Geological Mapping of Castleton, United Kingdom

Castleton is located in the Peak District, at the margin of the Last Glacial Maximum ice sheet. The area provides access to the geological history from the Carboniferous era, including Carbonate, Clastic Rocks to peri – glacial deposits. The report presents a detailed geological mapping study of the Castleton area. A geological map was produced with various supporting data such as cross sections and sedimentary/carbonate logs, that helped to unravel and create an evolutional ground model of the area.

The oldest rocks make up 2 different Carbonate Reef Systems: the older Winnats Reef and the younger Pindale Reef. The Beach Formation which was mapped at the foot of Winnats Pass is of high interest in this field study. Its depositional submarine flow nature offers a potential origin of Winnats Pass. The change of depositional environments due to regional subsidence led to the shutdown of Carbonate Reefs and resulted in the deposition of deeper water Odin Shale Formation and turbiditic sandstone Mam Tor Formation. Quaternary geology includes Dry Valleys and Loess that were created by peri – glacial activities, as the proto-Castleton area was at the border of the Last Glacial Maximum ice sheet but was not covered by the glacier itself. The Mam Tor Landslide is the most recent feature on the map, as it is active to this day. Mineralization is in the form of fracture – hosted mineral veins and hydrocarbons that precipitated in carbonate rocks. The mineral veins consist of fluorite, baryte and occasionally galena.

Overall, the study reveals the geological history of Castleton since the Carboniferous and confirms the origins of Winnats Pass and the Beach Formation.