Early Carboniferous sedimentation in the southern part of the New England Belt reflects the gradual filling of the Tamworth Trough and a change from mainly marine to mainly non-marine deposition. Sedimentation was largely controlled by volcanism along the western and southern margins of the trough, but late in the Early Carboniferous uplifts associated with the emergence of the New England Arch combined with the volcanism to influence the configuration of the shoreline.