The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 1 (of 2)Geikie, Archibald
History
The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 1 (of 2)
Geikie, Archibald
Volcanoes -- Great Britain
As evidence of the regular intercalation of the black shales and tuffs
in this sedimentary series, a portion of the coast section at Porth
Wen is here given (Fig. 58). The lowest member (1) of the series is
a white quartzite much jumbled in its bedding, but yet distinctly
interstratified with the other sediments, and containing intercalated
courses of green tuff and highly carbonaceous shale. Markings like
worm-pipes are here and there to be seen. The next group of strata (2)
consists of black shale followed by yellow conglomeratic sandstone
and pebbly tuffs. The shales enclose rounded and angular fragments
of quartzite. The sandstone passes upward into pinkish and yellowish
conglomerate (3), with an abundant lustrous phyllitic matrix, which
when free from pebbles closely resembles some of the tuffs of Llyn
Padarn. The next band (4) is one of yellow, sandy, felspathic grit,
quartz-conglomerate and fine tuffs, with leaves of dark shale towards
the base. It was in the lower part of this band that the _Orthis_
above mentioned was found. The black shales contain markings which are
probably graptolites. Reddish quartzite and quartz-conglomerate (5)
next succeed. These strata have the same phyllitic base just noticed.
The highest group here shown is one of black, yellow and green shales
mixed with patches and bands of volcanic breccia and tuff, the whole
being greatly disturbed, cleavage and bedding seeming as it were to
be struggling for the mastery. These last strata look as if they were
about to pass up vertically into the ordinary dark Lower Silurian
shales or slates.
[Illustration: Fig. 58.--Section of the strata on the shore at Porth
Wen, west of Amlwch.]
There can be no doubt regarding the serious amount of crushing which
the rocks of this coast-line have undergone. Some of the bands might
even be described as "crush-conglomerates." Yet the intercalation of
seams of black shale and limestone, and the occurrence of the exactly
similar but thicker group of black shales at Porth Prydd, which are
admitted to be Lower Silurian, unite the whole series of strata as
parts of one formation.
It thus appears that the area coloured "altered Cambrian" on the Survey
map, and regarded as pre-Cambrian by some later observers, is proved by
the evidence of fossils at its base, towards its centre and at its top,
to belong to the Lower Silurian series, probably to the Bala division.
That this was the geological horizon of part at least of the area
was recognized by Sir A. Ramsay, though he confessed himself unable
"precisely to determine on the north coast of Anglesey how much of the
strata are of Silurian and how much of Cambrian age."[232] Professor
Hughes was the first to suggest that the whole of these rocks should be
referred to the Bala group.[233]
[Footnote 232: _Mem. Geol. Surv._ vol. iii. 2nd edit. p. 242.]
[Footnote 233: _Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc._ vol. iii. (1880), pp.
341-348.] [Illustration:
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