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A rock volume accumulation curve for the late Ordovician-Silurian Welsh Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Chris J. Clayton
Chris J. Clayton
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
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Abstract

A rock accumulation curve is presented for the Ordovician-Silurian Welsh Basin, based on the volume of sediment entering the basin during each graptolite biozone. Even allowing for its inherent uncertainties, the curve still illustrates a significant and sudden increase in the rate of sedimentation in early Silurian time. This may be explained by submarine fan migration, large scale climate change, or river capture in the hinterland, but is most likely caused by tectonic uplift at source. This would support models for either an early Silurian, or late Ordovician closure of the Iapetus Ocean

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 131 , Issue 4 , July 1994 , pp. 539 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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