University of Manchester

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

Northeast England
Field Trip

University of Manchester
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences
Manchester M13 9PL

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

CONTENTS

1.0

INTRODUCTION
1.1
Hotel Details, Emergency Contact Numbers and Class List
1.2
Location Maps
1.3
Safety in the Field
1.4
Field Course Aims
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8

Structural Setting
Stratigraphy
Regional Setting
Selected References

2.0

STAITHES

3.0

WHITBY

4.0

FLAMBOROUGH HEAD

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

1.1

Hotel Details, Emergency Contact and Class List

The Royal Hotel: Scarborough, St Nicholas Street, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK
YO11 2HE TEL : 01723 364 333
Emergency Contact: In an emergency contact with the party can be made through the
School office: +44 (0)161 306 6871

1.2

Maps and location

The following maps cover the coastal sections visited on this course.
1. OS 1:50 000.

Royal Hotel, St. Nicholas Street, Scarborough, UK - Google Maps

Sheet 93:
Sheet 94:
Sheet 101:

A.

12/ 10/ 2011 12:26

Middlesborough
Royal Hotel, St. Nicholas Street,
Whitby
Scarborough, UK
Scarborough and Bridlington.

Royal Hotel

Prices converted at current exchange - Disclaimer

St. Nicholas Street, Scarborough, North

Yorkshire YO11 2HE, United Kingdom
+44 1723 356771 !
10 reviews

2011 Google -

Figure 1.1 Hotel location

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Petroleum Geoscience MSc

1.3

Safety in the field.

Before examining any locality, determine the risks and take appropriate care. Be aware not
only of your own safety, but also of those with you.
A safety briefing will be held at the start of each day, and at each locality.
At all times participants must follow the instructions of the field trip leaders.
All participants will be required to complete a safety form and detail any medical conditions
At all times field trip participants must wear hard hats when near to cliffs, appropriate
footwear (walking boots) and if required high-visibility jackets. If you wish to hit a rock with a
hammer you must wear safety goggles. You must neither stand under any overhangs, nor
bring down debris on to field trip participants below. The rocks on the coastline are very
slippery - please take extreme care. Please be aware of the tide warnings at each locality.
In poor weather participants should have waterproof clothing and be prepared for cold
conditions (windy) on the coast.

1.4

Field work location, aims and assessment

We will examine Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments that outcrop along the Yorkshire coast.
The aims of the field course is to illustrate the main elements of a hydrocarbon system and
develop skills in sedimentology and stratigraphy using selected exposures of different rock
types ranging from Lower and Middle Jurassic age. The fieldwork will involve the
examination of sediments deposited in a range of depositional environments from fluvial to
coastal plain and marine outer shelf. The sediments will be examined in terms of their
lithological characteristics in order to define the facies present. An environmental
interpretation will be based on the facies, sedimentary structures and fossils they contain.
We will also introduce the basic concepts of sequence stratigraphy. The sections will then
be assessed in terms of the petroleum system, to determine the potential for reservoir,
source, seal, trap and migration.
There are three main localities to be visited to examine, three Middle Jurassic strata
stratigraphic intervals

1. Staithes: Middle Jurassic shoreface to offshore transition mudstones

(Toarcian)
2. Whitby Harbour: fluvial sandbody geometry (Aalenian) and outer shelf
(Toarcian).
3. Flamborough Head: Cretaceous chalk

