Bowland Shale

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Bowland Shale
Stratigraphic range: Visean to Bashkirian
TypeFormation
Unit ofCraven Group
UnderliesMillstone Grit Group or
Overlies, , , , , Trawden Limestone Group, ,
Thickness120-620 m
Lithology
Primaryshale
Otherlimestone, sandstone
Location
Regionnorthern England
CountryUnited Kingdom
ExtentIsle of Man, northern England, parts of North Wales and the Midlands
Type section
Named forForest of Bowland

The Bowland Shale or Bowland Shale Formation is a Carboniferous geological formation of Asbian (Visean) to Yeadonian (Bashkirian) age. It is known from outcrop and subsurface borehole data in the north of England, the Isle of Man, parts of North Wales and the Midlands.[1] It is an organic-rich shale which, according to the British Geological Survey, is the source rock where "oil and gas matured before migration to conventional fields in the East Midlands and the Irish Sea",[2] for example, the Formby oil field.[3] The Bowland Shale, together with other organic-rich Carboniferous shale units, is being considered for exploitation for shale gas.[4]

In 2015, research by the University of Aberdeen discovered "high levels of selenium in rock samples from the Bowland shale"[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Bowland Shale Formation. BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units (Report). British Geological Survey. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  2. ^ The Carboniferous Bowland Shale gas study: geology and resource estimation (PDF) (Report). DECC. 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  3. ^ The hydrocarbon prospectivity of Britain’s onshore basins (PDF) (Report). DECC. 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ^ The Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources of Britain’s Onshore Basins - Shale Gas (PDF) (Report). 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. ^ Parnell, John; Brolly, Connor; Spinks, Sam; Bowden, Stephen (March 2016). "Selenium enrichment in Carboniferous Shales, Britain and Ireland: Problem or opportunity for shale gas extraction?". Applied Geochemistry. 66: 82–87. doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.12.008.
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