A model for the tectonic evolution of south Cornwall

A stratigraphy for south Cornwall is combined with an analysis of the chronology of thrust nappe emplacement. The resulting model suggests that northward overthrusting of nappes of flysch and olistostrome, ophiolite, and continental basement is related to the closure of an oceanic basin in south Cornwall involving southward subduction throughout the Devonian. The subsequent continental collision between the Normannian High and part of Laurentia occurred in the Upper Devonian with deformatian continuing until late Carboniferous times.