The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details

Eelwell Limestone Member

Computer Code: EWL Preferred Map Code: notEntered
Status Code: Full
Age range: Brigantian Substage (CX) — Brigantian Substage (CX)
Lithological Description: Limestone, massive, grey, bioclastic, generally devoid of mudstone partings; typically rich in algal remains with a prominent fauna of brachiopods and corals; appreciably dolomitized in part, giving a brown-weathered and vuggy appearance.
Definition of Lower Boundary: Taken at the generally conformable, sharp base of the first bed of limestone that overlies measures of the Alston Formation, typically sandstone.
Definition of Upper Boundary: Taken at the top of the uppermost limestone bed that is overlain by a sequence of dark grey mudstones and siltstones, containing ironstone nodules locally.
Thickness: 5 to 10 m.
Geographical Limits: Widespread limestone member within the Alston Formation, occurring throughout the Northumberland Trough in northern England and the Scottish Borders, lying stratigraphically below the Three Yard Limestone and above the Oxford Limestone. This definition incorporates its correlated unit in the Langholm and Bewcastle areas of the Scottish Border region, the Harelawhill Limestone.
Parent Unit: Alston Formation (AG)
Previous Name(s): Harelawhill Limestone [Obsolete Name And Code: Use EWL] (HLLS)
Harelawhill Limestone [Duplicate Lexicon Entry: Use HLLS] (HRL)
Eelwell Limestone [Obsolete Name and Code: Use EWL] (*156)
Alternative Name(s): none recorded or not applicable
Stratotypes:
Type Area  Cargie's Plantation to Saltpan rocks, Seahouses, approximately 3 km southeast of Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland. 
Type Area  Near Walwick, about 2 km west of Chollerford, Northumberland. 
Reference(s):
Dean, M T, Browne, M A E, Waters, C N and Powell, J H. 2011. A lithostratigraphical framework for the Carboniferous successions of northern Great Britain (onshore). British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/10/007. 165pp. 
Frost, D V and Holliday, D W. 1980. Geology of the country around Bellingham. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 13 (England & Wales). 
Chadwick, R A, Holliday, D W, Holloway, S and Hulbert, A G. 1995. The structure and evolution of the Northumberland-Solway Basin and adjacent areas. Subsurface Memoir of the British Geological Survey. 
Day, J B W and others, 1970. Geology of the neighbourhood around Bewcastle. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 12. (England and Wales). 
Lumsden G I and Wilson R B. 1961. The stratigraphy of the Archerbeck Borehole, Canonbie Dumfriesshire. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, No.18, 1-89. 
Gunn, W. 1900. The geology of the Belford, Holy Island and the Farne Islands, Northumberland. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 4 (England and Wales). 
1:50K maps on which the lithostratigraphical unit is found, and map code used:
E014 E003 E013 E001 E002 S011 E012 E006 E004