Lulworth Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Tithonian - Berriasian | |
Type | Formation |
Unit of | Purbeck Group |
Sub-units |
|
Underlies | Durlston Formation |
Overlies | Portland Stone Formation |
Thickness | In Dorset 27-63 metres, In Weald 86 m Vale of Wardour up to 15m |
Lithology | |
Primary | Calcarenite, Micrite, Mudstone, Marl |
Other | Gypsum |
Location | |
Region | England |
Country | United Kingdom |
Type section | |
Named for | Lulworth |
Location | West side of Worbarrow Tout |
The Lulworth Formation is a geologic formation in England. It dates from the late Tithonian to the mid Berriasian. It is a subunit of the Purbeck Group.[1] In Dorset, it consists of three members, which are in ascending order, the Mupe Member, the Ridgway Member, and the Warbarrow Tout Member. The Mupe Member is typically 11 to 16 m thick and largely consists of marls and micrites with interbeds of calcareous mudstone.[2] The Ridgeway Member is about 3 to 7 m thick and consists of in its western portion carbonaceous muds, marls and micrites, in the east the muds are replaced by micritic limestone.[3] The Warbarrow Tout Member is 17 to 39 m thick and consists of limestone at the base and micrite and mudstone for the rest of the sequence,[4] this member is the primary source of the vertebrate fossils within the formation.[5][6] Elsewhere the unit is undifferentiated.