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
(_c_) Tuffs without Lavas.--Mr. Bemrose has shown that some of the
bands of toadstone consist entirely of bedded tuff. In these cases, so
far as the present visible outcrops allow us to judge, no outflow of
lava accompanied the eruption of fragmentary materials. But that the
ejection of these materials was not the result of a sudden spasmodic
explosion, but of a continued series of discharges varying in duration
and intensity, is indicated by the well-bedded character of the tuff
and the alternation of finer and coarser layers. Large blocks of
lava, two feet or more in diameter, may mark some of the more vigorous
paroxysms of the vents, while the usual fine granular nature of the
tuff may point to the prevailing uniformity and less violent character
of the eruptions. Bands of tuff 70 feet or more in thickness, without
the intercalation of any limestone or other non-volcanic intercalation,
point to episodes of such continued volcanic activity that the ordinary
sedimentation of the sea-bottom was interrupted, or at least masked, by
the abundant fall of dust and stones.
One of the best exposures of such intercalations of bedded tuffs was
pointed out to me by Mr. Bemrose, immediately to the east of the
village of Litton. The matrix is crowded with the usual minutely
vesicular glassy lapilli, and encloses fragments of diabase of all
sizes, up to blocks more than a foot in diameter. The rock is well
stratified, and the layers of coarse and fine detritus pass beneath
a group of limestone beds. The actual junction is concealed under
the roadway, but only two or three feet of rock cannot be seen. The
lowest visible layer of limestone is nodular and contains decayed
bluish fragments which may be volcanic lapilli. Immediately above the
lower limestones the calcareous bands become richly fossiliferous.
Some of their layers consist mainly of large bunches of coral; others
are crowded with cup-corals, or are made up mainly of crinoids with
abundant brachiopods, polyzoa, lamellibranchs, gasteropods and
occasional fish-teeth. This remarkable profusion of marine life is
interesting inasmuch as it succeeds immediately the band of volcanic
ash.
Another well-marked zone of tuff, with no traceable accompaniment of
lava, has already been referred to as connected with the Grangemill
vents. In this case also, the limestone that lies directly upon the
volcanic material is rather impure and nodular in character. The tuff
itself is well bedded, perhaps from 70 to 100 feet thick and dips
underneath an overlying series of marine limestones.
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