The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details
Bee Low Limestone Formation
| Computer Code: | BLL | Preferred Map Code: | notEntered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status Code: | Full | ||
| Age range: | Asbian Substage (CR) — Asbian Substage (CR) | ||
| Lithological Description: | Pale grey, pale brownish grey to grey, fine- to medium-grained calcarenites, thick-bedded with scattered crinoid debris; mainly biosparites, but biopelsparites and pelsparites also occur. Peloidal calcarenites are present in the lower part and the back reef facies. Pedogenic crusts and palaeokarstic features are common on many of the major bedding planes. Towards the apron reef, the limestones become increasingly micritic and poorly bedded, with more peloids and ooids and the local development of conglomeratic limestones.Two volcanic members are present, namely the Ravensdale Tuff and the Lower Miller's Dale Lava. | ||
| Definition of Lower Boundary: | Taken where the top of the highest dark micritic or calcilutitic bed of the Woo Dale Limestone Formation is overlain by pale grey limestone of the Bee Low Limestone Formation. | ||
| Definition of Upper Boundary: | Taken where the base of the lowest dark limestone bed of the Monsal Dale Limestone Formation overlies the pale grey limestone of the Bee Low Limestone Formation. Volcanic horizons (including the Upper Miller's Dale Lava Member and the Winstermoor Lava Member or equivalent beds of altered clay) intervene locally. | ||
| Thickness: | From 68 to 213m in the Buxton district, with 161.94m measured in the BGS Eyam Borehole. | ||
| Geographical Limits: | Peak District, Derbyshire, UK. | ||
| Parent Unit: | Peak Limestone Group (PKLM) | ||
| Previous Name(s): | Bee Low Limestones [Obsolete Name and Code: Use BLL]
(-1992)
Hoptonwood Limestone [Obsolete Name And Code: Use BLL] (HW) Alstonfield Limestone [Obsolete Name And Code: Within BLL] (ALFL) Bee Low Formation [Obsolete Name and Code: Use BLL] (-4470) Bee Low Group [Obsolete Name and Code: Use BLL] (-3226) |
||
| Alternative Name(s): | none recorded or not applicable | ||
| Stratotypes: | |||
| Type Section | Bee Low Quarry, shows 89.76m Bee Low Limestone beds, with the highest part about 24.38m below the predicted top of the Formation. Stevenson and Gaunt, 1971. | ||
| Type Section | The BGS Eyam Borehole (SK27NW 15) proves the Formation in full, as 161.94m in total thickness, including 18.58m of fragmented lava and tuff in the upper part. Dunham, 1973. | ||
| Type Section | Station Quarry, Miller's Dale, exposes the uppermost 18.11m of the Miller's Dale Limestone Member (the upper member of the Bee Low Limestone Formation) and its boundary with the overlying Monsal Dale Limestone Formation. | ||
| Type Section | Roadside exposures along the A6 near Topley Pike, expose the basal 10.3m of the Formation, and its boundary with the underlying Woo Dale Limestone Formation. | ||
| Type Section | Duchy Quarry, exposes the uppermost 33.63m of the Chee Tor Limestone Member (the lower member of the Bee Low Limestone Formation). | ||
| Reference(s): | |||
| Waters, C N, Waters, R A, Barclay, W J, and Davies, J R. 2009. Lithostratigraphical framework for Carboniferous successions of Southern Great Britain (Onshore). British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/09/01. 184pp. | |||
| Stevenson, I P and Gaunt, G D, 1971. Geology of the country around Chapel-en-le-Frith. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, England and Wales, Sheet 99. | |||
| Dunham, K C. 1973. A recent deep borehole near Eyam, Derbyshire. Nature Physical Science, Vol. 241, 84-85. | |||
| Aitkenhead, N, Chisholm, J I, and Stevenson, I P. 1985. Geology of the country around Buxton, Leek and Bakewell. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, England and Wales Sheet 111. | |||
| Aitkenhead, N, and Chisholm, J I. 1982. A standard nomenclature for the Dinantian formations of the Peak District of Derbshire and Staffordshire. Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, No. 82/8. | |||
| 1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used: | |||
| E111 E099 E112 E124 E125 | |||