Stratigraphy and geological history of the Malvern, Abberley and Ledbury Hills

Abstract

A revised stratigraphy of the Malvern, Abberley and Ledbury Hills is given. The Siiurian succession is considered in detail and shows a series of five major sedimentary rhythms or cycles between an initial Llandovery transgression and regression at the close of the Silurian period. The succession exhibits an alternation of shale with either limestones and/or temgenous clastics, and the rhythmic nature of the sequence suggests a periodic change in base level. A number of different lithological facies can be distinguished in the limestone formations, particularly in the Wenlock limestone. A detailed faunal list is given for most of the Silurian sequence. From the evidence of the stratigraphic succession, an attempt has been made to decipher the complex geological history of the area.

Harnessing stratigraphic bias at the section scale: conodont diversity in the Homerian (Silurian) of the Midland Platform, England

“…Lithofacies in the Wenlock of the study areas have been previously characterized by Butler (), Phipps & Reeve (), Shergold & Bassett (), Oliver (), Ratcliffe & Thomas (), Ray & Thomas (), and Ray et al . (, ).…”

“…By contrast, the Malvern and Suckley Hills of the central part of the Midland Platform have been investigated less intensively (Phipps & Reeve ) and only recently have the lithostratigraphic subdivisions of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation and its notable similarities with sections of the West Midlands been documented (Ray et al . ).…”

High-resolution correlation of the Homerian carbon isotope excursion (Silurian) across the interior of the Midland Platform (Avalonia), UK

“…Interpretations of facies, depositional environments and relative sea-level change have been previously published for the Storridge, Suckley (Hereford-Worcestershire) and Dudley (West Midlands) areas (e.g. Butler, 1939;Phipps & Reeve, 1967;Oliver, 1981;Ratcliffe, 1988;Ratcliffe & Thomas, 1999;Ray & Thomas, 2007;Ray et al 2010Ray et al , 2013Päßler et al 2014;Jarochowska et al 2018). Therefore, here we provide an overview with a focus upon those parts of the succession that show considerable regional variability and may consequently impact upon the local carbon isotopic signature (Figs 2, 3, 6).…”

“…In combining samples from both Whitman's Hill Quarry and Bruff Business Park, a local composite carbon isotope curve has been made and, based upon the correlation of the marker bentonite and parasequences, there is an approximate sampling overlap of 6 m between sections. In terms of sedimentology, the results of hand-specimen analysis and a limited number of thin-sections have previously been reported for the Hereford-Worcestershire succession (Penn, 1971;Ray et al 2013;Päßler et al 2014), alongside more regional studies (Phipps & Reeve, 1967). However, as a means of further improving our understanding of the succession, a number of thin-sections were created to confirm and improve upon the existing sedimentological descriptions and to investigate intervals that show considerable regional variability and may consequently impact upon the local carbon isotopic signature.…”

The geological results of gravity and magnetic surveys in the Malvern Hills and adjacent districts

“…In the Malvern area the western boundary of Pre-Cambrian rock has been variously interpreted as the steep limb of a fold (Phillips 1848;Butcher 1962), a vertical or easterly-hading fault (Groom 1899(Groom , 1900Phipps and Reeve 1964) and a line along which both faulting and folding have at different times prevailed (Reading and Poole 1961 ;Ziegler 1964). To the extent that these various views do not necessarily involve different geometric configurations of rock in depth, geophysical methods are rendered largely ineffectual in resolving the problem.…”