Little Settlands - inverted thin coals and disturbed bedding

Structural geology of Little Haven and The Settlands

The cliffs from Little Haven to Broad Haven (and northward) display a spectacular range of geological structures, folding, faulting and thrusting, mainly in the Lower Coal Measures. The relatively weak mudstone and shale-dominated sequences show much incompetent deformation: tight, thrusted and overturned folds, in contrast to the thicker, stronger, sandstones which have formed relatively open and concentric folds.

Immediately north of The Rain headland is a small embayment: 'Little Settlands'. Here, a chaotic looking series of disturbed bedding and downward-facing small folds are in contact with a thin coal. The whole sequence is inverted, the inversion being a continuation of the overturned structure seen on The Rain and the northern end of the main Settlands bay.

The coal is completely inverted ('up' is to down to the left). Three thin leaves of coal are visible here. Furthest to the left is the true upper leaf approx. 8 cm thick. This is underlain by pale grey seatearth (behind the walking stick), then another two thin bands of coal one by the stick handle and another beyond that. There appears to be a shear plane to the right of the stick handle; the coal leaf which uppermost in the photo may be a structural duplication repeat of the 8 cm coal leaf. See notes.

The stick is 90 cm long.