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.

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Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf accretionary prism
geological formation
tectonic wedge
boundedToNorthBy Southern Uplands Fault
surface form: Southern Upland Fault
boundedToSouthBy Southern Uplands Fault
surface form: 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 Caledonian orogeny
surface form: Caledonides
geologicalAge Paleozoic Era
surface form: Palaeozoic
geologicalAgeDetail Ordovician
Silurian
locatedIn Scotland
Southern Uplands
southern Scotland
locatedOnContinent Europe
orogeny Caledonian orogeny
paleogeographicOrigin Iapetus Ocean floor sediments
relatedTo Central Lowlands of Scotland
surface form: Central Belt of the Southern Uplands

Central Lowlands of Scotland
surface form: Midland Valley of Scotland

Southern Uplands
surface form: Northern Belt of the Southern Uplands

Southern Uplands
surface form: Southern Belt of the 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

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