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

Figure 1.2 Summary geological maps of Yorkshire coast

Periods

Age Ma
Upper

Cretaceous

66

Stages
Santonian

Formation
Burnham Chalk

Bajocian

Scarborough
Cloughton

Aalenian
Toarcian

Saltwick
Dogger
Whitby Mudstone

Pleinsbachian

Cleveland Ironstone
Staithes Sandstone

Middle
Lower

Upper

144
Middle
Jurassic

Lower

Fig. 1.3 Summary stratigraphy of field area

1.5

Geological Setting

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

We will examine the JurassicThe last stages of the Variscan orogeny produced a mountain
range which spread from north-west Spain, through Brittany and Central Germany to Poland
and beyond. This collision was caused by the northerly, fast-moving Gondwana colliding
with the slower-moving southern edge of Laurentia / Baltica. Crustal transpression
generated by this collision caused post-Variscan upward doming of the Pennine Arch, Lake
District and Cleveland Hills and resulted in significant early Permian erosion. Elsewhere
crustal transtension generated by this collision caused Permian volcanism (e.g., Mauchline
volcanics in the Midland Valley, the Whin Sill and the Rotliegend volcanics of Poland and
Germany). Following this collision (in Mid-Late Permian times) the lithosphere beneath the
Variscan Foreland began to cool and both the Southern Permian and Northern Permian
Basins (separated by the Mid-North Sea and Fyn-Ringkbing High) were formed. Following
these events a period of east-west oriented transtension developed (which was almost
certainly related to the earliest North Atlantic opening) and the north-south oriented Central,
Viking, Horn, and Oslo Grabens formed (Glennie, 1990).
As a result of these large-scale processes major depo-centres were developed in the study
area (Cleveland Basin), bounded to the West by the Pennine Arch and the South by the
Market Weighton Block (the northern element of the more stable East Midlands Shelf).
These depocentres remained active until uplift during the middle Jurassic.
Over much of the UK and the UK Continental Shelf, Mid-Jurassic deltaic and fluvial
sediments unconformably overlie marine sediments (the Mid-Cimmerian unconformity). This
unconformity was caused by crustal uplift and emergence consequent upon doming in MidJurassic times (e.g. Underhill and Partington, 1993). Following this period of uplift volcanic
activity ceased and lithospheric cooling occurred. Cooling caused crustal extension and
active graben formation during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. These effects
coupled with sediment loading caused an extensive basin to develop, which controlled
subsequent sediment deposition.
During the Tertiary the Cleveland Basin suffered inversion. Many of the normal faults
appear to have been reactivated as reverse, strike-slip and oblique-slip faults, and
contractional structures occur in Chalk sequences. Post-Jurassic deformation was
controlled largely by reactivation of older structures that also dominated Jurassic
deformation.
The lithostratigraphic nomenclature for Permian to Cretaceous aged sediments in north-east
England is complicated due to use of numerous local names for beds, members and
formations. The latest revisions used here are tied to both ammonite biostratigraphy and
chronostratigraphy (e.g., Cope et al. 1980a, b; Tucker 1991). Other dating schemes are
used where appropriate such as those derived from the study of ostracodes (e.g. Bate
1965), palynology (e.g., Hancock and Fisher 1985) and dinocysts (e.g. Riding and Wright
1989, Woollam and Riding 1983).
The key stratigraphic intervals encountered on this field trip are given in Figure 1.1
In North East England Lower Jurassic strata (e.g. Staithes Sandstone Formation, Cleveland
Ironstone Formation, Whitby Mudstone Formation and Dogger Formation) are
predominantly composed of interbedded mudstones and sandstones with rare ironstones.
These sediments were deposited on a marine shelf. At the end of the Toarcian there was a
period of major erosion, at least in part due to tectonic activity, so the early Aalenian strata
rest unconformably on this surface. Regional work on the North Sea (e.g. Underhill and
Partington 1993; Partington et al. 1993) suggests that the shallowing which characterises
the end of Toarcian deposition and the early Aalenian unconformity (in the field area

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

expressed at the base Dogger Formation) is related to the development of a regional

thermal dome situated at the intersection of the Central Graben, Viking Graben and Moray
Firth (a triple junction).
The following Middle Jurassic sediments (e.g. Saltwick Formation, Cloughton Formation and
Scarborough Formation) record the interaction of fluvio-deltaic and marine systems. In
general, the source area for the fluvio-deltaic clastics was the Mid-North Sea High
(Carboniferous source), with progradation towards the south. Within the Aalenian-Bajocian
strata, three major marine incursions are recorded (e.g. the Scarborough Formation) which
reflect a number of pulsed, northward-directed transgressions.
Following this period of intercalated deltaic and shallow marine environments in the MidJurassic, sea level rose once more to giving rise to the deposition of the marine mudstones
of the Heather and Kimmeridge Clay Formations (Upper Jurassic - Early Cretaceous).
Finally, by the End Cretaceous, as eustatic sea-level rise continued and the detrital
sediment supply had been largely removed, the nannoplankton-dominated mudstones of
the Chalk were deposited (e.g. Burnham Formation).
The sections to be studied are time equivalent to the Dunlin Group and most of the Brent
Group in the Brent Province of the North Sea, with production from fields such as Brent, and
Dunlin. These Middle Jurassic sandstones contain significant volumes of hydrocarbons,
and the coastal sections we visit have been used as outcrop analogues of these prolific
reservoirs. Chalk is both a reservoir and a seal, and also contains significant oil discoveries
in the North Sea, such as the giant Ekofisk oilfield.
1.6

Selected References
Glennie K.W. (1990) Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of the North Sea. Blackwell.
Underhill, J. R. & Partington, M.A. 1993. Jurassic thermal doming and deflation in the North
Sea: implications of the sequence stratigraphic evidence. In: Parker, J.R. (ed.) Petroleum
Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference. 337-345.
Underhill, J.R. and Partington, M.A. 1993. Use of Genetic Sequence Stratigraphy in Defining
and Determining a Regional Tectonic Control on the 'Mid-Cimmerian Unconformity':
Implications for the North Sea Basin Development and the Global Sea-Level Chart. In:
Weimer, P. & Posamentier, H.W. (eds.). Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy. Am. Assoc.
Petrol. Geol. Memoir 58, 449-484.

