The Millstone Grit of northern England: a response to tectonic evolution of a northern sourceland

The Carboniferous succession of East Greenland is dominated by sandstones, deposited by a major northward-flowing fluvial system. The succession is divided into two parts by a major unconformity that spans late Visean to early Westphalian A times. This time interval corresponds to the development of the Millstone Grit of the Pennine Basin, which was deposited by a southward-flowing fluvial system. Heavy mineral analysis indicates that there are common elements to the provenance of Late Westphalian A sandstones in East Greenland and the Namurian Millstone Grit. It appears, therefore, that the southward extension of clastic facies into the Pennine Basin during the Namurian occurred when uplift in the Norwegian–Greenland Sea region diverted the northward-flowing fluvial system southwards. Supply of sediment from the northern sourceland diminished when rifting during the Westphalian allowed the northward fluvial system in East Greenland to be re-established.