Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T08:13:24.346Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stratigraphy and geochemistry of the Early Carboniferous Clyde Plateau Lavas in south Bute, Midland Valley of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2010

G. M. YOUNG  and
W. G. E. CALDWELL
G. M. YOUNG*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaN6A 5B7
W. G. E. CALDWELL
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CanadaN6A 5B7
*
*Author for correspondence: gyoung@uwo.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A succession of Viséan (mid- to late Holkerian) volcanic rocks up to 340 m thick is preserved in three fault-blocks at the south end of the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. These rocks form part of the Clyde Plateau Volcanic Formation, which, in this area, disconformably overlies sandstones of the lower Millport Member of the Clyde Sandstone Formation. The lower part of the volcanic succession in south Bute, c. 140 m thick, corresponds to the lower Strathgryfe lavas of the Renfrewshire Hills. This part of the succession is composed dominantly of feldspar-macrophyric and feldspar-microphyric basaltic rocks and mugearites. It is present in all three fault-blocks, whereas the succeeding volcanic rocks (middle and upper divisions) are only preserved in the median St Blane's block where they have a combined thickness of about 200 m. The two younger subdivisions are respectively correlative to the Misty Law Trachytic Centre, which forms a lens between the lower and upper Strathgryfe Members, and the upper Strathgryfe Member of the North Ayrshire section. Lavas of the lower division are feldspar-macrophyric and feldspar-microphyric basaltic rocks and mugearites, but those of the middle and upper divisions display a wider compositional spectrum, including feldspar-macro- and microphyric rocks but ranging from olivine-augite-macrophyric and olivine-augite-feldspar-macrophyric basalts to trachytes. The mafic lavas of south Bute have chondrite-normalized multi-element plots similar to those of ocean island basalts, with enrichment in incompatible elements. The trachytic lavas have similar patterns but are strongly depleted in Sr, P and Ti, reflecting fractionation of such minerals as plagioclase, apatite and magnetite/ilmenite during evolution of the parent magmas. Distribution of high field strength elements favours a within-plate origin for the south Bute lavas and supports derivation from a relatively deep (>50 km) mantle source (garnet lherzolite). Chondrite-normalized REE plots for basaltic lavas of the lower division show enrichment in LREEs and lack strong Eu anomalies. Strong positive Eu anomalies in both felsic and mafic lavas of the middle and upper divisions may be attributable to high oxygen fugacities, but hydrothermal activity or feldspar fractionation may also have played a role. Fe-rich weathering profiles attest to intermittent extrusion and intense weathering processes.

Keywords

Carboniferousvolcanic stratigraphygeochemistryScotland
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 148 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 597 - 618
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, B. H., Goles, G. G., Leeman, W. P. & Lindstrom, M. M. 1977. Geochemistry and petrogenesis of a basalt-benmoreite-trachyte suite from the southern part of the Gregory Rift, Kenya. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 64, 303–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bluck, B. J. 2002. The Midland Valley terrane. In The Geology of Scotland, 4th ed. (ed. Trewin, N. H.), pp. 149–66. London: The Geological Society.Google Scholar
Bolhar, R., Kamber, B. S., Moorbath, S., Fedo, C. M. & Whitehouse, M. J. 2004. Characterization of early Archaean chemical sediments by trace element signatures. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 222, 43–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boué, A. 1820. Essai géologique sur l'Écosse, 8vo, 519 pp, 17 fold-outs, maps. Paris: Ve. Courcier.Google Scholar
British Geological Survey 2008. Scotland, Dunoon and Millport, Sheet 29E and part 21E. Bedrock and Superficial Deposits, 1:50,000 Geology Series. Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Brown, R. J., Branney, M. J., Maher, C. & Davila-Harriss, P. 2010. Origin of accretionary lapilli within ground-hugging density currents: evidence from pyroclastic couplets on Tenerife. Geological Society of America Bulletin 122, 305–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, M. A. E., Dean, M. T., Hall, I. H. S., McAdam, A. D., Monro, S. K., & Chisholm, J. I. 1999. A Lithostratigraphical Framework for the Carboniferous Rocks of the Midland Valley of Scotland. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/99/07, 30 pp.Google Scholar
