Spatial variability of the Purbeck-Wight Fault Zone-a long-lived tectonic element in the southern UK
File(s)Westhead et al PGEOLA-D-17-00010R1.pdf (4.38 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Westhead, RK
McCarthy, DJ
Collier, JS
Sanderson, DJ
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
New seamless onshore to offshore bedrock (1:10. k scale) mapping for the Lyme Bay area is used to resolve the westward termination of the Purbeck-Wight Fault Zone (PWFZ) structure, comprising one of the most prominent, long-lived (Variscan-Cimmerian-Alpine) structural lineaments in the southern UK. The study area lies south of the Variscan Frontal Thrust and overlays the basement Variscide Rhenohercynian Zone, in a region of dominant E-W tectonic fabric and a secondary conjugate NW-SE/NE-SW fabric. The PWFZ comprises one of the E-W major structures, with a typical history including Permian to early Cretaceous growth movement (relating to basement Variscan Thrust reactivation) followed by significant Alpine (Helvetic) inversion. Previous interpretations of the PWFZ have been limited by the low resolution (1:250. k scale) of the available offshore BGS mapping, and our study fills this gap. We describe a significant change in structural style of the fault zone from east to west. In the Weymouth Bay area, previous studies demonstrate the development of focussed strain associated with the PWFZ, accompanied by distributed strain, N-S fault development, and potential basement uplift in its hangingwall. In the Lyme Bay area to the west, faulting is dominantly E-W, with N-S faulting absent. Comparison of the newly mapped faulting networks to gravity data suggests a spatial relationship between this faulting variation and basement variability and uplift.
Date Issued
2018-06-01
Date Acceptance
2017-08-17
Citation
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 2018, 129 (3), pp.436-451
ISSN
0016-7878
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
436
End Page
451
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
Volume
129
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Natural Environment Research Council. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Marine Environment Protection Fund
Grant Number
29964
Subjects
0403 Geology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-11-11