The Much Wenlock Limestone Formation is a series of
Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
limestone beds that date back to the
Homerian age, the later part of the
Wenlock epoch.
[{{cite web , url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=WEL , title=Much Wenlock Limestone Formation , publisher=]British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research.
The BGS h ...
, work=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units , date=2013 , accessdate=11 July 2013 The formation comprises nodular to thinly bedded limestones, with variable development of
reef bodies that can be found exposed at
Wenlock Edge and in a small area near
Dudley,
England known as
Wren's Nest. The formation is made up of three different members which have been classified as the Lower Quarried Limestone Member, the Nodular Beds Member and the Upper Quarried Limestone Member.
[Dorning, K. J. 1983. Palynology and stratigraphy of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, Dudley, Central England. Mercian Geologist, 20, 31-40.] Many of the members can be subdivided into separate
lithofacies
Lithofacies may refer to:
* A mappable subdivision of a designated stratigraphic unit, distinguished from adjacent subdivisions on the basis of lithology; a facies characterized by particular lithologic features
* The rock record of any particular ...
that would have been deposited under different environmental conditions. However the overall environment of deposition for the formation is in a shallow, tropical marine setting that is located between the storm
wave base and the fair weather wave base.
References
Geology of Shropshire
Homerian
Silurian southern paleotemperate deposits