Llewelyn Volcanic Group Explained

Llewelyn Volcanic Group
Type:Group
Age:Caradoc Ordovician
Prilithology:ash flow tuffs
Otherlithology:rhyolites, mudstones, siltstones, sandstones, breccias etc
Namedfor:Carnedd Llewelyn
Region:northwest Wales
Country:Wales
Subunits:Capel Curig Volcanic Formation, Foel Fras Volcanic Formation, Conwy Rhyolite Volcanic Formation, Foel Grach Basalt Formation, Braich Tu Du Volcanic Formation
Underlies:Cwm Eigiau Formation
Overlies:Nant Ffrancon Formation
Thickness:approx 1400m

The Llewelyn Volcanic Group is an Ordovician lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in Snowdonia, north-west Wales. The name is derived from Carnedd Llewelyn, the highest peak in the Carneddau range where it outcrops.

Outcrops

The rocks occur across the Snowdon massif and the Carneddau and within the Capel Curig Anticline.[1]

Lithology and stratigraphy

The Group comprises around 1400m thickness of ash flow tuffs, flow-banded rhyolites and breccias with a variety of volcaniclastic sediments erupted or sedimented during the Caradocian epoch of the Ordovician period. The Group comprises (in descending order, i.e. oldest last):

It also includes the Foel Grach Basalt Formation and the Braich Tu Du Volcanic Formation.[2]

Notes and References

  1. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 scale geological map (England & Wales) sheets 106 Bangor and 119 Snowdon
  2. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=LLV (BGS on-line lexicon of rock units)