TITLE:
Climatic Influences on Upper Carboniferous (Serpukhovian to Mid-Bashkirian) Sedimentary Sequences in the UK Pennine and Other European Basins
AUTHORS:
Colin Michael Jones
KEYWORDS:
Carboniferous, Climate, Glacial, Cyclicity, Pennines, Europe
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.13 No.8,
August
31,
2022
ABSTRACT: Upper Carboniferous successions in European sedimentary basins contain cyclothems related to glacial cycles of approximately 100 Ky duration. Within the UK
Pennine Basin both simple and complex cyclothems are recognized. In the latter,
mid-cycle deltas were flooded by sea-level rises, possibly related to short
period orbital forcing events. They were followed by late cycle forced regression
delta channels and then by incised coarse-grained channels active after the glacial maximum. Other European
successions commonly contain coarse
incised channel fills in the same cyclothems; these were deposited during colder glacial periods. Simple cyclothems formed during warmer periods
contain only lobate mid-cycle deltas. The distribution of different cyclothem
types is not random. Correlation with the eastern Australian succession using
revised published radiometric dates from Eastern Europe suggests that the early
Namurian C1 glaciation in Australia correlates with a group of Pennine complex
cycles of late Pendleian to early Arnsbergian age. The C2 glaciation began just
prior to the late Kinderscoutian and possibly lasted into the early Langsettian; the Pennine succession shows evidence
for a number of colder periods with complex cycles, especially in the late
Kinderscoutian and mid Marsdenian. The intervening period, particularly
from Alportian to mid Kinderscoutian was warmer.