Bryce, J, 1872. The Geology of Arran and the Other Clyde Islands, with an Account of the Botany, Natural History, and Antiquities, 4th ed., xii. Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, and Co., 354 pp.Google Scholar
Caldwell, W. G. E. 1975. The geological history of the Cumbrae Islands. In Millport and the Cumbraes: A history and guide (ed. Campbell, J. R. D.), pp.111–16; 120–1. Glasgow: Glasgow, Gilmour and Lawson Ltd.Google Scholar
Caldwell, W. G. E. & Young, G. M. in press. The early Carboniferous volcanic outliers of Little Cumbrae and South Bute: implications for westward attenuation of the Clyde Lava Plateau. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Cameron, I. B. & Stephenson, D. 1985. The Midland Valley of Scotland, 3rd ed. British Geological Survey, British Regional Geology, viii, 172 pp.Google Scholar
Cox, K. G., Bell, J. D. & Pankhurst, R. J. 1979. The Interpretation of Igneous Rocks. London: Allen and Unwin, 450 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downes, H., Upton, B. G. J., Connolly, J., Beard, A. D. & Biodinier, J. L. 2007. Petrology and geochemistry of a cumulate xenolith suite from Bute: evidence for late Palaeozoic crustal underplating beneath SW Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London 164, 1217–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmonds, H. N., & German, C. R. 2004. Particle geochemistry in the Rainbow hydrothermal plume, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68, 759–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fedo, C. M., Nesbitt, H. W. & Young, G. M. 1995. Unraveling the effects of potassium metasomatism in sedimentary rocks and paleosols, with implications for paleoweathering conditions and provenance. Geology 23, 921–4.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, R. V. & Schmincke, H.-U. 1984. Pyroclastic Rocks. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 472 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitton, J. G. 2007. The OIB paradox. In Plates Plumes and Planetary Processes (eds Foulger, G. R. & Jurdy, D. M.), pp. 387–412. Geological Society of America, Special Paper no. 430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francis, E. H. 1965. Carboniferous-Permian igneous rocks. In The Geology of Scotland (ed. Craig, G. Y.), pp. 309–82. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.Google Scholar
Geikie, A. 1897. The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, 1, xxiv + 477 p. London and New York: McMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghosh, P., Sayeed, M. R. G., Islam, R. & Hundekari, S. M. 2006. Inter-basaltic clay (bole bed) horizons from Deccan traps of India: implications for palaeo-weathering and palaeo-climate during Deccan volcanism. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 242, 90–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, W., Geikie, A., Peach, B. N. & Harker, A. 1903. The Geology of North Arran, South Bute, and the Cumbraes, with parts of Ayrshire and Kintyre. Memoir of the Geological Survey, Scotland, vii. Glasgow: James Hedderwick and Sons for H.M.S.O., 200 pp.Google Scholar
Hill, J. & Buist, D. 1994. A Geological Field Guide to the Island of Bute, Scotland. London: Geologists’ Association, 89 pp.Google Scholar
Hill, J. & Buist, D. 2006. Reading the Landscape of Bute: A Geological Field Guide. Buteshire Natural History Society, Rothesay, 91 pp.Google Scholar
Kim, S. W., Oh, C. W., Ryu, I.-C., Williams, I. S., Sajeev, K., Santosh, M. & Rajesh, V. J. 2006. Neoproterozoic bimodal vulcanism in the Okcheon Belt, South Korea, and its comparison with the Nanhua Rift, South China: Implications for rifting in Rodinia. The Journal of Geology 114, 717–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, C. 2005. Some Precambrian banded iron-formations (BIF's) from around the world: their age, geologic setting, mineralogy, metamorphism, geochemistry and origin. American Mineralogist 90, 1473–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacCulloch, J. 1819. A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, Including the Isle of Man: Comprising an Account of their Geological Structure, with Remarks on the Agriculture, Scenery, and Antiquities. 3 v. London: Archibald Constable and Company.Google Scholar