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

2.0 STAITHES
2.1

Location
Coastal section at Staithes between Staithes Harbour and Old Nab.

Figure 3.1 Location Map

2.2

Grid reference
NZ 784 188 to NZ 794 187

2.3

Depositional environments
Shallow marine (lower shoreface) sandstones, zones of dynamic sediment bypass,
mudstones from the offshore transition and from condensed sections.

2.4

Access/logistics
Turn north off A174 towards Staithes, park in public car park at top of hill. Walk down road
down into village centre to harbour. Walk eastwards over the wave cut platform past Penny
Nab towards the Old Nab. Return to Staithes village by walking westwards over the foreshore
N.B.
At high tide the sea covers the wave cut platform. Do not walk beyond the Old Nab. The
eastern part of the section is cut-off 3 hours before and after high tide (at the steps near to
the Staithes beach, well before it covers the majority of the rocky shoreline near the
Cleaveland section, so BEWARE. Please take care while walking over the slippery rocks on
the wave-cut platform, and do not stand directly under the steep cliffs and watch out for loose
rocks on the smaller cliff faces, which can be unstable.

2.5

References to section
Hesselbo and D.N. Parkinson. (1996), Geological Society of London Special Volume 103.
97 - 107.
Macquaker, J.H.S. Taylor, K.G. (1996), A sequence stratigraphic interpretation of a
mudstone-dominated succession: the Lower Jurassic Cleveland Ironstone Formation, U.K.
Geological Society of London Journal, 153. 759- 770

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

2.6

Aims
Describe the rock characteristics and fossils present at this locality and determine the
facies, to evaluate the changing processes of deposition. Determine the scale of the
stacking patterns and identify the beds, marine flooding surfaces, sequence boundaries and
transgressive surfaces in this mud-dominated, shallow marine environment. Assess the
petroleum potential for the facies.

2.7

Summary
The rocks exposed at Staithes are the Staithes Sandstone Formation (Pleinsbachian) and
the overlying Cleveland Ironstone Formation (Pleinsbachian). The section comprises a
succession of marine mudstones (clay-rich, silt-rich, sand-rich mudstones) interbedded with
fine-grained sandstones, oolitic ironstones, shell beds and concretionary carbonates.
3.7.1 Staithes Sandstone Formation
Consider:

The variation in facies, internal structure and geometry

The broad scale changes in sandstone:mudstone ratio.
Does this indicate retrogradation, progradation or aggradation. Can you identify
stacking sets?
Do the shell lags represent storm lags, transgressive surfaces or sequence
boundaries?
Most of the units fine up. Can you identify any signs of abrupt deepening and
therefore marine flooding surfaces?
Evaluate the reservoir characteristics of these sandstones. How does this change
vertically and horizontally?

The basal part of the Staithes Sandstone Formation (basal 12 m) comprises an upwardcoarsening succession, which is overlain by an overall upward-fining succession (26 m
thick). Within these large-scale coarsening- and fining- successions there are smaller-scale
upward-coarsening units separated by marine flooding surfaces. Cemented sandstones
(N.B. presence of interference ripples) and shell beds (with Gryphaea sp., Oxytoma sp. and
Pseudopecten sp.) occur at the levels were the stacking patterns change from overall
upward-coarsening to upward-fining.
The coarser parts of the succession contain hummocky cross stratification, symmetrical
ripple lamination, interference ripples and gutter casts. The relatively poor preservation of
the ichnofauna suggests deposition occurred in relatively high energy upper / lower shore
face environments.

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

Figure 3.2 Marine ichnofacies

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Fig: 3.3 Facies present include a mottled grey / tan unit, heaviliy bioturbated, with remnant bedding,
showing ripple and low angle lamination. Sand units are characteristically sharp based, gradational
tops. The bioturbated unit is overlain by a sharp based fine to very fine grained sandstone, showing
characteristic low angle cross lamination, hummocky cross bedding, bioturbated and rippled towards
the top. Uppermost unit is thin bedded rippled sandstone and interbedded silty mudstones,
bioturbated, with a higher proportion of interbedded sandstone.

Figures 3.4 and 3.5: Close up of the Hummocky Cross Stratification, with smaller scale ripple cross
lamination towards the top. Some thin mud drapes record periods of low energy and suspension
settling. Rare bioturbation in the HCS sandstones, indicative of high energy and rapid deposition.
Bioturbation increases in sandstone above, suggesting lower energy, smaller sandstone units with
periods of colonisation and bioturbation.

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Figure 3.6 Ichofauna and depositional environments

Fig 3.7
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2.7.2 Cleveland Ironstone Formation

Consider:

The nature of the ironstones, their basal contacts and lateral continuity
The stacking patterns revealed by the coarsening upward units
Do the ironstones represent periods of transgressive reworking, storm deposits or
condensed intervals during relative sea level fall?
Are these sequences or parasequences?

