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
Fig. 59.--Section of intercalated black shale in the volcanic
series at Porth yr hwch, south of Carmel Point.
]
[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Green slates overlain with volcanic breccia,
Carmel Point, Anglesey.]
I have dwelt on the determination of the true geological age of the
rocks of the north of Anglesey because of the diversity of opinion
respecting them, and because of their great interest in regard to the
history of volcanic action in Wales. These rocks contain a record of
volcanic eruptions, probably contemporaneous on the whole with those
of the Bala period in Caernarvonshire, yet independent of them and
belonging to a different type of volcanic energy. Some of the vents
probably lay in the north-western part of Anglesey. The materials
ejected from them were, so far as we know, entirely of a fragmentary
kind. Vast quantities of detritus, largely in the form of fine dust,
were thrown out; but no trace has yet been found of the outflow of
any lava. The lower part of this volcanic series consists of bedded
breccias which are sometimes remarkably coarse. Their included stones,
ranging up to six inches or more in diameter, are usually more or
less angular, and consist mainly of various felsites. Layers of more
rounded pebbles occasionally occur, while the bedding is still further
indicated by finer and coarser bands, and even by intercalations of
fine tuffs and ashy shales. Towards their upper limits some of these
volcanic bands shade off into pale grey or greenish ashy shale,
followed by black sandy shale of the usual kind. The relation of the
peculiar greenish shale of the Amlwch type to these tuffs and breccias
is well shown east of Carmel Point. This shale is interleaved with tuff
and contains frequent repetitions of finer or coarser volcanic breccia,
as well as occasional seams of black shale. An illustration of this
structure is given in Fig. 59, where some yellow decomposing breccias
(1), cut by a fault (_f_), are overlain by about 40 or 50 feet of black
shale (2), above which lies a flinty felsitic rock (3) that appears
to run in bands or dykes through the agglomerate. At Carmel Point
(Fig. 60) a similar structure may be observed to that at Llyn Padarn
already referred to (p. 163). The cleavage, which is well developed in
the green slates (_a_), is much more faintly marked in the overlying
breccia (_b_), but the bedding can still be detected in both rocks
running parallel to their mutual boundary-line. Beyond Porth Padrig,
which lies east from Carmel Point, the section may be seen which is
shown in Fig. 61. Here the blue or lead-coloured shale or slate (_a_)
marked as Silurian on the Geological Survey map passes up into a mass
of fine yellowish felsitic tuff and breccia (_b_). The shale at the
junction intercalates in thin leaves with the tuff.
[Illustration: Fig. 61.--Blue shale or slate passing into volcanic
breccia east of Porth Padrig, near Carmel Point, Anglesey.]
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