The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Barren Red Member (Somerset)

Computer Code: BRR Preferred Map Code: brr
Status Code: Full
Age range: Asturian Substage (CAS) — Asturian Substage (CAS)
Lithological Description: Red and grey mottled mudstone, seatearth, 'Pennant' type lithic sandstones, but no coal seams.
Definition of Lower Boundary: The base of the red and grey mottled mudstone of the Barren Red Member rests conformably on the uppermost coal seam of the grey, Farrington Member, dominated by the grey mudstone and subordinate sandstone. The coal seam may not be the same between coalfields.
Definition of Upper Boundary: The top of the grey mottled mudstone of the Barren Red Member is overlain by the base of the Nine-Inch Vein Coal of the grey mudstone-dominated Radstock Member in the Somerset Coalfield.
Thickness: Up to 230 m thick in the Radstock Syncline and 275 m thick in the Coalpit Heath Syncline.
Geographical Limits: Bristol, Somerset and Severn coalfields.
Parent Unit: Grovesend Formation (GDB)
Previous Name(s): Baren Red Group (Somerset) [Obsolete Name and Code: Use BRR] (-3241)
Barren Red Formation (Somerset) [Obsolete Name and Code: Use BRR] (-4501)
Barren Red Group (-725)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Reference Section  Hursley Hill Borehole, ST66NW2, from the base of the hole at 731.5 m to the top of the member at 585.4 m. Kellaway and Welch, 1993. 
Reference(s):
Waters, C N, Barclay, W J, Davies, J R and Waters, R A. In press. Stratigraphical framework for Carboniferous successions of Southern Great Britain (Onshore). British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/05/06. 
Kellaway, G A. 1969. The Upper Coal Measures of South-West England compared with those of South Wales and the Southern Midlands. Compe Rendu 6e Congres Internationale Stratigraphie et Geologie Carbonifere, Sheffield, 1967, Vol. 3, 1039-1055. 
Kellaway, G A and Welch, F B A. 1993. Geology of the Bristol district. Memoir of the British Geological Survey Special Sheet [England and Wales]. 
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. 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E281 E251 E264 E265 E280