The mudstones in the Cleveland Ironstone Formation vary in grain size from clay- to sandrich and form upward-fining couplets on a millimetre scale. Individual beds stack into
upward-coarsening successions developed on an intermediate (decimetre to metre) scale
which are separated from one and another by intervals over which there is abrupt fining
(Fig. 2). The intermediate-scale upward-coarsening units themselves stack into large-scale
(metre to ten metre scale) upward-fining and upward-coarsening successions (Fig. 2).
Scattered concretions, composed of phosphate and berthierene, are present at the levels
where the large-scale stacking patterns change from overall upward-fining to upwardcoarsening (Fig. 2). The coarse units at the top of the large-scale upward-coarsening
successions comprise planar bedded sand-rich mudstones and shelly, oolitic ironstones,
contain gutter casts and are commonly intensely bioturbated (e.g., Rhizocoallium isp.,
Thallasinoides isp.) and shell-rich, siderite and berthierene cemented ironstones.
The origin of cements in ironstones has occupied the attentions of geologists for many
years (e.g., Macquaker et al., 1996). Recent work, on bacterial zonation in sediments
suggests that they are most likely to have precipitated in the iron reduction zone prior to
sulphate reduction.
Iron reduction:

212Fe2 O3 + (CH2O)106 (NH3 )16 H3 PO4 + 318H2 O

-

424Fe2 + + 106HCO 3 + 16NH3 + H3 PO4 + 742OH Iron reduction is favoured in conditions where the organic matter is extremely degraded and
is a poor substrate (food) for extensive deeper burial bacterial (e.g. by sulphate reducers)
++
colonisation of the sediment. In such conditions Fe
concentrations in the pore waters
increase and Fe-rich carbonate cements other than pyrite precipitate (e.g. siderite).
An unequivocal sequence stratigraphic interpretation of this succession is difficult as the
sequence boundaries cannot be identified as there is no evidence of subaerial exposure. In
spite of this a) the tops of ironstones are interpreted to be combined sequence boundaries /
flooding surfaces, b) the concretions between the large-scale upward-coarsening and
upward-fining successions are interpreted to be developed close to the maximum flooding
surfaces, c) the large-scale upward-fining successions are interpreted to be transgressive
system tracts, d) the large-scale upward-coarsening successions are interpreted to be
highstand system tracts and the ironstones themselves are interpreted to be forced
regressive system tracts.

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Fig. 3.4 and 3.5 The Cleveland Ironstone Formation between the Avicula seam and the
Raisdale seam. Note the presence of a concretionary layer, three upward-coarsening
successions and one upward fining succession. Sequence boundaries / flooding surfaces
are interpreted to be located at the top of the ironstones.

Ironstones
UC
UF

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Petroleum Geoscience MSc

4.0 WHITBY
4.1

Location
Cliff and coastal section either side of harbour.

Figure 5.1 Location Map

4.2

Grid reference
NZ 897 116 (West Cliff), NZ 905 114 (East Cliff).

4.3

Depositional environments
Fluvio-deltaic coastal plain, fluvial channels, overbank deposits, palaeosols, oolitic
ironstones, offshore mudstones.

4.4

Access/logistics
West Cliff: Park either on the Khyber Pass NZ 898 114, or in one of the car parks in Whitby.
The base of the West Cliff is easily accessible via steps from the cafe at the base Khyber
Pass. The beach is sandy, and easy to walk on. Do not stand under the cliffs. At high tide
the sea come up to the cliff, but there is route out via the slipway 1 hour before, please
watch as the tide rises to ensure the route out is still accessible.
East Cliff: Park in the Abbey Car Park NZ 903 114. Walk down the steps into the town.
Access to the beach is via steps between the houses. Once on the beach walk northwards
towards the footbridge connecting the East Cliff Pier with the mainland. Walk under
footbridge and examine rocks on the wave cut platform and in the cliff.
N.B. At high tide the sea comes right up to the East Cliff and there is a cut-off point at East
Pier it is therefore important to leave the section 2.5 hours before high tide. The cliffs
in this area are very dangerous and rock falls are common. Moreover the rocks on the wave
cut platform are very slippery. Take care.

4.5

References to section
Alexander, J. and Gawthorpe, R.L. 1993. The complex nature of a Jurassic multi-storey,
alluvial sandstone body, Whitby, North Yorkshire. In: North, C.P. and Prosser, D.J. (eds).
Characterisation of Fluvial and Aeolian Reservoirs, Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 73, 123-142.

