Palynology of the Permian succession in the Hilton Borehole, Vale of Eden, Cumbria, UK

Palynomorphs have been recovered from a 108.28 m sequence, comprising the upper 4.32 m of the Penrith Sandstone, and the lower 103.96 m of the succeeding Eden Shales from the Hilton Plant Beds to the Belah Dolomite inclusive, cored in the 234.54 m-deep Hilton Borehole. This is currently the longest palynological record from a continuous section of Permian rocks in Britain. The palynomorphs are predominantly miospores though remains regarded as algal in origin also occur, mainly in the Hilton Plant Beds and the Belah Dolomite. The miospores are principally bisaccate pollen but some monosaccate pollen and a few pteridophytic spores are also present. The pollen Crucisaccites cf. variosulcatus and possibly the spore Proprisporites pococki are reported for the first time from Britain. The palynomorph assemblages from the Penrith Sandstone Formation are similar to those from the Hilton Plant Beds, supporting the view that a passage exists between these formations, and that their boundary is diachronous. The miospores indicate an age within the range Mid- to Late Permian but the magnetostratigraphy of correlative successions constrains this to the latest Mid- and Late Permian, and other palaeontological evidence favours an early Late Permian age.