UPPER CARBONIFEROUS STRATIGRAPHY OF THE WEST MIDLANDS (UK) REVISED INTHE LIGHT OF BOREHOLE GEOPHYSICAL LOGS AND DETRITAL COMPOSITIONAL SUITES

The existing lithostratigraphic nomenclature of the late Carboniferous succession of Staffordshire and Shropshire is reviewed in the light o f boreholes drilled since 1950. Four lithostratigraphic units are reco gnized on the basis of sandstone composition, assemblages of detrital clay minerals and geophysical log response. A regionally developed lit hostratigraphic marker formed by a palustrine sequence with a distinct ive gamma ray response is identified. Recognition of these features pe rmits the identification of former incorrect correlations, and allows revisions to the lithostratigraphy to be proposed. A revision of the m acroflora indicates a late Westphalian D to Cantabrian age for the hig her part of the succession. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.