Enigma variations: the stratigraphy,provenance, palaeoseismicity and depositional history of the Lower Old Red Sandstone Cosheston Group,south Pembrokeshire,Wales

The Lower Devonian (Lochkovian‐Emsian) Cosheston Group of south Pembrokeshire is one of the most enigmatic units of the Old Red Sandstone of Wales. It consists of a predominantly green, exceptionally thick succession (up to 1.8 km) within the red c. 3 km‐thick fill of the Anglo‐Welsh Basin, but occupies a very small area (27 km²). Four formations—Llanstadwell (LLF), Mill Bay (MBF), Lawrenny Cliff (LCF) and New Shipping (NSF)—group into lower (LLF + MBF) and upper (LCF + NSF) units on stratigraphical and sedimentological criteria. Two palynostratigraphic associations (Hobbs Point and Burton Cliff) are recognised in the LLF. Overall, the Cosheston succession comprises a fluvial, coarsening‐upward megasequence, mostly arranged in fining‐upward rhythms. It is interpreted as the fill of an east‐west graben bounded by faults to the north and south of the Benton and Ritec faults, respectively. Both ‘lower Cosheston’ formations were deposited by east‐flowing, axial river systems draining a southern Irish Sea landmass. Drainage reversal, early in the deposition of the LCF, resulted in ‘upper Cosheston’ lateral, SW‐flowing rivers which carried predominantly second‐ and multi‐cycle detritus. The ‘lower Cosheston’ is characterized by an abundance of soft‐sediment deformation structures, probably seismically triggered by movements along the graben's northern bounding fault. A minimum average (≥ mesoseismic) earthquake recurrence interval of c. 4000 yr is estimated for the MBF. This and the correlative Senni Formation of south‐central Wales form a regionally extensive green‐bed development that represents a pluvial climatic interval. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.