MacCulloch, J. 1824. The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, containing descriptions of their scenery and antiquities, with an account of the political history . . .present condition of the people, . . . founded on a series of annual journeys between the years 1811 ands 1821,. in letters to Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 4 v. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.Google Scholar
MacDonald, R. 1975. Petrochemistry of the Early Carboniferous (Dinantian) lavas of Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology 4, 269–314.Google Scholar
MacDonald, R. & Fettes, D. J. 2007. The tectonomagmatic evolution of Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 97, 213–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, J. G. & Whyte, F. 1981. Petrochemical evidence for the genesis of a Lower Carboniferous transitional basaltic suite in the Midland Valley of Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences 72, 75–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masuda, A., Nakamura, N. & Tanaka, T. 1973. Fine structures of mutually normalized rare earth patterns of chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43, 1131–40.Google Scholar
McCallien, W. J. 1938. The rocks of Bute. Transactions of the Buteshire Natural History Society 12, 1–31.Google Scholar
Monaghan, A. A. & Parrish, R. R. 2006. Geochronology of Carboniferous-Permian magmatism in the Midland Valley of Scotland: Implications for regional tectonomagmatic evolution and the numerical time-scale. Journal of the Geological Society, London 163, 15–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monaghan, A. A. & Pringle, M. S. 2004. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of Permo-Carboniferous volcanism in the Midland Valley, Scotland. In Permo-Carboniferous Magmatism and Rifting in Europe (eds Wilson, M., Neumann, E.-R., Davies, G. R., Timmerman, M. J., Heeremans, M. & Larsen, B. T.), pp. 219–231. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 223.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. B. 2007. Igneous rock associations 8. Arc magmatism II: Geochemical and isotopic characteristics. Geoscience Canada 34, 7–35.Google Scholar
Nesbitt, H. W. & Young, G. M. 1984. Prediction of some weathering trends of plutonic and volcanic rocks based on thermodynamic and kinetic considerations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48, 1523–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nesbitt, H. W. & Young, G. M. 1989. Formation and diagenesis of weathering profiles. Journal of Geology 97, 129–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nockolds, S. R. 1954. Average chemical compositions of some igneous rocks. Geological Society of American Bulletin 65, 1007–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parlak, O., Kop, A., Ünlügenç, U. C. & Demirkol, C. 1988. Geochronology and geochemistry of basaltic rocks in the Karasu Graben around Kırıkhan (Hatay), S. Turkey. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences 7, 53–61.Google Scholar
Paterson, I. B. & Hall, I. H. S. 1986. Lithostratigraphy of the late Devonian and early Carboniferous rocks in the Midland Valley of Scotland. British Geological Survey Report, 18 (3), 14 pp.Google Scholar
Paterson, I. B. & Hall, I. H. S. & Stephenson, D. 1990. Geology of the Greenock District. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 30W and part of Sheet 29E, Scotland.Google Scholar
Pearce, J. A. 1982. Trace element characteristics of lavas from destructive boundaries. In Andesites (ed. Thorpe, R. S.), pp. 525–48. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Read, W. A., Browne, M. A. E., Stephenson, D. & Upton, B. G. H. 2002. Carboniferous. In The Geology of Scotland, 4th ed. (ed. Trewin, N. H.), pp. 251–99. London: The Geological Society.Google Scholar
Rollinson, H. R. 1993. Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation. Harlow: Longman Group Ltd, 352 pp.Google Scholar
