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Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
The timing and extent of unconformities in the Welsh Basin are investigated using ‘rock preservation curves’ derived from outcrop stratigraphic logs. Four basin-wide unconformities occur, focussed in late Precambrian, late Tremadoc, Pusgillian (early Ashgill) and mid-Devonian times. These bound three megasequences, equating with newly defined lithostratigraphic units, the Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys Supergroups. Less extensive unconformities bound 18 component sequences.
The majority of the sequence boundaries reflect a component of tectonic or volcanotectonic activity rather than a pure eustatic sea-level change. The megasequence boundaries are attributed to late Precambrian to early Cambrian onset of rifting to form a passive margin, Tremadoc onset of subduction with intra-arc then back-arc extension, late Caradoc end to subduction, and late Early Devonian collisional deformation. The megasequences and controlling events can be tentatively matched with other basins on the Avalonian margin.
More generally, this study shows that sequence analysis is feasible in onshore basins lacking well and seismic data, and that the global eustatic interpretation of sequence stratigraphy is only partially applicable to active margin basins.
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