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The East Kirkton Limestone, Viséan, of West Lothian, Scotland: introduction and stratigraphy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

W. D. I. Rolfe ,
G. P. Durant ,
W. J. Baird ,
C. Chaplin ,
R. L. Paton  and
R. J. Reekie
W. D. I. Rolfe
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, U.K.
G. P. Durant
Affiliation:
Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K.
W. J. Baird
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, U.K.
C. Chaplin
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, U.K.
R. L. Paton
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, U.K.
R. J. Reekie
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, U.K.
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Abstract

A brief history of research into the unusual laminated and spherulitic East Kirkton Limestone (Brigantian, Viséan) is given. It documents the paucity of fossil finds until 1984, when S. P. Wood discovered a previously unsuspected terrestrial biota. Some early finds, such as stromatolites, have since been overlooked, while others were misinterpreted, e.g. a ‘fish-bone’ collected before 1870 proves to be amphibian. A formal lithostratigraphic description is given of the three beds that comprise the c. 15 m sequence in East Kirkton Quarry: the East Kirkton Limestone, overlain by Little Cliff Shale and Geikie Tuff, the latter two being here formally named. Lithological descriptions and a unit-by-unit distribution of major elements of the biota are provided for a measured section comprising 88 units. This is based on bed-by-bed excavations carried out 1985-92, supplemented by nine boreholes. Two 3 m-thick massive limestones lenses are recorded from the quarry and a probable third was proved in a borehole. Brief reports are given on the ‘stromatolites’ (by M. R. Walter), bivalve molluscs (R. M. C. Eagar and R. B. Wilson), ostracods (J. Pollard) and gypsum pseudomorphs.

Keywords

BiotabivalvesBrigantianexcavationsGeikie Tuffgypsumlimestone lenseslithostratigraphyLittle Cliff ShaleostracodsstromatolitesLower Caroniferous
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 84 , Issue 3-4: Volcanism and early terrestrial biotas , 1993 , pp. 177 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1993

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