Southern Uplands accretionary prism

E43372

The Southern Uplands accretionary prism is a large, deformed wedge of sedimentary rocks in southern Scotland formed by the off-scraping and stacking of oceanic sediments during ancient subduction along the Iapetus Ocean.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Southern Uplands accretionary prism canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf accretionary prism
geological formation
tectonic wedge
boundedToNorthBy Southern Upland Fault
boundedToSouthBy Orlock Bridge Fault
composedOf mudstones
shales
turbiditic sandstones
composedPrimarilyOf sedimentary rocks
country United Kingdom
deformationFeatures cleavage development
folds
thrust faults
deformationStyle intensely deformed
exposedAtSurface true
extendsFrom southwest Scotland
extendsTo southeast Scotland
formedAlong Iapetus Ocean
formedByProcess off-scraping of oceanic sediments
subduction
thrust stacking of sedimentary slices
formsPartOf Caledonides
linked to: Caledonian orogeny
geologicalAge Palaeozoic
linked to: Paleozoic Era
geologicalAgeDetail Ordovician
Silurian
locatedIn Scotland
Southern Uplands
southern Scotland
locatedOnContinent Europe
orogeny Caledonian orogeny
paleogeographicOrigin Iapetus Ocean floor sediments
relatedTo Central Belt of the Southern Uplands
Midland Valley of Scotland
Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands
linked to: Southern Uplands

Southern Belt of the Southern Uplands
linked to: Southern Uplands
researchField sedimentology
structural geology
tectonics
sedimentaryEnvironment deep-marine turbidite system
significance key example of ancient accretionary prism in the Caledonides
records closure of the Iapetus Ocean
structuralStyle fold-and-thrust belt
imbricate thrust stack
tectonicSetting convergent plate margin

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Southern Uplands Fault rockUnitsSouthOfFault Southern Uplands accretionary prism