A Composite Lava from Kintyre

Extract

W.Q. Kennedy has directed attention to the existence of composite lava flows and has described in detail composite flows from Inverkip on the Firth of Clyde. In a preliminary work on the igneous rocks of Kintyre the writer has described lavas of the same age (Calciferous Sandstone) as the Renfrewshire flows, but separated from them by the Firth of Clyde and the Kilbrannan Sound. The Kintyre Carboniferous lavaswere, of course, once part of the Clyde Plateau to which the Renfrewshire lavas also belong. It is hoped to make a further study of the Kintyre lavas in the field, and a careful look out will be kept for phenomena of the type described by Kennedy. However, on looking over the existing slices of Kintyre Carboniferous lavas in the collection of the Geology Department of the University of Glasgow, a slide was found which is of sufficient interest to merit separate description. The rock from which the slide was cut was collected as a lava specimen only, and nothing noteworthy was noticed at the time. In the lightof Kennedy’s discoveries and conclusions, however, it takes on a special interest.