Tectonism and sedimentation in the Flamborough Head region of north-east England

SUMMARY Interpretation of a composite seismic reflection traverse across Flamborough Head reveals a complex structural history. An east-west trending graben and small associated faults developed in late Jurassic times. During the early Cretaceous, however, a southward-throwing listric normal fault developed, across which Lower Cretaceous strata are interpreted as increasing in thickness approximately tenfold. Major extensional faulting ceased at the end of the early Cretaceous. The Bempton Shatter Zone is thought to result from post-Cretaceous reactivation of part of the listric fault during inversion of the Cleveland Basin.