Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2009
THE Bibette Head granite outcrops along the western portion of the north coast of Alderney. The outcrop, as seen at present, is about five-eighths of a mile long in an E.-W. direction and about one quarter of a mile wide. The greater part of the intrusion must, however, be under the sea. The rocks into which this granite is intruded are a rather variable series of diorites, and the contact is a sharp one, although there is a certain amount of veining by the granite. Over a large part of the outcrop the granite is much decomposed and reddened. This would appear to be due largely to the action of iron-bearing solutions, derived from the magma, coming up along fissures which are parallel to the main joint planes. These run in a direction 17° west of north. The same series of solutions were probably responsible also for the epidotization of the granite which is a marked feature in various parts. Recent blasting operations at Bibette Head have exposed a large quantity of fresh granite, and although specimens were collected from all over the outcrop the bulk of the material with which the present investigation is concerned came from there.