The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Eskett Limestone Formation

Computer Code: ESKT Preferred Map Code: ESKT
Status Code: Full
Age range: Holkerian Substage (CQ) — Pendleian Substage (CE)
Lithological Description: Limestone with thin interbeds of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, bentonitic mudstone and seatearth mudstone.
Definition of Lower Boundary: The base of the Sixth Limestone Member, at the base of the lowest significant limestone bed above the mudstone, at the top of the underlying Seventh Limestone Formation.
Definition of Upper Boundary: The top of the First/Great Limestone Member, marked by a succession from thick-bedded limestone to mudstone and sandstone of the Hensingham Grit Member.
Thickness: From 100m to 150m
Geographical Limits: West and North Cumbria between Whitehaven and Penrith. The western limit is the truncation below the Permo-Triassic basal unconformity. The Eastern limit is taken at the Kirk Rigg Fault along the line of the A66 highway, west of Penrith (McCormack, 2001).
Parent Unit: Great Scar Limestone Group (GSCL)
Previous Name(s): Fourth Limestone [Obsolete Name and Code: Use ESKT] (-2175)
Lower Alston Group [Obsolete Name And Code: See ESKT] (AGL)
Part of: Chief Limestone Group [Obsolete Name and Code: Use ESKT] (-2789)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Reference Section  Borehole NY01NE9, Low Leys Farm, Lamplugh, Cumbria. Rockhead down to 194 m. W H C Ramsbottom, 1955. 
Partial Type Section  Eskett limestone Quarry, Frizington, Cumbria. Stabbins, 1969. 
Reference(s):
Ramsbottom, W H C. 1955. Unpublished British Geological Survey palaeontological report on boreholes NY01NE 8 and 9. 
Eastwood T, and others. 1968. Geology of the country around Whitehaven. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 28 (England and Wales). 
McCormac, M, 2001. The Upper Palaeozoic rocks of the Shap and Penrith district, Edenside, Cumbria. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/01/10. 
Arthurton, R S, and Wadge, A J. 1981. Geology of the country around Cockermouth and Caldbeck. Memoir of the British Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 23 (England and Wales). 
Stabbins, R. 1969. The depositional history of the Lower Carboniferous rocks of West Cumberland. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of London. 
Akhurst, M C, Chadwick, R A, Holliday, D W, McCormac, M, McMillan, A A, Millward, D, Young, B, Ambrose, K, Auton, C A, Barclay, W J, Barnes, R P, Beddoe-Stephens, B, James, J C W, Johnson, H, Jones, N S, Glover, B W, Hawkins, M P, Kimbell, G S, MacPherson, K A T, Merritt, J W, Milodowski, A E, Riley, N J, Robins, N S, Stone, P, and Wingfield, R T R. 1997. The geology of the west Cumbria district. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheets 28, 37 and 47 (England and Wales). 138pp. 
Eastwood, T, Hollingworth, S E, Rose, W C C, and Trotter, F M. 1968. Geology of the country around Cockermouth and Caldbeck. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, England and Wales, Sheet 23. 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E022 E023 E024 E028 E037