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Macquaker J.H.S. and Raiswell R. (1989) Sedimentology, geochemistry and diagenesis of

Toarcian (Jurassic) mudrocks on the Yorkshire Coast of Great Britain. BSRG Field Guide.
pp. 8-1 8-18
Macquaker J.H.S. and Gawthorpe R.L. (1993) Mudstone lithofacies in the Kimmeridge Clay
Formation, Wessex Basin: Implications for the origin and controls on the distribution of
mudstones Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 63: 1129 - 1143.
Raiswell, R. (1987). Non-steady state microbiological diagenesis and the origin of
concretions and nodular limestones. In: Marshall, J.D. (ed.). Diagenesis of Sedimentary
Sequences. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 37, 41-54.
Underhill, J. R. & Partington, M.A. (1993). Jurassic thermal doming and deflation in the
North Sea: implications of the sequence stratigraphic evidence. In: Parker, J.R. (ed.)
Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference. 337-345.

4.6

Aims
Compare and contrast the outcrops of the Saltwick Formation either side of Whitby harbour.
Assess reservoir architecture and heterogeneity. Discuss controls on depositional thickness
and facies?

4.7

Summary
Whitby West Cliffs expose a ~3 5m thick succession the Middle Jurassic Saltwick Formation
which is dominated by a complex multi-storey sandbody. The Whitby Fault runs
approximately N-S through the town, downthrows to the west and separates the
successions in the east and west cliffs. Estimated throw of the fault is c. 12 m on the base
of the Dogger Formation. The succession in the East Cliff comprises Early and Middle
Jurassic strata including the Whitby Mudstone, Dogger, Saltwick and Eller Beck Formations.
3.7.1 Whitby Mudstone Formation
The lower part of the Whitby Mudstone Formation (Alum Shale Member) is exposed in the
East Cliff and is dominated by mudstones and siltstones with abundant pyrite-rimmed
calcite and siderite concretions. It contains a marine macrofauna with belemnites, bivalves
e.g., Dacryomya sp., Pleuromya sp., ammonites Hildoceras sp. and Dactylioceras sp., and
zones of bioturbation by Planolites isp., Chondrites isp. and Phycosiphon isp. Ammonites
suggest that the Alum Shale Member at this locality belongs to either the bifrons zone or
older units (Knox 1984). The concretions present within these marine mudstones probably
precipitated close to the sediment / water interface (certainly prior to compaction and
probably within the top few metres). In this setting cementation probably occurred as a
consequence of the bacterial degradation of organic matter (sulphate reduction and
methanogenesis) in association with breaks in sediment accumulation (e.g., Raiswell, 1987;
Macquaker and Raiswell, 1989; Macquaker and Gawthorpe, 1993).
Organic matter oxidation by sulphate reduction:

2CH 2 O + SO

24

H + 2HCO 3 + HS

Pyrite formation by sulphate reduction:

2Fe 2 O 3 + 4SO 24- + 9CH 2 0 4FeS + 9HCO -3 + 4H 2 O + H

Calcite precipitation:

Ca

++

+ HCO 3 + OH

CaCO

+ H2O

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Methanogenesis:

2CH 2 O CH 4 + CO 2
4.7.2 Dogger Formation
The Dogger Formation is thin, 0.5 m thick, intensely bioturbated sandstone with
Diplocraterion isp, Phycosiphon isp. Teichichnus isp, Thalassinoides isp., Skolithos isp.,
Palaeophycus isp, Planolites isp. and rootlets. It forms a prominent, cemented bench along
the East Cliff which is locally incised by fluvial channels of the overlying Saltwick Formation.
The Dogger has been dated from rare ammonites either as wholly within the murchisonae
zone or possibly extending down into the uppermost parts of the opalinum zone; and thus
there is considerable incision at the base of the Dogger, with several ammonite biozones
absent. This unconformity is the Mid-Cimmerian unconformity and was probably produced
by mid-Jurassic North Sea doming (e.g. Underhill and Partington, 1993)
4.7.3 Saltwick Formation
The nature of the Saltwick Formation changes markedly across the outcrop belt (Alexander
& Gawthorpe 1993). The complex sandbody in Whitby West Cliff (Fig. 5) is dominated by
sandstone, whereas the East Cliff is dominated by fine-grained deposits which consist of
stacked palaeosols and pedogenically altered sheet sandstones. In the lower part of the
Saltwick Formation, there are drifted plant bed horizons with a diverse flora (Whitby Plant
Bed) and occasional freshwater shell beds with Unio sp. present.

Fig. 5.2:
1993).

Location map of Whitby East and West Cliff (from Gawthorpe and Alexander

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Fig 5.3: Stratigraphic summary of the Saltwick Formation (from Gawthorpe and Alexander
1993).

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Figure 5.4 Possible geometries of the sand bodies / architectural elements (from Gawthorpe and
Alexander 1993).

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Figure 5.5 Schematic depositional environment (from Gawthorpe and Alexander 1993).

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Figure 5.6

Lithofacies and permeability distribution (from Gawthorpe and Alexander 1993).