Sayyed, M. R. G. & Hundekari, S. M. 2006. Preliminary comparison of ancient bole beds and modern soils developed upon the Deccan volcanic basalts around Pune (India): potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Quaternary International 156–157, 189–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smedley, P. L. 1986. The relationship between calc-alkaline volcanism and within-plate continental rift volcanism: evidence from Scottish Palaeozoic lavas. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 78, 113–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smedley, P. L. 1988 a. Trace element and isotopic variations in Scottish and Irish Dinantian volcanism: evidence for an OIB-like mantle source. Journal of Petrology 29, 413–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smedley, P. L. 1988 b. The geochemistry of Dinantian volcanism in south Kintyre and the evidence for provincialism in the southern Scottish mantle. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 99, 374–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smellie, W. R. 1916. The igneous rocks of Bute. Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow 15, 334–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, D. 1999. Clyde Plateau Volcanic Formation (Chapter 7, part) and Intrusive igneous rocks (Chapter 12). In Geology of the Irvine District (Monro, S. K.), pp. 27–35; 87–98. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 22W and part of Sheet 21E (Scotland).Google Scholar
Stephenson, D., Loughlin, S. C., Millward, D., Waters, C. N. & Williamson, I. T. 2003. Carboniferous and Permian Igneous Rocks of Great Britain North of the Variscan Front. Geological Conservation Review Series Volume 27. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 374 pp.Google Scholar
Tanner, G. 2008. Tectonic significance of the Highland Boundary Fault, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London 165, 915–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, R. S. & McLennan, S. M. 1985. The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. Oxford: Blackwell, 312 pp.Google Scholar
Thomson, R. N., Morrison, M. A., Dickin, A. P. & Hendry, G. L. 1983. Continental flood basalts. . .arachnids rule OK? In Continental Basalts and Mantle Xenoliths (eds Hawkesworth, C. J. & Norry, M. J.), pp. 158–85. Cheshire: Shiva.Google Scholar
Trewin, N. H. & Rollin, K. E. 2002. Geological history and structure of Scotland. In The Geology of Scotland, 4th ed. (ed. Trewin, N. H.), pp. 1–25. London: The Geological Society.Google Scholar
Turner, P. & Tarling, D. H. 1975. Implications of new palaeomagnetic results from the Carboniferous System of Britain. Journal of the Geological Society 131, 469–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyrrell, G. W. 1918. The igneous geology of the Cumbrae Islands, Firth of Clyde. Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow 16, 244–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, B. G. J., Aspen, P. & Chapman, N. A. 1983. The upper mantle and deep crust beneath the British Isles: evidence from inclusions in volcanic rocks. Journal of the Geological Society, London 140, 105–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, B. G. J., Stephenson, D. & Ellam, R. M. 2007. Silica-undersaturated trachytic rocks of central Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology 43, 143–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, B. G. J., Stephenson, D., Smedley, P. M., Wallis, S. M. & Fitton, J. G. 2004. Carboniferous and Permian magmatism in Scotland. In Permo-Carboniferous Magmatism and Rifting in Europe (eds Wilson, M., Neumann, E. R., Davies, G. R., Timmerman, M. J., Heeremans, M. & Larsen, B. T.), pp.195–218. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 223.Google Scholar
Waters, C., Browne, M., Dean, M. & Powell, J. 2007. Lithostratigraphical framework for Carboniferous successions of Great Britain (onshore). British Geological Survey Report (RR/07/001), 60 pp.Google Scholar
Whyte, F. & MacDonald, J. G. 1974. Lower Carboniferous vulcanicity in the northern part of the Clyde Plateau. Scottish Journal of Geology 10, 187–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winchester, J. A. & Floyd, P. A. 1977. Geochemical discrimination of different magma series and their differentiation products using immobile elements. Chemical Geology 20, 325–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, G. M. 2008 a. Origin of enigmatic structures: field and geochemical investigation of columnar joints in sandstones, Island of Bute, Scotland. Journal of Geology 116, 527–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, G. M. 2008 b. Geochemical investigation of an unusual alteration profile developed at the base of a Carboniferous lava flow, Isle of Bute, Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 99, 49–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Young Supplementary Material

Young Supplementary Data

Download Young Supplementary Material(File)
File 1.3 MB