The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details
Flamborough Chalk Formation
| Computer Code: | FCK | Preferred Map Code: | FCk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status Code: | Full | ||
| Age range: | Santonian Age (KS) — Campanian Age (KC) | ||
| Lithological Description: | White, well-bedded, flint-free chalk with common marl seams (typically about one per metre). Common stylolitic surfaces and pyrite nodules. | ||
| Definition of Lower Boundary: | The lower boundary is at the top of the highest flint band of the underlying thick, flint-rich unit of chalk (ie. the Burnham Formation; qv); in the type section this is the High Stacks Flint, but elsewhere can be at a somewhat different horizon. | ||
| Definition of Upper Boundary: | The upper boundary is at the base of the lowest flint of the succeeding thick, flint-rich Rowe Formation. | ||
| Thickness: | The type section, between Flamborough Head and Sewerby, exposes the basal about 160m of the formation. Equivalent, and probably slightly higher beds (extending up to about 220m above the base of the formation, according to Whitham, 1993) crop out inland, in the northernmost part of the Yorkshire Wolds, near Driffield. Still higher beds occur beneath drift in the Holderness region where the formation, in boreholes, appears to total about 265m thick. | ||
| Geographical Limits: | Known throughout the Northern Province in East Yorkshire and northeast Lincolnshire, Flamborough Head to Grimsby area (see Sumbler, M G, 1999, Fig.1). | ||
| Parent Unit: | White Chalk Subgroup (WHCK) | ||
| Previous Name(s): | Flamborough Formation [Obsolete Name and Code: Use FCK, ROWE]
(-4039)
Upper Chalk [Obsolete Name and Code: Use UWLF, FCK] (-241) Chalk Without Flints (-903) |
||
| Alternative Name(s): | none recorded or not applicable | ||
| Stratotypes: | |||
| Type Section | Cliff section between Sewerby Steps and High Stacks, Flamborough Head, East Riding of Yorkshire. Whitham (1993) subdivided the succession at the type section into three members, the South Landing, Danes Dyke and Sewerby members, which have different gross lithological characters; these are unlikely to prove mappable inland. | ||
| Type Area | North Yorkshire Wolds, between Langtoft and Flamborough Head. Many partial and near complete successions in pits and along coastal cliffs. | ||
| Reference Section | Atwick No.2 (1973) borehole (TA15SE/9), c.122 to c.385m depth. | ||
| Reference(s): | |||
| Berridge, N G, and Pattison, J. 1994. Geology of the country around Grimsby and Patrington. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheets 90, 91, 81 and 82 (England and Wales). | |||
| Mitchell, S F. 1994. New data on the biostratigraphy of the Flamborough Chalk Formation (Santonian, Upper Cretaceous) between South Landing and Danes Dyke, North Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol.50, 113-118. | |||
| Whitham, F. 1993. The stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Flamborough Chalk Formation north of the Humber, north-east England. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol.49, 235-258. | |||
| Sumbler, M G. 1999. The stratigraphy of the Chalk Group in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. British Geological Survey Technical Report WA/99/02. | |||
| Waters, C N, Smith, K, Hopson, P M, Wilson, D, Bridge, D M, Carney, J N, Cooper, A H, Crofts, R G, Ellison, R A, Mathers, S J, Moorlock, B S P, Scrivener, R C, McMillan, A A, Ambrose, K, Barclay, W J, and Barron, A J M. 2007. Stratigraphical Chart of the United Kingdom: Southern Britain. British Geological Survey, 1 poster. | |||
| Hopson, P M. 2005. A stratigraphical framework for the Upper Cretaceous Chalk of England and Scotland, with statements on the Chalk of Northern Ireland and the UK Offshore Sector. British Geological Survey Research Report RR/05/01 102pp. ISBN 0 852725175 | |||
| Wood, C J and Smith, E G. 1978. Lithostratigraphical classification of the Chalk in North Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol. 42, 263-287. | |||
| 1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used: | |||
| E054 E055 E064 E065 E072 E073 E080 E081 E090 E091 | |||