The Lower Carboniferous Succession in the North-West of England

Abstract

I. Introduction. The Lower Carboniferous rocks of Westmorland and Cumberland crop out in a nearly continuous ring encircling the Lower Palæozoic rocks of the Lake District, broken only on the west by the overlap of the Triassic deposits. The south-eastern edge is situated in Yorkshire, and, though apparently continuous with the rest, is separated structurally by the Dent Fault; while the eastern margin of the ring is cut off from the Lower Carboniferous rocks of the Pennine Chain by the Pennine Fault, and by the mantle of Permian and Triassic rocks occupying the Vale of Eden. The area dealt with in the present communication comprises some 400 square miles of country occupied by Lower Carboniferous rocks. It includes the whole of Westmorland and Yorkshire north and west of the Dent Fault, together with that portion of Lancashire which lies north of the Lune Valley. The small tract of Lower Carboniferous rocks, forming the northern extremity of Yorkshire, which lies between the Westmorland portion of the Pennine Chain and the River Tees is also included. The following are the points to which special attention has been given during the examination of the district:—