Maesbury Railway Cutting
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST607475 | — | Favourable | 2.0 | 2012-03-28 |
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Carboniferous · Rock Type: Limestone
Description
Description The section at Maesbury Railway Cutting exposes approximately 135 metres of strata representing the middle and upper Lower Limestone Shales and the basal Black Rock Limestone. Both formations are of early Carboniferous Courceyan age. The lower 20 metres of the Lower Limestone Shales comprise shaly and silty tidal deposits including algal limestones. These are overlain by 40m of limestones and terrigenous sediments which exhibit bedding features consistent with their deposition in a storm induced environment. Above these sediments are 25 metres of channelled sandstones and limestones which pass up into lenticular and well bedded coarse grained limestones assigned to the Black Rock Group. These sedimentological features, taken as a whole, are consistent with the deepening and coarsening up phases in the early development of a carbonate ramp. The sequence at Maesbury Railway Cutting represents one of the best known exposures of the middle and upper Lower Limestone Shales in the Mendip region; coeval beds are not exposed in the Weston district.