Structural, stratigraphic and geodynamic controls on the evolution of Carboniferous succession of northern England and southern Scotland

Project description
The structural and geodynamic processes that have controlled the evolution of the Carboniferous basin system of northern England and southern Scotland, as well as interactions with the neighbouring North Sea, are very poorly understood. As a consequence, correlations of sedimentary fill, and sequence stratigraphical controls upon them, remain elusive.
The main aim of this project will be to apply and further develop 3D lithosphere-scale tectonic modelling techniques in order to determine the interplay of geological and geodynamic processes that have controlled the evolution of the Carboniferous succession within the Northumberland Trough, Solway Basin, Stainmore Trough, Vale of Eden Basin and Midland Valley, as well as their offshore extensions and intervening areas of relative uplift such as the Alston Block, which contain large granitic intrusions within the pre-Carboniferous basement.
The models will be constrained by regional-scale cross-sections constructed from the BGS database and the public domain, with selected profiles sequentially restored to provide a “snapshot” of structural and stratigraphical architecture during the Carboniferous Period. Further constraint will be provided by the wealth of subsurface mining-related sedimentary data, combined with the field acquisition of structural data.
The study will provide insights into the importance of deep processes, such as depth-dependent extension, and how they interact with basin-controlling processes, such as bathymetry and sedimentary infill, within intra-continental, ‘basin and block’ settings.
In particular, model results will provide insights into the development of accommodation space through time in response to sea level, tectonics and sediment supply, providing a structural and geodynamic framework for the sequence stratigraphical interpretation of the Carboniferous succession within this relatively poorly understood basin system.

Research context
This project links to existing PhD projects that are underpinned by the expertise with the Basin Dynamics Research Group at Keele in basin/geodynamic modelling, sedimentology/sequence stratigraphy and structural geology. In addition, recent work at Keele University in collaboration with BGS has examined the large-scale geodynamic and structural evolution of the Alston Block and Northumberland Trough in 2D. This work provided, for the first time, well-constrained control on differential subsidence through time across the area, and represents a unique starting point on which the proposed project will build.

Career routes
Hydrocarbon exploration or academia, with specialisms in basin analysis and modelling, structural geology, sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy, and numerical and computer modelling of geological processes.