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Central England's journey through time: the geological evolution of Warwickshire
Author(s) -
Radley Jonathan D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1365-2451
pISSN - 0266-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2451.2010.00774.x
Subject(s) - geology , marine transgression , paleontology , paleozoic , quaternary , fluvial , deposition (geology) , bedrock , basement , glacial period , erosion , accretion (finance) , geomorphology , archaeology , structural basin , physics , astrophysics , history
The central English county of Warwickshire has been shaped by a 600 million‐year history of deposition, erosion, tectonism, continental drift, environmental change and biological evolution. The Neoproterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic rocks indicate island arc accretion, marine transgression and subduction‐related intrusive igneous activity. Upper Palaeozoic through to Triassic times witnessed mainly continental environments, as central England drifted north across the equator. Late Triassic marine transgression led to deposition of richly fossiliferous Jurassic sediments. The bedrock geology shows evidence for the influence of deep‐seated structural lineaments within the central English basement. Influenced by these structures, the modern landscape has been shaped largely by Palaeogene and Neogene uplift and erosion, further alteration by Quaternary erosion and weathering, and glacial and fluvial deposition.