Clackmannan Group
{{Short description|Geologic formation in Scotland}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Clackmannan Group
| image = Fossil trail of giant Myriapod - geograph.org.uk - 993207.jpg
| caption = Fossil trail of giant Myriapod, Limestone Coal Formation, Clackmannan Group
| type = Group
| age = Carboniferous
| period = Carboniferous
| prilithology = sandstones, mudstones
| otherlithology = limestones, siltstones, ironstones, coal, seatrocks, fireclay
| namedfor = Clackmannan (town)
| namedby =
| region = Central Lowlands of Scotland
| country = United Kingdom
| coordinates =
| unitof =
| subunits = Lower Limestone Formation, Limestone Coal Formation, Upper Limestone Formation, Passage Formation
| underlies = Coal Measures Group
| overlies = Strathclyde Group
| thickness =
| extent =
| area =
| map =
| map_caption =
}}
The Clackmannan Group is the name given to a suite of rocks of late Dinantian and Namurian age laid down during the Carboniferous period in the Midland Valley of Scotland.{{cite web|url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=CKN |title=Clackmannan Group |work=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units |publisher=British Geological Society|accessdate=27 February 2014}}
Description
The Group comprises a lower unit of coarse sandstones, siltstones, mudstone, and limestones with thin coals and ironstones known as the Lower Limestone Formation, an overlying sequence of similar rocks known as the Limestone Coal Formation, then an Upper Limestone Formation and at its top the sandstones of the Passage Formation. This last formation also includes fireclays, siltstones, mudstones, ironstones, coal and seatrocks.
The Clackmannan Group conformably overlays the rocks of the Strathclyde Group and underlays the Coal Measures, this latter boundary also being conformable.British Geological Survey Research Report RR/07/01: Lithostratigraphical framework for Carboniferous successions of Great Britain (Onshore) Waters, C.N. et al 2007British Geological Survey 1:50,0000 scale geological map sheet (Scotland) 23W Hamilton
Paleontology
Remains of the prehistoric shark †Cladodus elegans Newberry & Worthen, 1870 (braincase and a tooth) have been found in the Lower Limestone Formation.The Braincase and Jaws of Cladodus from the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland. Michal Ginter and John G. Maisey, Palaeontology, March 2007, Volume 50, Issue 2, pages 305–322, {{doi|10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00633.x}}
See also
{{Portal|Geology}}