The Caledonides of the British Isles--reviewed. 1979. Geological Society of London. The north-western margin of the lapetus Ocean

SUMMARY: A review of the stratigraphy, sedimentology, petrography, and structure of the Ordovician and Silurian rocks of the Southern Uplands (Scotland) and the Longford-Down zone (Ireland) identifies many features which are typical of accretionary wedges developed at Mesozoic-Recent subduction zones. The bedding becomes gradually more inverted in the west and northwest parts of the Longford-Down zone. Slumping becomes increasingly important along strike southwestwards from Scotland to Ireland. The roles of transform movement along the continental margin and of back arc spreading are also considered. It is now well recognised that the Iapetus Ocean (Harland & Gayer 1972) extended between Scot-land and England during the Lower Palaeozoic. The suture along which it closed extends through Ireland (Phillips et al. 1976). Both margins of this old ocean were active at different times durin