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 JNCC 19802007

FLAMBOROUGH HEAD

Petroleum
Geoscience MSc
OS Grid Reference:
TA154755TA200685
Introduction
The Flamborough Head GCR site comprises 17 km of sea cliff and rock platform sections on the
north Yorkshire coast. These cliffs expose a continuous Northern Province Chalk succession
from the base of the Upper Cretaceous Series, in the Hunstanton Red Chalk Formation at
Speeton Cliff, up to the lower part of the Lower Campanian succession, at the top of the
preserved Flamborough Chalk Formation at Sewerby Steps (Figures 5.19 and 5.20). Even
higher (low Lower Campanian) Flamborough Chalk successions are exposed in quarries on the
Yorkshire Wolds. From the Santonian strata upwards the succession is enormously expanded
compared 6.1
with Location
its Southern Province equivalents.

6.0 Flamborough Head

flam borough head - Google Maps

10/ 10/ 2011 13:10

Address Flamborough Head

Flamborough, East Riding of
Yorkshire YO15 1, UK

Figure 5.19: Location of key sections in the Flamborough Head GCR site.

2011 Google -

Figure 6.1 Location maps

6.2

Grid reference
TA154755 TA200685

http:/ / m aps.google.co.uk/ m aps?f= q&source= s_q&hl= en&geocode= n= 0.121166,0.349846&t= m &z= 12&ei= JeCSTofVG8Tg8gO38oz_CA&pw= 2

Page 1 of 1

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6.3

Depositional environments
Marine chalk deposits, with well exposed lithixtid and hexactinellid sponge beds.
In places heavily fractured and karstified.

6.4

Access/logistics
Section to be examined are in Selwick Bay (see map). Access is via path, steps. Care to
be taken when walking on slippery surface and over boulders and rocks. The cliff sections
are unstable and care to be taken when beneath them . Hard hats to be worn at all times.

6.5

References
Lamplugh, G.W. (1880), On a fault in the Chalk of Flambro Head with some nores of the
drift of the locality. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnical Society, 7,
242-245
Starmer, I.C., (1995a), Deformation of the Upper Cretaceous Chalk at Selwicks Bay,
Flamborough Head, Yorkshire: its significance in the structural evolution of north-eat
England and the North Sea Basin. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 50,
213-28

6.6

Aims
Describe the lithological characteristics of chalk, and assess reservoir / seal potential. In
particular observe the influence of faulting and fracturing to enhance permeability and
reservoir performance.

6.7

Summary
The cliff section at Selwick Bay exposes Cretaceous chalk that has been deformed by a
series of faults. The nature of faulting is still debated. Early workers (Lamplugh 1880),
presented a simple model, with normal faults downthrowing to south with a 24m throw.
However more recently it has been interpreted to be a complex folded and faulted zone,
produced by east-west thrusts associated with movement along the Dowsing Fault line
(Starmer 1995a). The latter interpretation is not accepted by all workers. The faults in the
Selwick Bay produce a disturbed zone bringing Flamborough Chalk against Burnham
Chalk. The resultant fracture network is extensive. We will discuss the role of fractures in
reservoir production, and prediction of fractures in the subsurface.

27

Extracted from the Geological Conservation Review

You can view an introduction to this volume
at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2731
JNCC 19802007

Volume 23: British Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy

Chapter 5: Northern Province, England
Site: FLAMBOROUGH HEAD (GCR ID: 211)

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

Part 1 includes Speeton CliffBuckton Cliffs. This magnificent section through the Hunstanton
Red Chalk Formation and Ferriby Chalk Formation (Figures 5.3, 5.205.25), exposes a
continuous succession from the AlbianCenomanian boundary.

Figure 5.3: The stratigraphy of the Northern Province Chalk (compare with Figure 1.5,
Chapter 1 and Figures 2.8, 2.9, 2.21, 2.22 and 2.27, Chapter 2).

Figure 6.2 Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous Chalk

Part 2 comprises the vertical cliffs and scars (rock platforms) from Speeton Cliff and Buckton
Cliffs eastwards to Stottle Bank in the Welton Chalk and Burnham Chalk formations. These
cliffs include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) bird reserve at Bempton Cliff,
and the structurally complex area known as Staple Nook' or Scale Nab', which are
inaccessible. However, it is possible, but with great difficulty, to walk at extreme low water
along the boulder-strewn beach at the foot of the cliffs from Speeton Cliff as far as Staple Nook
(adjacent
Scale
Nab).
remainder
the Stratigraphy
traverse through Sanwick
Extracted from theto
Geological
Conservation
ReviewBeyond Staple Nook the Volume
23: British Upperof
Cretaceous
You can view an introduction to this volume
Chapter 5: Northern Province, England
Bay
(Rowe, 1904, pl. 27) is prevented by deep-waterSite:
caves
and
inlets.
The first access to the
at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2731
FLAMBOROUGH
HEAD
(GCR ID: 211)
JNCC 19802007
shore is at Little Thornwick Bay. Here, and in the adjoining Great Thornwick Bay and North
Landing, there are excellent sections in the cliffs and scars of the composite succession from
the Barton Marls in the Welton Chalk Formation, to the Ulceby Marl and Oyster Bed, near the
base of the Burnham Chalk Formation. In the 1.8 km stretch from the eastern headland of
North Landing to Stottle Bank, 0.5 km north of Selwicks Bay, there is no access to the shore.
Extracted from the Geological Conservation Review
You can view an introduction to this volume
at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2731
JNCC 19802007

