Tectonophysics.

137 (1987) 309-334 309

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

The South Celtic Sea/Bristol Channel Basin:

origin, deformation and inversion history

B. VAN HOORN

Shell U.K. Exploratton and Productron, Shell-Mex House, Strand. London WC2R ODX (Great Britain)

(Received February 10, 1986; accepted March 7. 1986)

Abstract

Van Hoorn, B.. 1987. The South Celtic Sea/Bristol Channel Basin: origin. deformation and inversion history. In: P.A
Ziegler (Editor). Compressional Intra-Plate Deformations in the Alpine Foreland. Tectonophv.rics. 137: 309-334.

The South Celtic Sea/Bristol Channel Basin is a relatively narrow and elongated sedimentary trough. located within
the northern part of the Hercynian fold belt and filled with ?Permo-Triassic redbeds to Jurassic marine sediments. Its
present configuration is the result of a three-fold sequence of tectonic phases initiated during the late Palaeozoic. The
origin of the basin appears to be related to localised extensional reactivation of Hercynian thrust zones during the
?Permian and Early Triassic, followed by regional subsidence during the Late Triassic and Jurassic. Uplift of the basm
margins, together with dextral strike-slip movements in an east-west sense and large-scale erosion during the Late
Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. resulted in the present elongated configuration of the Lower Mesozoic basin. Regional
subsidence from Aptian time onwards resulted in widespread deposition of a relatively thin section of Wealden elastics
and Upper Cretaceous chalk. unconformably overlying folded pre-Cretaceous strata. Sedimentation was interrupted
during the Early Tertiary by a series of tectonic events that included emplacement of the Lundy igneous mass during
the Early Eocene and mild basin inversion during the Oligo-Miocene. Inversion was accompanied by dextral
reactivation of the NW-SE oriented Sticklepath fault zone. The total amount of uplift. probably not exceeding 350 m.
reflects the rather stable configuration of the underlying lithospheric crust as indicated by seismic reflection and
refraction data.

Introduction of the South Celtic Sea/Bristol Channel Basin,

using a widespread seismic coverage and the re-
The South Celtic Sea Basin and its eastern sults of exploration drilling, has been given by
continuation, the Bristol Channel Basin, is one of Kamerling (1979). The objective of this contribu-
a series of predominantly ENE-WSW trending tion is to concentrate on the Early Cretaceous
Mesozoic troughs underlying the extensive con- structural deformation and subsequent Tertiary
tinental shelf of the Celtic Sea/Western Ap- inversion history of the basin using Kamerlings
proaches area. Within the last 15 yrs, a consider- work as a basic reference, complemented by mod-
able amount of subsurface and shallow geological ern seismic data recorded by the British Institu-
information has been obtained and incorporated tions Reflection Profiling Syndicate (BIRPS) in
in a series of regional papers illustrating the gen- 1983 and by Western Geophysical in 1984.
eral outline and post-Hercynian evolution of these
sedimentary basins (Blundell, 1979; Hamilton, Structural setting
1979; Gardiner and Sheridan, 1981; Naylor and
Shannon, 1982; Ziegler, 1982). A more detailed The South Celtic Sea/Bristol Channel Basin
account of the geology and hydrocarbon habitat originated by (?Permo-)Triassic fault-controlled

