Load structures on turbidite sandstones, Crooklets, near Bude, Cornwall

Turbidite sandstones in the Bude Formation (upper Carboniferous) display sedimentary structures which can be used to determine the 'way up' of the bedding. Here, the sandstones display small-scale slump or load structures on the basal surfaces, and some beds show 'fining up' on the grain size (indicated by gradual darkening of the bed).

These structures demonstrate that the beds here are the right way up, i.e. have not been completely inverted by the strong folding this area has undergone. The sequence shown here gets younger upwards and to the right.