The Pennine Coal Measures Group is a lithostratigraphical

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

referring to the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

-bearing succession of rock

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...

which occur in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

within the Westphalian

Stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

of the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

Period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

. In formal use, the term replaces the

Coal Measures Group The Coal Measures Group is a lithostratigraphical term coined to refer to the coal-bearing succession of rock strata which occur in the United Kingdom within the Westphalian Stage of the Carboniferous Period. Other than in Northern Ireland the ...

as applied to the succession of coal-bearing strata within the

Pennine Basin The Pennine Basin is a sedimentary basin which was active during the Carboniferous Period and which reached from the Southern Uplands of Scotland in the north to the former Wales-London-Brabant Massif in the English Midlands to the south. Sedime ...

which includes all of the

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

s of northern England and the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. It includes the largely concealed

Canonbie Coalfield The Canonbie Coalfield is a small and largely concealed coalfield at Canonbie in the south of Scotland. A comprehensive survey by Peach and Horne was published in 1903. Canonbie colliery was worked until 1920, and another mine at Archerbeck conti ...

of southern Scotland and the coalfields of northeast Wales and the minor

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

coalfield. The sequence consists in the main of

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

s and

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

s together with numerous

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s, the more significant ones of which are individually named. Some are laterally extensive, others are more restricted in their range. There are numerous

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s, again with some being more laterally continuous than others. Those which were economically valuable were named though any individual seam may have attracted different names in different pits and different districts. Marine bands preserving distinctive and dateable marine fossils such as

goniatite Goniatids, informally goniatites, are ammonoid cephalopods that form the order Goniatitida, derived from the more primitive Agoniatitida during the Middle Devonian some 390 million years ago (around Eifelian stage). Goniatites (goniatitids) survi ...

s and

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

s are widespread within the sequence and enable correlation to be made between sequences in one part of the basin and another and with other basins Descriptions of the coal seams are found within (or linked from) articles on the individual coalfields. Many of the sandstones give rise to distinct features in the landscape as they are more resistant to weathering and erosion than the intervening shales. Some have been quarried for building material, including

flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other con ...

s for paving. East of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

, the following main sandstone beds are recorded (note that not all will be present in any one district; multiple entries on one line are of broadly the same age): * Badsworth Rock * Houghton Common Rock / Ravenfield Rock * Brierley Rock / Wickersley Rock * Newstead (Pontefract) Rock * 'Extra' Rock * Ackworth Rock * Mexborough Rock * Glass Houghton Rock * Ackton Rock * Oaks Rock * Woolley Edge Rock * Horbury Rock * Thornhill Rock * Birstall Rock * Deep Hard Rock * Parkgate Rock * Silkstone Rock * Penistone Flags * Grenoside Sandstone * Wingfield Flags * Greenmoor Rock * Elland Flags * 80 Yard Rock / Wharncliffe Rock * Stanningley Rock / Loxley Edge Rock * Crawshaw Sandstone / Soft Bed Flags To the west of the Pennines, the following are recorded: * Worsley Delf Rock * Newton Heath Sandstone / Prestwich Rock * Nob End Rock * Peel Hall Rock / Bardsley Rock * Pemberton Rock / Huncliffe Rock * Ravenhead Rock * Chamber Rock * Blenfire Rock * Trencherbone Rock * Cannel Rock * Tim Bobbin Rock * China Mine Rock * Dandy Rock * Old Lawrence Rock * Dyneley Knoll Flags * Crutchman Sandstone / Milnrow Sandstone / 80 Yard Rock * Darwen Flags * Helpet Edge Rock * Inch Rock * Great Arc Sandstone (Bullion Rock) * Harrock Hill Grit * Woodhead Hill Rock / Soft Bed Flags The term Productive Coal Measures was formerly used for this succession. The Group comprises the: :* Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation :* Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation :* Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation The Pennine Coal Measures Group is preceded (underlain) by the Millstone Grit Group which is of

Namurian The Namurian is a stage in the regional stratigraphy of northwest Europe with an age between roughly 326 and 313 Ma (million years ago). It is a subdivision of the Carboniferous system or period and the regional Silesian series. The Namurian is ...

age. It is succeeded (overlain) by the

Warwickshire Group The Warwickshire Group is a lithostratigraphic unit of rock strata defined within the British Carboniferous system. Within the Pennine Basin it overlies (i.e. postdates) the Coal Measures Group and is deemed to be of late Westphalian and St ...

which comprises a largely non-productive sequence of red beds.British Geological Survey 1:625,000 scale geological map ''Bedrock geology: UK South'' (5th edn) BGS, Keyworth, Notts

References

{{- Coal in England Geology of England Carboniferous England Carboniferous System of Europe Geologic formations of England Geological groups of the United Kingdom Geology of the Pennines