Sherwood Sandstone Group
| Sherwood Sandstone Group | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
St Bees Sandstone, St Bees South Head, Cumbria | |
| Type | Group |
| Unit of | New Red Sandstone Supergroup |
| Sub-units | Hopwas Breccia Formation, Chester Formation, Wilmslow Sandstone Formation, Helsby Sandstone Formation Formation |
| Underlies | Mercia Mudstone Group |
| Overlies | Roxby Formation, Cumbrian Coast Group, Aylesbeare Mudstone Group and others |
| Thickness | over 2000m |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | sandstone |
| Other | conglomerate, siltstone, mudstone |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Extent | widespread |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Sherwood Forest |
The Sherwood Sandstone Group is a Triassic lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) which is widespread in Britain, especially in the English Midlands. The name is derived from Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire which is underlain by rocks of this age. It has economic importance as the reservoir of the Morecambe Bay gas field, the second largest gas field in the UK, and the Wytch Farm oil field in Dorset, the largest onshore oilfield in Western Europe.