Age of the peel sandstone group, isle of man

An Early Devonian age for the continental. red-bed succession of the Peel Sandstone Group call be defined oil the basis of: ( I) a derived marine fauna of late Wenlock (Homerian) ape, (2) a Scoyenia ichnofacies assemblage (including Beoconites and Diplichnites) characteristic of latest Silurian it) Early Devonian (Lower Old Red Sandstone magnafacies) sediments in (lie British Isles. (3) a microflora of late Lochkovian to Pragian age, (4) it detrital palaeomagnetic remanence that pre-dates local, Acadian palaeomagnetic directions and coincides with a prominent, Southerly, Late Silurian to Early Devonian excursion in the local apparent polar wander path, and (5) a mid-Devonian palaeomagnetic remanence that overprints (?)Acadian, thrust-related folding. Data presented ill this study confirm previous suggestions (Allen and Crowley 1983) that the Peel Sandstone Group represents a rare example of Early Devonian sedimentation preserved on the northern margin of the former Eastern Avalonia microcontinent. Potential correlations and linkages with other Lower Old Red Sandstone successions exposed in the Anglo-Welsh Basin are developed and discussed. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.