0040-lY51/87/$03.50 ia 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V

subsidence in the northern part of the Hercynian Late Palaeozoic-Jurassic basin subsidence
fold belt (Fig. I ). Its present-day narrow, elnn-
gated configuration is largely the resuft of an The availabfe well control and modern seismic
Early Cretaceous phase of uplift and erosion of its data are both concentrated largely in the South
margins, which removed evidence of the original Celtic Sea Basin. Consequently, the understanding
extent of the Triassic-Jurassic basin (Fig. 2). of the basin evolution and stratigraphic succession
Towards the north, the basin is bounded by the are strongly biased towards this area (Fig. 4).
Welsh Spur and the submerged Pembrokeshire whereas the geological history of the Bristol Chan-
Ridge, both formed of folded Palaeozoic metase- nel is rather more speculative, being inferred from
diments. Its southern boundary is the Cornubian the results of one well (103/18-l; Kamerling, 1979)
Platform, exposed onshore in Devon and Corn- and extensive seabed sampling (Lloyd et al., 1973;
wall and continuing offshore as a broad shallow Do&. 1976; Evans and Thompson, 1979).
platform of low-grade metamorphic Palaeozoic The basement floor of the South Celtic Sea
rocks locally intruded by Hercynian granites. To Basin, where penetrated, consists of highly in-
the east, the basin is on trend with the major durated to low-grade metamorphic Devonian-
onshore Wessex Basin. Carboniferous shales or slates similar to those
Both basement highs and Early Mesozoic basin outcropping south of the Hercynian Front in South
fill are unconformably overlain by a thin veneer of Wales and North Devon. Basin formation is at-
Cretaceous and Tertiary sediment of widespread tributed to regional WNW-ESE pull-apart related
occurrence in the South Celtic Sea but becoming to the initial phases of the developing Arctic-
truncated at seabed in the Bristol Channel area North Atlantic rift system during the Permian to
due to late uplift and erosion (Fig. 3). Early Triassic (Ziegler, 1982). It is generally as-
Differences in structural trend and stratigraphy sumed that the NW-SE trending Sticklepath fault
allow a subdivision into two distinct structural zone, a dextral Late Hercynian wrench fault, was
units, separated by an east-west fault lineament reactivated in a sinistral sense during this time
(Fig. 1). The South Celtic Sea Basin has a fill of (Kamerling, 1979; Ziegler. 1982). Seismic evidence
up to 11,000 ft (3300 m) of (?Permo-)Triassic to shows the presence of a distinct basal sequence,
Middle Jurassic sediments. Its ENE-WSW orien- bounded by a series of southeasterly hading,
tation is roughly parallel to the Hercynian struct- ENE-WSW oriented, normal faults, located all
ural trends in south Cornwall (Shackleton, 1984) along the southern margin of the basin (Fig. 6,
and to the axes of the Cornubian and Haig Fras sections B-B, C-C). Gardiner and Sheridan
granite batholiths (Edwards, 1984). The Bristol (1981) have argued that the Cannington thrust,
Channel Basin has a maximum fill of 7500 ft inferred to constitute the northern boundary of
(2250 m) of Triassic to Upper Jurassic rocks pre- the Culm Synclinorium (Fig. l}, continues off-
served in an E-W syncline, parallel to the shore along the northern margin of the Comubian
Hercynian structures in North Devon and South Platform. It is therefore possible that extensional
Wales. Near its western end it is dissected by a faulting was controlled by zones of thrust-related
complex set of northwest-southeast trending faults weakness in the Hercynian basement. In the central
bounding the Tertiary igneous centre of Lundy and northwestern part of the basin symmetric
island (Figs. 1 and 3). These faults. the most ENE-WSW graben development is apparent (Fig.
important of which is the Sticklepath Fault, have 6, section B-B) suggesting a more complex inter-
been interpreted as a system of wrench faults that play between normal reactivation of basement
developed during the Hercynian orogeny and were thrusts and antithetic faulting, similar to that de-
repeatedly rejuvenated during Mesozoic and Ter- scribed by Chadwick (1985a). The dating of basin
tiary times (Kamerling, 1979; Durrance and Lam- initiation and subsequent fault-controlled sedi-
ing, 1982; Ziegler, 1982; Holloway and Chadwick, mentation is unknown since all wells that
1986). penetrated the Hercynian unconformity were
located on high basement blocks (Kamerling,
311
. 1: 6
-- _-..----L__-... . _.. .----I..I -- F
 GEOCHRONOLOGII)Ai.
--. _ ! SOUTH CELTIC SEA BASIN
SCAL t:
SE

MID- TERTIARY INVERSION

z I

INTRUSION OF
PALEOCENE ~
LUNDY GRANITE

HAUTERIVIAN /

BERRIASIAN
LATE KIMMERIAN
PORTLANDIAN!
DEFORMATION
KIMMERIDGIAN
z
J
OXFORDIAN

? CALLOVIAN
SATHONIAN
B
f EAJOCIAN
AALENIAN
5 TOARCIAN
n PLIENSBACHIAN
SINEMURIAN
3
HETTANGIAN
RHAETIAN

NORIAN
5
CARNISN

LADlNlAN
e
2 AN,SlAN

HERCYNIAN OROGENY
DEVON01
CARBONIFEROUS

Fig. 4. Simplified stratigraphic cross section of the South Celtic Sea Basin.

