The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details
Woo Dale Limestone Formation
| Computer Code: | WDL | Preferred Map Code: | notEntered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status Code: | Full | ||
| Age range: | Courceyan Substage (CF) — Asbian Substage (CR) | ||
| Lithological Description: | In the Woo Dale Borehole, the base of the formation comprises a basal breccia of lava and pyroclastic rock fragments, overlain by grey and dark grey limestone, including thin calcilutite beds and shale partings. These are typically overlain by pale or medium grey crinoidal biosparites and pelsparites. However, at the type locality of Woo Dale, the overlying succession is dominated by dark grey to grey-brown and mainly dolomitised limestone, with subordinate limestone beds. The upper part of the formation is characterised by irregular beds of medium to pale grey and grey-brown micritic limestone, interbedded with peloidal calcarenitic limestone, comprising biopelsparites and pelsparites. | ||
| Definition of Lower Boundary: | Taken at the bottom of the basal breccia of the Dinantian limestone sequence in the Woo Dale Borehole, marking a prominent unconformity above pre-Carboniferous volcanic rocks. The conformable boundary in the Eyam Borehole, with anhydrite and thin mudstone and dolostone beds of the Middleton Dale Anhydrite Formation, is overlain by dolostone of the Woo Dale Limestone Formation. | ||
| Definition of Upper Boundary: | The base of the lowest pale grey limestone of the Bee Low Limestone Formation above the dark grey micrite or calcilutite beds of the Woo Dale Limestone Formation. | ||
| Thickness: | Measured as 402.26 m thick in the Woo Dale Borehole and Woo Dale outcrop, with 1324.52 m in the Eyam Borehole. | ||
| Geographical Limits: | The East Midlands, notably across the Peak District [SK]. | ||
| Parent Unit: | Peak Limestone Group (PKLM) | ||
| Previous Name(s): | Woo Dale Limestones [Obsolete Name and Code: Use WDL]
(-1912)
Griffe Grange Bed [Obsolete Name And Code: Part Of WDL] (GF) Woo Dale Group [Obsolete Name And Code: Use WDL] (WDG) |
||
| Alternative Name(s): | none recorded or not applicable | ||
| Stratotypes: | |||
| Reference Section | Cutting by A6, near Topley Pike: exposes the top 31.7 m of the formation and the boundary with the overlying Bee low Limestone Formation. Aitkenhead & Chisholm, 1982. | ||
| Reference Section | Woo Dale Borehole (SK07SE/24): unconformable base above pre-Carboniferous volcanic rock, overlain by 27.7 m of ?Tournaisian grey and dark grey limestone and shale partings, and 243.2 m of grey, dark grey and brown dolostone. Cope, 1973, Aitkenhead & Chisholm, 1982. | ||
| Reference Section | Eyam Borehole (SK27NW/15): From 1729.64 m to 405.12 m, with boundaries between the underlying Middleton Dale Anhydrite Formation and the overlying Bee Low Limestone Formation. Aitkenhead & Chisholm, 1982. | ||
| Type Section | Woo Dale: shows 24.16 m of brown, granular dolostone with subsidiary beds of pale grey and grey brown limestone. | ||
| Reference(s): | |||
| 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| Dunham, K C. 1973. A recent deep borehole near Eyam, Derbyshire. Nature Physical Science, Vol. 241, 84-85. | |||
| Cope, F W. 1973. Woo Dale Borehole near Buxton, Derbyshire. Nature, London, Vol.243, 29-30. | |||
| 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. | |||
| 1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used: | |||
| E111 | |||