Volume 23: British Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy

Chapter 5: Northern Province, England
Site: FLAMBOROUGH HEAD (GCR ID: 211)

Part 3 includes the highest part of the Burnham Chalk which is exposed between Stottle Bank,
where the cliff-line changes from NWSE to northsouth, and Selwicks Bay, where basal
(flintless) Flamborough Chalk Formation, on the west side of the bay, is brought into
juxtaposition with flinty Burnham Chalk, on the east, by the Selwicks Fault complex.
Part 4 comprises the highest Burnham Chalk Formation and the complete (flintless)
4

Figure 5.4: Key marker beds at the WeltonBurnham Chalk boundary, North Landing,
Flamborough Head GCR site, Yorkshire. (Photo: C.J. Wood.)

Mortimer (1878) first drew attention to the vertical columns of flint (paramoudras) at the base
of the cliffs on the east side of the bay. Rowe (1904) stated that six such flints could be seen
from the sea to the south-east of North Landing, noting that they characterized a level in the
upper part of his Holaster planus Zone. It is now known that paramoudras are relatively
common everywhere in the Sternotaxis plana Zone at this level, i.e. in the interval with closely
spaced thick tabular flints between the Wootton Marls and the Ulceby Marl. However, they are
relatively inconspicuous in the degraded inland quarry sections, and North Landing is by far the
best place to study them. Some of the detached, wave-rounded, paramoudras lying on the
beach here display a complex internal structure. Paramoudras reappear low in the Micraster
cortestudinarium Zone, above the Kiplingcotes Marls, notably the famous flint formerly seen in
Ashby Hill Quarry (TA 2405 0060) in Lincolnshire (Toynton and Parsons, 1990).
Biostratigraphy
Barrois (1876) was the first geologist (28 years earlier than Rowe) to use fossils to subdivide
this composite section into zones. His pioneering work was remarkably correct by today's
standards. He recognized that the chalk in Little and Great Thornwick Bay must belong to the
Terebratulina gracilis (i.e. lata) Zone because of the general rarity of macrofossils, apart from
the inoceramid bivalve Inoceramus brongniarti (i.e. I. ex gr. lamarcki Parkinson). Even more
importantly, he appreciated that the very hard, siliceous, crystalline chalk' in North Landing,
with closely-spaced, smokey-grey, predominantly tabular flints' (his Chalk with grey flints of
North Sea') contained fossils indicative of the Holaster planus Zone, including the zonal index
fossil. Rowe (1904) actually recorded 30 examples of Sternotaxis plana from here, noting that
it was common'. It is surprising that there are no records of Micraster, since M. corbovis
Forbes occurs regularly at this level in inland pits in Yorkshire and in Lincolnshire. Barrois noted
this same distinctive flinty unit (i.e. basal Burnham Chalk Formation) at the top of the Bempton
20

28

aerial photographs, in which the up-section change, from the massive-bedded chalks of the
Welton Chalk Formation, to the thin-bedded chalks with closely spaced tabular flints of the
Burnham Chalk Formation, can be clearly seen (Figure 5.25), as can two closely spaced
crevices some distance below which represent the paired Deepdale Marls (Figure 5.26).
However, the succession may extend much higher than in Sherborn's interpretation. Somewhat
higher than the base of the thin-bedded chalks, and only two-thirds of the way up the cliff, the
lithological change (within the Sternotaxis plana Zone) at the Ulceby Marl from darker, very
hard chalks, to paler and relatively softer chalks, can be confidently identified at a conspicuous
recess on top of a ledge. Above this marl an additional c. 30 m of chalk can be inferred.

Petroleum Geoscience MSc

Figure 5.25: Looking east onto the cliffs at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire,
where the WeltonBurnham Chalk boundary is well exposed. Spectacular Paramoudra
flints are present in the basal unit of the Burnham Chalk Formation. (Photo: C.J. Wood.)

Figure 6.3a,b,c: Views of Flamborough head showing typical bedding in the chalk,
and extensive fracturing.
17

Extracted from the Geological Conservation Review

You can view an introduction to this volume
at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2731
JNCC 19802007

Volume 23: British Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy

Chapter 5: Northern Province, England
Site: FLAMBOROUGH HEAD (GCR ID: 211)

Figure 5.30: Formation of sea stacks and the Flamborough Fault Zone at Selwicks Bay,
Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. (Photo: Cambridge University Collection of Aerial
Photography: copyright reserved).

