A. J. REES ET AL.

CAMBRIAN OF SW WALES: SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 133

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