The Cheshire Basin is a late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basin extending under most of the county of Cheshire in northwest England. It extends northwards into the Manchester area and south into Shropshire. The basin possesses something of the character of a half-graben as its deepest extent is along its eastern and southeastern margins, where it is well defined by a series of sub-parallel faults, most important of which is the Red Rock Fault. These faults divide the basin from the older Carboniferous rocks of the Peak District and the North Staffordshire Coalfield.
In terms of its architecture, the basin is sometimes considered to be divided into two sub-basins: the more southerly Wem–Audlem Sub-basin and the Sandbach–Knutsford Sub-basin to its northeast.
The basin fill is mainly Permian and Triassic sandstones and mudstones, but it also incorporates economically important halite beds. The sequences referred to the Sherwood Sandstone Group and the overlying Mercia Mudstone Group are the thickest in England. An isolated outlier of Jurassic rocks occurs within the basin at Prees in north Shropshire.
The basin is just one part of a wider complex of basins that includes the Worcester Basin, the Stafford Basin and the East Irish Sea Basin. These basins developed while the crust of this region was experiencing east–west tension during the Permian period. It is traversed by a series of largely north–south aligned normal faults, some of which help to define the Mid Cheshire Ridge and Alderley Edge, two upstanding areas within the Cheshire Plain.[1][2]
^Plant et al (eds) 1999, The Cheshire Basin: basin evolution, fluid movement and mineral resources in a Permo-Triassic rift setting, British Geological Survey
The CheshireBasin is a late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basin extending under most of the county of Cheshire in northwest England. It extends...
sedimentary basins. Provinces and Basins (from south to north) include the Wessex-Channel Basin, Weald Basin, Worcester Basin, CheshireBasin, East Midlands...
each of the various basins in which it is developed as described below. The sequence is most thickly developed in the CheshireBasin, which also extends...
linked basins, it connects with the CheshireBasin to the northwest, the Worcester Basin via the Bratch Graben to the south and the Needwood Basin to the...
Hartlepool. A western arm includes the Stafford and Cheshirebasins, West Lancashire and the Carlisle Basin—the latter are connected at depth beneath the Irish...
border on the flanks of the Peak District dome. The CheshireBasin is a major sedimentary basin which comprises the larger part of the county. This fault-bounded...
Permo-Triassic basins that stretch north-south across England, including the CheshireBasin, Stafford Basin and the East Irish Sea Basin. These basins resulted...
extending beyond the town of Newport to the southeast margin of the CheshireBasin. The fault itself passes almost through Church Stretton, immediately...
basins (amongst others): Moray Firth Basin North Channel Basin Solway Basin Kish Bank Basin Munster Basin Vale of Eden Vale of Clwyd CheshireBasin Worcester...
Stafford Basin which in turn links to the CheshireBasin and thence to the East Irish Sea Basin. The Needwood and Knowle basins are two smaller basins in the...
Disturbance and the Red Rock Fault Zone which marks the eastern edge of the Cheshirebasin. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 map sheets 196 'Builth Wells', 212...
and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich...
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the England-Wales border. With a built up area population...
last ice age, when glacial meltwaters formed a vast lake in the West Cheshirebasin which burst through the sandstone ridge, and deposited large amounts...
Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of...
layers (up to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) thick) are present in the faulted CheshireBasin which also extends beneath north Shropshire. There are numerous escarpments...
A large number of canals were built in Cheshire, England, during the early phases of the Industrial Revolution to transport goods and raw materials. This...
Anderton Boat Lift is a two-caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in North West England. It provides a 50-foot (15.2 m) vertical link between...
sedimentary basin which takes the form of a half-graben whose eastern margin is marked by the Vale of Clwyd Fault. Like the CheshireBasin further to its...
from the Franklin, Cheshire and Dobu Seamounts in the westernmost Woodlark area. From the Cheshire Seamount in the western Woodlark Basin samples had been...
built of New Red Sandstone, in this case Keuper Sandstone from the CheshireBasin. The stone lends itself to detailed carving, but is also friable, easily...
January 2010 North Cheshire Cruising Club, Bugsworth Rally, Retrieved 2 January 2010 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bugsworth Basin. Information On...
is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings...
There are 63 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Cheshire, England, covering a total area of 19,844 hectares (49,035 acres). Of these, 51 have...