A new technique that coupled SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe) U-Pb analyses with Laser ablation ICP isotope analyses for detrital zircons enabled the provenance of sediments from the English Coast region to be better assessed than had been previously possible. Such analyses, combined with Sm-Nd, Sr and Pb analyses for the sediments and plutonic rocks that cut the sediments, enabled a better assessment of the affinity of the English Coast rocks.

Despite the important tectonic and stratigraphic setting, rocks from the English Coast area remain largely unstudied, as the paucity of exposure has hindered detailed structural and sedimentological analysis. Samples were collected for zircon analysis following a traverse starting at the English Coast and ending at Sky-Blu. A total of around 250kg of rock were collected and rocks at Fitzgerald Bluffs were revisited and sampled for the first time in 25 years. Highlights included the recognition of a previously undiscovered granitoid body and the discovery of fossils that tentatively indicate that Permian rocks are more widespread in the region.