Coniston Group

Coniston Group
Stratigraphic range: Gorstian age of Silurian
Flute casts in the base of a vertically-tilted layer of sandstone belonging to the Gawthwaite Formation of the Coniston Group near Broughton in Furness
Type	Group
Unit of	Windermere Supergroup
Sub-units	Yewbank, Moorhow, Poolscar, Latrigg and Gawthwaite formations
Underlies	Bannisdale Formation of Kendal Group
Overlies	Wray Castle Formation of Tranearth Group
Thickness	1400-1900m
Lithology
Primary	sandstone, siltstone, laminated hemipelagite
Location
Region	Northern England
Country	England
Extent	southern Lake District and north-west Pennines
Type section
Named for	Coniston

The Coniston Group is a Silurian lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in the southern Lake District and north-west Pennines of northern England. The name is derived from the small town of Coniston in Cumbria. The rocks of the Group have also previously been referred to as the Coniston Grits or Coniston Grits Formation and Coniston Subgroup. The group comprises sandstones and siltstones and some laminated hemipelagites which achieve a thickness of between 1400 and 1900m. Overlain by the Bannisdale Formation of the Kendal Group and underlain by the Wray Castle Formation of the Tranearth Group, it is divided into several formations. These are, in ascending order (oldest first): Wray Castle, Gawthwaite, Latrigg, Poolscar, Moorhow (or Moorhowe) and Yewbank.

References

• The Geological Society (2006). Brenchley, P.J. (ed.). The Geology of England (2. ed.). London: Geological Society Publishing. pp. 124, 126–127. ISBN 9781862392007.