Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member type access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Submit
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of the Geological Society
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Journal of the Geological Society

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member type access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • Online First alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Submit

Magma and sediment-I Emplacement mechanism of late Carboniferous tholeiite sills in northern Britain

President’s anniversary address 1981

E. H. Francis
Journal of the Geological Society, 139, 1-20, 1 January 1982, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.139.1.0001
E. H. Francis
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Like other great tholeiite sheets of the world, the Midland Valley Sill and Whin Sill were emplaced in thick accumulations of sediments which, at the time of intrusion, were not much older nor had been orogenically deformed. However, the Carboniferous sediments of northern Britain had been deposited under the influence of continuous differential subsidence, so that they were already disposed in syn-sedimentary basins and swells when intrusion began. By drawing palinspastic contours of the sills relative to a late Westphalian marine band (approximating to the surface at the time of emplacement) it is established that the dolerites mainly follow bedding planes, dipping at angles of as much as 5° down to the bottoms of the basins. Isopachs of the sills indicate a further relationship, for the intrusions are thickest at the bottoms of the basins.

These facts are not explained by any intrusion mechanism previously postulated, though there seems to be broad agreement as to the processes which have given rise to thinning and en echelon lensing at leading edges as well as to step-and-stair transgression of sediment bedding. It is proposed that emplacement must have been controlled in part by gravitational flow down dip from feeder dykes which extended to between 0.5 and 1.0 km below the contemporary surface. Thereafter hydrostatic equilibrium was attained first by accumulation at the bottom of the basins and then by further advance up-dip under pressure of head. The sheets are so similar in aspect to flood basalts that it must be assumed that the sediments offered only low frictional resistance to splitting and flow.

  • © Geological Society of London 1982

Please note that if you are logged into the Lyell Collection and attempt to access content that is outside of your subscription entitlement you will be presented with a new login screen. You have the option to pay to view this content if you choose. Please see the relevant links below for further assistance.

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article for 24 hours and download the PDF within the access period. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one. To download the PDF, click the 'Purchased Content' link in the receipt email.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email sales@geolsoc.org.uk

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact sales@geolsoc.org.uk

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of the Geological Society: 139 (1)
Journal of the Geological Society
Volume 139, Issue 1
January 1982
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

Magma and sediment-I Emplacement mechanism of late Carboniferous tholeiite sills in northern Britain

President’s anniversary address 1981

E. H. Francis
Journal of the Geological Society, 139, 1-20, 1 January 1982, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.139.1.0001
E. H. Francis
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

Magma and sediment-I Emplacement mechanism of late Carboniferous tholeiite sills in northern Britain

President’s anniversary address 1981

E. H. Francis
Journal of the Geological Society, 139, 1-20, 1 January 1982, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.139.1.0001
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Journal of the Geological Society article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Magma and sediment-I Emplacement mechanism of late Carboniferous tholeiite sills in northern Britain
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of the Geological Society
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of the Geological Society.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Repeated tabular injection of high-level alkaline granites in the eastern Bushveld, South Africa
  • Volcanic plume monitoring using atmospheric electric potential gradients
Show more: Article
  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • Geological Society of London Scientific Statement: what the geological record tells us about our present and future climate
  • Linking surface and subsurface volcanic stratigraphy in the Turkana Depression of the East African Rift system
  • Nature and significance of rift-related, near-surface fissure-fill networks in fractured carbonates below regional unconformities
  • Terrestrial stratigraphical division in the Quaternary and its correlation
  • The Shibantan Lagerstätte: insights into the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic transition
More...

Journal of the Geological Society

  • About the journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Submit a manuscript
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Alerts & RSS
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0016-7649
Online ISSN 
2041-479X

Copyright © 2021 Geological Society of London