Cenozoic geology of UK

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Cenozoic geology of UK 1. Overview 2.
Global tectonics 3. British Geology 4. North
Atlantic region 5. North Sea 6. Southern
England 7. Ice
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1. Overview
Growth of North Atlantic, Himalayas, Alps.
Temperature falls
0 Ma
Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene)
1.6 Ma
Neogene
Cenozoic
23 Ma
Palaeogene
65 Ma
Mass extinction
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2. Global tectonics
India collides with Asia further East.
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3. British Geology
Lavas
Erosional limit of Cenozoic sediments
Igneous centres
UK
Isolated basins
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4. North Atlantic Region
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2
Iceland Hotspot LIP active 60-58 Ma
Moine Thrust
Great Glen Fault
Igneous centres exhumed through erosion. Lavas
above are gone, preserved further West.
Skye
Highland Boundary Fault
Rhum
Ardnamurchan
Mull
Arran
Northern Ireland
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5. North Sea
Regional crustal extension affects N. Sea. Up to
3 km extension, with extensive basin
formation. Local uplift in Highlands supplies
sediment. Large deltas form.
Turbidites
Deltas
Deep sea muds
Oil fields Forties, Ekofisk, Montrose
UK
Central Graben
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6. Southern England
Records local deformation of Alpine Front. eg.
Isle of Wight monocline.
London Platform
Alpine Front
Also records deposition in isolated basins,
sometimes terrestrial, sometimes connected to
North Sea or Atlantic.. Variations in character
of sedimentation related to eustatic sea level
change.
Sea level rise
London Basin
Bagshot Beds
London Clay
Weald Basin
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7. Ice
Modern coastline and topography dominated by ice
effects.
Devensian Ice limit
Main Loch Lomond Ice
Anglian Ice limit
Ice forms in Antarctica - 38 Ma Ice in Atlantic -
3 Ma Glaciation in UK - 600 000 Ya Loch Lomond
readvance - 15 000 - 10 000 Ya