In Figure 5.29, previously unpublished logs of the cliff sections from Stottle Bank to Kindle
Scar, from the south side of Selwicks Bay on the south side of the Selwicks Bay Fault, and at
Flamborough Head, are correlated. Thin, poorly developed white flints are found in the Selwicks
Bay section in the basal Flamborough Chalk Formation, some metres above the terminal
Burnham Chalk flint (High Stacks Flint), but are absent from the section at High Stacks at
Flamborough Head. The correlation of the higher Burnham Chalk Formation succession
between Flamborough Head and the section immediately north of Kindle Scar (c. 0.5 km) is
unequivocal. In each an unnamed pair of marls, 0.3 m apart, and a semi-continuous nodular
flint, are seen 1.5 m and 3.7 m below the High Stacks Flint respectively. There is also a very
tight correlation between the Burnham Chalk section on the south side of Selwicks Bay and
that at Stottle Bank, although there is some problem with correlating the flints in the higher
part of the Selwicks Bay section. These section details and correlations differ significantly from
those presented by Whitham (1993, fig. 4).
Biostratigraphy
The biostratigraphy of the highest Burnham Chalk in these sections is extremely poorly known.
Professor A.S. Gale (unpublished data) has collected specimens of the thin-shelled inoceramid
bivalve Cladoceramus undulatoplicatus (Roemer) (now at the British Geological Survey,
Keyworth) at two horizons beneath the unnamed marl seam on the south side of Selwicks Bay,
allowing this part of the succession to be assigned to the basal Santonian Cladoceramus
undulatoplicatus Zone of the standard European zonal scheme. About 1 m above the highest

29

the top of the Coniacian portion of the zone), or that the latter marl is represented by the deep
crevice, seen 13 m beneath the basal Santonian marker marl, at the base of the deep water
gully at Stottle Bank itself. This latter interpretation fits with the record of Cladoceramus in
NIREX Borehole 37 in north Lincolnshire, 12 m above the Middleton Marl.

Part 3: Stottle BankSelwicks BayFlamborough Head (High Stacks)

Petroleum
Geoscience MSc
Stottle Bank to Flamborough Head crosses the complex tectonic structures related to faulting
in Selwicks Bay (Figures 5.285.30). The faulting and folding is related to eastwest thrusts
initiated as frontal movements from the offshore Dowsing Fault.

Figure 5.28: The disturbed zone' at Selwicks Bay, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. The
series of faults displaces the chalk by 23 m down to the south, bringing Flamborough

Figures
a,b,c
Chalk against6.4
Burnham
Chalk. The
(Photos:disturbed
R.N. Mortimore.)zone at Selwicks Bay, Flamborough Head. A series
of faults displace the chalk by 23m to south.
22

30

West Cliff in Selwicks Bay. The High Stacks Marl (Whitham, 1993, fig. 5), 3.3 m above this
flint, forms a conspicuous crevice at the foot of the cliff at the back of the bay. Above this level,
extensive faulting breaks up the basal Flamborough Chalk succession. In the centre of the bay,
a complex, brecciated, calcite-veined fault zone is seen in the cliffs, and can be traced
seawards on the scars. This is the Selwicks Bay Fault of the earlier literature. On the south side
Petroleum
Geoscience
MScof this fault, flinty chalk of the Burnham Chalk Formation is seen at
of the bay,
on the far side
the base of the scars at low water, and chalk with flints continues to the top of the cliff,
although some of the flints are relatively inconspicuous.

Figure
6.5Correlation
Stratigraphy
atBank
Selwicks
Bay,
showing
of fault zone.
Figure 5.29:
from Stottle
across the
Selwicks
Bay Faultlocation
to Flamborough
Head (High Stacks) with inferred biostratigraphy.

The early workers (e.g. Lamplugh, 1880, 1895), presented a relatively simple structural picture
of Selwicks Bay, in which flintless (i.e. Flamborough Chalk Formation) chalk was brought into
Figure
and(Burnham)
Plates forchalk
Flamborough
Head
from of
the
juxtaposition
with flinty
by the Selwicks
Bayextracted
Fault, the extent
theGeological
vertical
downthrowReview
being determined
as
about
80
ft
(24
m)
to
the
north.
However,
Starmer
(1995a)
http://jncc.gov.uk :
has demonstrated that Selwicks Bay itself (as well as the cliffs to the north) is structurally
extremely complex, with the chalk having undergone four temporally widely separated phases
of deformation, including folding, faulting and thrusting (Figures 5.28 and 5.30). In his
analysis, he claimed to have traced the highest flint (High Stacks Flint) close to the main fault,
which he termed the Frontal Faults' (of the entire complex), and assigned to the fourth phase
of deformation. He considered that there was actually no significant vertical displacement, and

Conservation

23

31