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A Liassic palaeofault from Dorset

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

H. C. Jenkyns
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham
J. R. Senior
Affiliation:
Department of Extra-mural Studies, University of Durham

Summary

Evidence is presented for Liassic (Toarcian) faulting at Watton Cliff in coastal W Dorset. This movement is inferred from the abrupt changes in thickness of the Junction Bed and contiguous strata given that the contact with the overlying shale and clay is horizontal. Further evidence for synsedimentary movement is manifested by the presence, in the palaeofault zone, of numerous calcilutite-filled fissures penetrating a coarser, more sandy matrix. These neptunian dykes and sills contain abundant ammonites of the middle to late Toarcian, presumably the time of fault movement. This onshore Jurassic palaeofault broadens the known extent of such features from Sutherland (Brora—Helmsdale Fault) and Yorkshire (Peak Fault) to include southern Britain.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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