Geological History of Britain and Ireland (eBook)

Nigel Woodcock teaches structural geology and sedimentology in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge. His published research of over 150 papers spans these two fields and regional tectonics, mostly resulting from field work on Palaeozoic rocks in England and Wales. Rob Strachan teaches tectonics in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth. His published research of over 140 papers mainly results from fieldwork on Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic rocks in Scotland, Greenland and France.

Preface to the 1st Edition vii

Preface to the 2nd Edition viii

List of Contributors ix

Part 1 Introduction 1

1 Regional Geological History: Why and How? 3
N. H. Woodcock and R. A. Strachan

2 Geological Framework of Britain and Ireland 19
R. E. Holdsworth, N. H. Woodcock and R. A. Strachan

Part 2 The Northern Margin of The Iapetus Ocean 41

3 Early Earth History and Development of the Archaean Crust 43
R. A. Strachan, C. D. Storey and A. R. Prave

4 Proterozoic Sedimentation Orogenesis and Magmatism on the Laurentian Craton (2500-750 Ma) 54
R. A. Strachan, R. E. Holdsworth and A. R. Prave

5 Middle Neoproterozoic (<750 Ma) to Early Ordovician Sedimentation along the Laurentian Margin of Iapetus 76
R. A. Strachan, A. R. Prave and R. E. Holdsworth

6 The Grampian Orogeny: Mid-Ordovician Arc-Continent Collision along the Laurentian Margin of Iapetus 91
R. A. Strachan

7 Mid-Ordovician to Silurian Subduction and Collision: Closure of the Iapetus Ocean 110
R. A. Strachan

Part 3 The Southern Margin of The Iapetus Ocean 133

8 Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Accretionary History of Eastern Avalonia and Armorica on the Active Margin of Gondwana 135
R. A. Strachan

9 The Cambrian and Earliest Ordovician Quiescent Margin of Gondwana 150
N. H. Woodcock

10 Ordovician Volcanism and Sedimentation on Eastern Avalonia 162
N. H. Woodcock

11 Late Ordovician to Silurian Evolution of Eastern Avalonia during Iapetus Closure 177
N. H. Woodcock

Part 4 The End of the Iapetus Ocean 193

12 Early Devonian Sedimentary and Magmatic Interlude after Iapetus Closure 195
N. H. Woodcock

13 The Acadian Orogeny and its Mid-Late Devonian Depositional Aftermath 210
N. H. Woodcock

Part 5 The Variscan Cycle: Consolidation of Pangaea 231

14 Carboniferous Sedimentation and Volcanism on the Laurussian Margin 233
S. J. Davies, P. D. Guion and P. Gutteridge

15 The Variscan Orogeny: the Welding of Pangaea 274
L. N. Warr

Part 6 Post-variscan Intraplate Setting 299

16 Permian to Late Triassic Post-orogenic Collapse and Rifting Arid Deserts Evaporating Seas and Mass Extinctions 301
M. W. Hounslow, T. McKie and A. H. Ruffell

17 Triassic-Jurassic Boundary and Jurassic: Disintegrating Pangaea 322
S. P. Hesselbo

18 Early Cretaceous: Rifting and Sedimentation before the Flood 347
A. S. Gale

19 Late Cretaceous to Early Palaeogene Pelagic Deposits: Deposition on Greenhouse Earth 365
A. S. Gale

Part 7 The Thulean Plume and Its Aftermath 385

20 Palaeogene and Neogene Events: the North Atlantic Plume and Alpine Pulses 387
A. S. Gale, R. Anderton and R. A. Strachan

21 The Quaternary: History of an Ice Age 409
P. L. Gibbard and N. H. Woodcock

Index 429

"Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division
undergraduates, graduate students, and
researchers/faculty." (Choice, 1 January
2013)