1979). However,Permian alluvial-fan deposits fill-
ing east-west fault-bounded basins are known
from the eastern margin of the Cornubian Plat-
form (e.g. Crediton Cuvette; Durrance and Lam-
ing, 1982) and might well be equivalent to the
earliest syntectonic grabenfill in the South Celtic
Sea area.
The bulk of the sedimentary sequence in the
basin consists of Triassic to Upper Jurassic strata,
which represent one major depositional cycle (Fig.
4). The Triassic unconformably overlies Hercynian Celtic Sea Basin (Fig. 5). Within the central part
basement rocks or ?Permian elastics (Fig. 6), and of the basin reactivation of Permo-Triassic exten-
comprises fine-grained continental red-beds with a sional faults, combined with folding of the
major intercalation of evaporites. The absence of Lower-Middle Jurassic, suggests oblique-slip
coarse-grained elastics might indicate that synsedi- movements in which Triassic salt may have acted
mentary fault movements became less active and as a detachment horizon (Fig. 6).
that sedimentation took place in a regionally sub- Definition of Early Cretaceous deformation in
siding basin, possibly induced by lithospheric the Bristol Channel Basin is more problematic
flexuring. During the Early and Middle Jurassic, because of the absence of a Cretaceous over-
the region was mostly covered by monotonous burden and the overprint of Tertiary tectonics
alternations of marine limestones and marls which (Fig. 5). Whether the NW-SE trending Stickle-
may have extended over a wider area than that of path fault zone was reactivated therefore remains
the present basin. Increasingly shallower condi- speculative.
tions of deposition began during the later part of A complete structural synthesis in terms of the
the Middle Jurassic and culminated during the stress field operating in the South Celtic Sea area
Upper Jurassic with deposition of a regressive so far also remains speculative, particularly since
sequence ranging from Kimmeridgian shallow the coverage of modern seismic data is insufficient
marine claystones to Lower Cretaceous (Berria- to determine more precisely the exact nature and
Sian) red-beds (Kamerling, 1979). The absence of relationship of many of the fault systems. On the
Upper Jurassic in the South Celtic Sea Basin and basis of the present observations, it is thought that
its preservation in the Bristol Channel area (Fig. the overall basin shortening is the result of a
9) is taken as evidence that the former area was right-lateral shear displacement of the surround-
subject to a Middle-Late Jurassic regional uplift ing Palaeozoic massifs relative to the basin.
(Kamerling, 1979). This possibly indicates the be- accomodated by intra-basinal dextral strike-slip
ginning of a phase of basin deformation that faulting. In a wider context, these movements are
culminated during the earliest Cretaceous subordinate to the crustal updoming of the South
throughout the entire area. Celtic Sea/Western Approaches area, which was
possibly due to thermal effects associated with the
Early Cretaceous basin deformation Late Kimmerian rift-wrench movements along the
Biscay Rift (Ziegler, 1982). An increased heat-flow
During the Early Cretaceous, large-scale tecton- during the Early Cretaceous has been suggested by
ic movements resulted in intra-basinal folding and Kamerling (1979) to explain the higher maturity
faulting contemporaneous with major uplift of the values measured in the Jurassic. The relatively
Cornubian Platform and, to a lesser extent, of the large degree of uplift of the Cornubian Platform.
Pembrokeshire Ridge/Welsh Spur (Figs. 5 and 6). which constitutes the axial culmination of the
The result of this phase of deformation and subse- dome, might be related to the presence of
quent erosion is reflected in the present narrow ENE-WSW alignments of low-density Hercynian
elongated shape of the basin as seen by the sub- batholiths (Kamerling, 1979). Contemporary with
crop at the Base Cretaceous unconformity (Fig. 9). the Early Cretaceous regional upwarping was the
Interpretation of modern seismic data suggests rapid subsidence of the North Celtic Sea,
that the Triassic-Jurassic basin fill was deformed Weald/Channel Basin and Brittany Trough, in
into a series of linear high trends, often bounded which Wealden-type elastic sediments accumu-
by steep, upward-splaying, sometimes reverse, fault lated (Ziegler, 1982).
systems, along which changes in style, assymetry The main phase of deformation in the area of
and variable throw along strike are common (Figs. the South Celtic Sea has been dated as Late
5 and 6). These fault configurations, which show a Berriasian-pre-Aptian because of the occurrence
resemblance to flower structures, occur along of a thin cover of Aptian elastics unconformably
the southern and eastern margins of the South overlying both basement and folded Triassic-
 && __ .-.- -- -- - ---** _,___ _. _-.d_-_-.-___. .L L._J_ .- --. .___. -j- -.- .-. -o$og~
____-.
.-
,
 pp.317-322

