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| Keele Coal Measures | |
|---|---|
| Name | Keele Coal Measures |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Period | Late Carboniferous |
| Primary lithology | Coal, shale, sandstone |
| Region | Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire |
| Country | England |
| Named for | Keele |
| Coordinates | 53.00°N 2.33°W |
Keele Coal Measures The Keele Coal Measures are a lithostratigraphic succession of Late Carboniferous age exposed in parts of Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire near Keele. The succession comprises cyclic sequences of coal seams, mudstone, sandstone and seatearths that record fluvial, deltaic and lacustrine environments preserved during the Westphalian. The unit has been the subject of regional mapping, mining, and palaeobotanical study by institutions and researchers associated with the British Geological Survey, University of Keele and national museums.
The Keele Coal Measures lie within the broader framework of the Pennine Basin and are correlated with the Coal Measures Group recognized in stratigraphic schemes developed by the British Geological Survey, the Geological Society and stratigraphers working on the Carboniferous of Europe. Chronostratigraphic correlations link the succession to the Westphalian stage and to chronostratigraphic units used in continental frameworks such as the Namurian and Bolsovian. Tectonostratigraphic synthesis involving the Variscan Orogeny, the Midland Microcraton and the Irish Sea Basin contextualizes deposition. Regional mapping by staff at the British Geological Survey and fieldwork by researchers from the University of Manchester, University of Leeds and University of Birmingham have resolved basin architecture, isopach patterns, and sequence boundaries. Comparisons are often drawn with contemporaneous successions studied in the South Wales Coalfield, the Forest of Dean Basin, the Northumberland Coalfield and the Ruhr Basin by academic groups including the Natural History Museum and the Royal Society-affiliated researchers.
The succession contains coal seams, siltstone, mudstone, sandstone and fireclay. Sedimentological descriptions by teams from Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge emphasize channelized fluvial sand bodies, crevasse-splay deposits and overbank mudstones analogous to facies described in studies from the London Basin, the Cheshire Basin and the Worcester Basin. Petrographic analyses performed in laboratories at the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield and University College London detail grain-size distributions, sedimentary structures and palaeocurrent indicators. Coal petrology investigations undertaken by the Coal Authority and industrial partners, alongside work by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, document maceral composition, seam continuity and roof-rock characteristics comparable to seams mined historically by the North Staffordshire Railway and collieries managed by companies such as the National Coal Board.
The Keele Coal Measures have yielded plant macrofossils, compressed lycopsids, sphenopsids, ferns and cordaites collected and curated by the Natural History Museum, the University of Glasgow and the Liverpool Museum. Palynological sampling analyzed by palaeobotanists at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cardiff has produced spores and cryptospores used in biostratigraphic zonations correlated with zones established by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and palaeopalynological schemes from the Netherlands and Germany. Occasional insect remains and freshwater bivalves similar to assemblages cataloged in the collections of the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution provide paleoecological context comparable to fossil assemblages from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs and the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte. Studies by the Palaeontographical Society and researchers associated with the Linnean Society have contributed to taxonomic descriptions and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
Historically, seams within the Keele succession were exploited by collieries operating under companies including the National Coal Board and earlier private firms; infrastructure links to the North Staffordshire Railway, the Grand Junction Railway and local tramways supported extraction. Coal from the Keele succession contributed to regional industry involving ironworks, glassworks and brickworks, with product flows to ports such as Liverpool and to industrial centers like Birmingham and Manchester. Geological surveys by the British Geological Survey, mining reports archived by the Institution of Civil Engineers and engineering studies from the University of Sheffield detail seam thickness, mining methods and stability issues relevant to legacy workings and contemporary subsidence risk assessments commissioned by Staffordshire County Council and local planning authorities. Contemporary reuse of worked sites for heritage, conservation and education involves organizations such as the National Trust and local museums.
Outcrops and subcrop distribution are mapped across Staffordshire, Cheshire and adjoining parts of Shropshire and Derbyshire, with notable exposures in quarries and river sections investigated by field teams from Keele University, the British Geological Survey, and local geological societies such as the Staffordshire Geological Society. Correlations extend to concealed sequences beneath the Cheshire Basin and the Potteries, with borehole data held by the British Geological Survey and archives at the National Coal Board providing subsurface control. Landscape features shaped by mining and erosion are documented in conservation plans produced by Natural England and regional studies by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England.
Early descriptions of coal-bearing strata in the Keele area appear in reports by 19th-century surveyors associated with the Geological Survey of Great Britain and in industrial records from colliery proprietors; contributors include figures linked to institutions such as the Royal Society, the British Association for the Advancement of Science and regional learned societies. Formal lithostratigraphic naming and revisions have been advanced through publications and maps by the British Geological Survey, stratigraphers at universities including the University of Oxford and University of Manchester, and through peer-reviewed articles in journals associated with the Geological Society of London and the Palaeontographical Society. Ongoing research involves multidisciplinary teams from Durham University, Newcastle University and Cardiff University collaborating on basin analysis, palaeoecology and resource assessment.
Category:Carboniferous geology of England Category:Geology of Staffordshire Category:Coal mining in England