Lyell Collection
Journal of the Geological Society
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holford, S. P.
Right arrow Articles by Turner, J. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Journal of the Geological Society; 2005; v. 162; issue.5; p. 829-840;
DOI: 10.1144/0016-764904-118
© 2005 Geological Society of London

Original Article

Palaeothermal and compaction studies in the Mochras borehole (NW Wales) reveal early Cretaceous and Neogene exhumation and argue against regional Palaeogene uplift in the southern Irish Sea

Simon P. Holford1, Paul F. Green2 & Jonathan P. Turner1

1 1School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK (e-mail: sph184@bham.ac.uk)
2 2Geotrack International Pty Ltd, 37 Melville Road, West Brunswick, Vic. 3055, Australia

The North Atlantic continental margins have been subject to widespread exhumation, although the timing, magnitude and causes of this uplift and erosion are debated. Exhumation is thought to be most severe across the Irish Sea basin system (Western UK), and recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on the role of Palaeogene underplating as the primary mechanism of uplift. We present a study of palaeothermal and compaction data from the Mochras borehole (NW Wales). Located near the presumed locus of exhumation, Mochras penetrated thick successions of Lower Jurassic and Oligo-Miocene sediments. Our results indicate that both these successions experienced considerably deeper burial prior to early Cretaceous and Neogene exhumation, respectively. Apatite fission-track analysis (AFTA) and vitrinite reflectance data from the borehole reveal evidence for exhumation-related cooling episodes beginning during the Cretaceous (150–80 Ma) and Cenozoic (50–0 Ma). Regional AFTA results and stratigraphic constraints refine the timing estimates to the early Cretaceous (120–115 Ma) and Neogene (20–0 Ma). Estimates of exhumation magnitudes during these episodes based on palaeothermal and compaction data are c. 2.5 km and c. 1.5 km, respectively. Palaeothermal data provide no evidence for elevated Palaeogene palaeotemperatures indicative of deeper burial, and thus question the basis of Palaeogene exhumation.

Key Words: Irish Sea • apatite fission-track analysis • vitrinite reflectance • compaction • exhumation




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GeologyHome page
R. R. Hillis, S. P. Holford, P. F. Green, A. G. Dore, R. W. Gatliff, M. S. Stoker, K. Thomson, J. P. Turner, J. R. Underhill, and G. A. Williams
Cenozoic exhumation of the southern British Isles
Geology, 2008; 36: 371 - 374.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
S. P. Holford, P. F. Green, J. P. Turner, G. A. Williams, R. R. Hillis, D. R. Tappin, and I. R. Duddy
Evidence for kilometre-scale Neogene exhumation driven by compressional deformation in the Irish Sea basin system
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2008; 306: 91 - 119.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]