NW SE
0,------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,-0
Sees. ~-~~-~-~ , -.- - -~ - - --- ~- Sees.
-- --===- TT -- .;:..-=-- .-.-----
~-------- .--
- -

10

2.0 20

3.0 30

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,--------------------,- 0
Sees.

10 LEGEND

TT TERTIARY
K CRETACEOUS
JJ JURASSIC
2.0 R TRIASSIC
P PERMIAN
DD- DEVONO -
CC CARBONI FEROUS

30

6. South Celtic Sea Basin, regional migrated seismic cross-sections. Note the presence of a fault-controlled lower sequence,
ltively interpreted as Permian, separated by an unconformity from Triassic.
 NW SE
o o
Sees. . _~~~,,,--------:- Sees.

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

8.0 8.0

9.0

Fig. 7. South Celtic Sea Basin. schematic interpretation of un migrated line SWAT-4. Position of deeper faults tentative. Note lower
crustal reflections between 7 and 10 s. Moho discontinuity interpreted to be at a depth of lX-30 km (10-11 s). Total amount of
Tertiary inversion. as deduced by upwarping of Base Cretaceous unconformity. not more than 350 m. Legend as in Fig. 6.
pp. 326-32X

CORNUBIAN
N ~<--------- BRISTOL CHANNEL BASIN SOUTH CELTIC SEA BASIN----~
PLATFORM

1.0 1.0

2.0 2.0

3.0 3.0

4.0 4.0

5.0 5.0

6.0 6.0

7.0 7.0

8.0 8.0

9.0 9.0

10.0 10.0

11.0 11.0

Fig. 8. Bristol Channel/South Celtic Sea Basin. tentative interpretation of unmigratcd line SWAT-3. Lo\\-angle ,outherlv dipping
reflections he tween 7 and 4 s on left-hand side of section possihh corresponding with suhsurface expr6sion of the Hercvnian
.. front". Moho discontinuit J at ahout 10 s. Legend as in Fig. 6.
 329

