The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Coralline Oolite Formation

Computer Code: COO Preferred Map Code: CO
Status Code: Full
Age range: Oxfordian Age (JO) — Oxfordian Age (JO)
Lithological Description: Limestone, variably ooidal, shelly, coralliferous and bioclastic (Yedmandale (part), Hambleton Oolite, Malton Oolite and Coral Rag members) interbedded with, and passing laterally into fine-grained sandstone, variably calcareous, shelly and bioturbated (Yedmandale (part), Birdsall Calcareous Grit and Middle Calcareous Grit members), sponge spicules abundant at some levels. Other fauna notably ammonites, bivalves and gastropods. Locally a fine-grained peloidal limestone is developed (Hildenley Limestone Member).
Definition of Lower Boundary: Non-sequence: generally well-cemented calcareous fine-grained sandstone, locally spicule-rich (Lower Calcareous Grit Formation), or where absent, grey silty mudstone (Weymouth Member, Oxford Clay Formation), sharply overlain by softer fine- to medium-grained calcareous sandstone (basal Yedmandale Member or Birdsall Calcareous Grit Member) or sandy ooidal limestone (Hambleton Oolite Member).
Definition of Upper Boundary: Non-sequence/unconformity: rubbly coralliferous shelly limestone (Coral Rag Member) sharply overlain by silty mudstone and fine-grained sandstone (Newbridge Member) or fine-grained calcareous sandstone (Spaunton Sandstone Member) or unfossiliferous fine-grained limestone (North Grimston Cementstone Member) or clayey sandstone (Limekiln Member, all of Upper Calcareous Grit Formation), or where the Upper Calcareous Grit is absent in the south, by mudstone of the Ampthill Clay Formation, or red chalk of the Hunstanton Formation.
Thickness: 36m (Filey-Scarborough area), 60 m (Tabular Hills), 50 m (Hambleton Hills-Howardian Hills).
Geographical Limits: Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire: as far south as Acklam area, where overstepped by Cretaceous strata. Present in Brown Moor Borehole, SE86SW/4 [81266 62043] (Gaunt et al., 1980).
Parent Unit: Corallian Group (CR)
Previous Name(s): Coralline Oolite [Obsolete Name and Code: Use COO] (-1449)
Osmington Oolite Series [Obsolete Name and Code: Use COO, OSS, STFD, STOU] (-1450)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Reference Section  Railway cuttings and quarries at Nunnington, North Yorkshire, exposing the upper part of the formation, the Malton Oolite and Coral Rag members, totalling about 19m in thickness, overlain by the Upper Calcareous Grit Formation. Wright and Cox, 2001, pp 173-179. 
Partial Type Section  Rock platform and low cliffs at Filey Brigg, Filey, North Yorkshire. Exposes lower part of formation (overlying Lower Calcareous Grit Formation), including Yedmandale Member, lower leaf of Hambleton Oolite Member, Birdsall Calcareous Grit Member and upper leaf of Hambleton Oolite Member, totalling over 14m thick. Partial TS proposed here. Wright, 1983; Coe, 1995. 
Reference Section  Spikers Hill Quarry, West Ayton, North Yorkshire. Exposes upper part of Yedmandale Member, Hambleton Oolite Member, Middle Calcareous Grit Member and lower part of Malton Oolite Member, totalling between 20 and 22m thick. Wright and Cox, 2001, pp 157-161. 
Reference(s):
Coe, A L. 1995. A comparison of the Oxfordian successions of Dorset, Oxfordshire and Yorkshire. 151-172 in Taylor, P D (Ed.) Field Geology of the British Jurassic. [Bath: The Geological Society.] 
Wright, J K, and Cox, B M. 2001. British Upper Jurassic Stratigraphy (Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian). Geological Conservation Review Series. No. 21. (Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee/Chapman and Hall.) 
Powell, J H, Cooper, A H C and Benfield, A C. 1992. Geology of the country around Thirsk. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 52 (England and Wales). 
Wright, J K. 2009. The geology of the Corallian ridge (Upper Jurassic) between Gilling East and North Grimston, Howardian Hills, North Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol. 57, 193-216. 
Gaunt, G D, Ivimey-Cook, H C, Penn, I E and Cox, B M. 1980. Mesozoic rocks proved by the Institute of Geological Sciences boreholes in the Humber and Acklam areas. Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences, No. 79/13. 
Phillips, J. 1829. Illustrations of the geology of Yorkshire, or a description of the strata and organic remains. Part I, the Yorkshire Coast. (York.) 
Frost, D V. 1998. Geology of the country around Northallerton. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 42 (England and Wales). 
Blake, J F, and Huddleston, W H. 1877. On the Corallian rocks of England. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 33, 260-405. 
Wright, J K. 1972. The stratigraphy of the Yorkshire Corallian. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol. 39, 225-266. 
Wright, J K. 1983. The Lower Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) of North Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, Vol. 44, 249-281. 
Wilson, V. 1949. The lower Corallian rocks of the Yorkshire coast and Hackness Hills. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol. 60, 235-271. 
Rawson, P F and Wright, J K. 1995. Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin, North Yorkshire. 173-208 in Taylor, P D (Ed.) Field Geology of the British Jurassic. (London: Geological Society.) 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E042 E043 E044 E052 E053 E054 E063