The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 2 (of 2)Geikie, Archibald
Science
The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 2 (of 2)
Geikie, Archibald
Volcanoes -- Great Britain
That many of the dykes served as lines of escape for the basalt to the
outer slopes of the cones is highly probable, though denudation has
usually destroyed the proofs of such an outflow. A distinct radiation
of the dykes from the centre of a neck is still sometimes traceable.
This structure is most marked on the south cone of Largo Law, where
a number of hard ribs of basalt project from the slopes of the hill.
Their general trend is such that if prolonged they would meet somewhere
in the centre of the cone. On the south-east side of the hill a minor
eminence, termed the Craig Rock, stands out prominently (Fig. 209).
It is oblong in shape, and, like the dykes, points towards the centre
of the cone. It consists of a compact columnar basalt, the columns
converging from the sides towards the top of the ridge. It looks like
the fragment of a lava-current which flowed down a gully on the outer
slope of the cone (B' in Fig. 226).
Veins of basalt are not confined to the necks, but may be seen running
across the surrounding rocks. The shore at St. Monans furnishes some
instructive examples of this character. As the veins thin away from
the main mass of basalt they become more close-grained and lighter in
colour, and when they enter dark shales or other carbonaceous rocks
they pass, as usual, into the white earthy clay-like "white-trap." The
influence of carbonaceous strata in thus altering basic dykes and sills
may be instructively studied along the shore of the East of Fife. A
good instance occurs near St. Monans Church (Fig. 227), where a vein of
"white-trap" traverses black shales which have been somewhat jumbled.
[Illustration: Fig. 223.--View of part of the shore front of the great
vent at Kincraig, looking westward, with the columnar basalt in front.]
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