Jurassic (Kamerling, 1979). This elastic sequence pled in offshore wells. A reconstruction of the
thickens in a northwesterly direction over the Tertiary history of the area is largely dependent
Pembrokeshire Ridge into the North Celtic Sea on interpretation of seismic data, combined with
Basin, where the basal unit is dated as the results of seabed sampling and a regional
Valanginian-Hauterivian (Naylor and Shannon, extrapolation of well data in the Fastnet and
1982). This evidence, and the absence of Upper Cardigan Bay basins in the North Celtic Sea
Jurassic sediments in the South Celtic Sea. sug- (Robinson et al., 1981: Barr et al., 1981). Within
gests that uplift and basinal deformation was ini- these basins, a regional unconformity separates
tiated during the Middle-Late Jurassic in the the Upper Cretaceous Chalk from Mid Eocene to
southwestern part of the basin and propagated to Oligocene sediments. Evidence for contempora-
the northeast during the earliest Cretaceous. It neous tectonic movements in the South Celtic Sea
was followed by a prolonged period of erosion area is provided by the presence of the Lundy
and progressive overlap on a northwesterly-tilted granite (Fig. 9), which has an isotope age between
peneplained surface until Aptian times. Seismic 50 and 55 Ma (Miller and Fitch, 1962; Dodson
evidence indicates that erosion was particularly and Long, 1962). and associated WNW-ESE
severe along the northern margin of the Cornubian trending dyke swarms. The granite outcrops coin-
Platform where the entire basin fill of some 11,000 cide with a gravity high (Fig. 11) attributed to a
ft (3300 m) of sediment was removed progressively major basic intrusion lying at shallow depth with a
(Fig. 6). thickness varying between 2.5 km and 4.0 km
(Brooks and Thompson, 1973). The present con-
Late Cretaceous subsidence figuration of Lundy is that of a horst. bounded on
the northeast by the Sticklepath fault and to the
Post-tectonic subsidence and oceanward tilting
southwest by the Cambeak fault (Fig. 10). These
of the Celtic Sea/Western Approaches area,
faults were probably activated after solidification
caused by thermal relaxation of the continental
of the granite, thereby leading to the formation of
margin at the onset of ocean-floor spreading in
the horst and to the creation of a series of small
the Bay of Biscay, gave rise to a southwesterly
pull-apart basins (Stanley Bank, Petrockstowe and
thickening wedge of Albian to Maastrichtian sedi-
Bovey basins). The configuration and location of
ments. The basal unit, of Mid-Albian to
these basins suggest that they resulted from
Cenomanian age, comprises shallow-water sands
sinistral fault movements within the Sticklepath
and carbonates, which are separated by a strati-
fault zone (Fig. 10; Holloway and Chadwick.
graphic hiatus from the Aptian elastics or, in their
1986). Their sedimentary fill consists of kaolinitic
absence, unconformably overlie pre-Cretaceous
clays, lignites and sands of Eo-Oligocene age
rocks or Palaeozoic basement (Fig. 4). By the
(Durrance and Laming, 1982). Later movements
Mid-Cenomanian, a transgressive pulse cut off the
were responsible for intra-basinal folding and
supply of elastics and pure chalk sedimentation
thrusting (Bristow and Hughes, 1971). possibly
was established over most of the area (Weighell et
resulting from a dextral reactivation of the Stickle-
al., 1981). The Upper Cretaceous section attains a
path fault zone. This tectonic phase, considered to
maximum thickness of some 3000 ft (1000 m) and
be Late Oligocene to Miocene in age in analogy
generally covers a Cenomanian to possibly
with that described elsewhere in Southern En-
Maastrichtian timespan. It crops out over much of
gland (Chadwick, 1985b). induced a mild NE-SW
the sea floor along the axis of the South Celtic Sea
inversion of the northeastern part of the South
Basin but in the Bristol Channel is absent due to
Celtic Sea Basin which, on the basis of seismic
later erosion (Fig. 3).
evidence, did not exceed 350 m of uplift (Figs. 7
Tertiary inversion and 10). Inversion was associated with left-lateral
transtensional deformation along the northern
Post-Cretaceous sediments are, if at all, only flank of the Cornubian Platform and with fold-re-
thinly developed and have therefore not been sam- activation of some of the Early Cretaceous trends
c-
 ,)_

,,

!d

Fig. 11. Bouguer gravity anomaly map. Strong negative anomaly along the axis of the Cornubian peninsula caused by a Hercynian granite batholith (Edwards. 19X4). POMIS~- :tnrwmi\
west of Lundy Island represents shallow basic intrusion of early Eocene age.
 333

in the southwestern part of the basin and in the Expros draughting department and the typing of
Bristol Channel area (Figs. 7 and 10). the manuscript by Audrey Parkinson to whom the
author would like to express his gratitude.
Conclusions
References
The rather limited extent of Tertiary basinal
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