Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:09:19.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fossil trees, tree moulds and tree casts in the Palaeocene Mull Lava Field, NW Scotland: context, formation and implications for lava emplacement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2017

Brian R. Bell  and
Ian T. Williamson
Brian R. Bell
Affiliation:
School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK. Email: [email protected]
Ian T. Williamson
Affiliation:
Formerly British Geological Survey; present address: 1 Kielder Drive, Bingham, NG13 8SY, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Megafossils and macrofossils of terrestrial plants (trees, leaves, fruiting bodies, etc.) are found in sedimentary and pyroclastic units interbedded with lavas in many ancient lava fields worldwide, attesting to subaerial environments of eruption and the establishment of viable plant communities during periods of volcanic quiescence. Preservation within lava is relatively rare and generally confined to the more robust woody tissues of trees, which are then revealed in the form of charcoal, mineralised tissue or as trace fossil moulds (tree moulds) and casts of igneous rock (tree casts, s.s.).

In this contribution, we document several such fossil trees (s.l.), and the lavas with which they are associated, from the Palaeocene Mull Lava Field (MLF) on the Isle of Mull, NW Scotland. We present the first detailed geological account of a unique site within the Mull Plateau Lava Formation (MPLF) at Quinish in the north of the island and provide an appraisal of the famous upright fossil tree – MacCulloch's Tree – remotely located on the Ardmeanach Peninsula on the west coast of the island, and another large upright tree (the Carsaig Tree) near Malcolm's Point in the district of Brolass, SW Mull; both occurring within the earlier Staffa Lava Formation (SLF). The taphonomy of these megafossils, along with palynological and lithofacies assessments of associated strata, allows speculation of likely taxonomic affinity and the duration of hiatuses supporting the establishment of forest/woodland communities. The Ardmeanach and Carsaig specimens, because of their size and preservation as upright (? in situ) casts enveloped by spectacularly columnar-jointed basaltic lava, appear to be unique. The aspect of these trees, the thickness of the enveloping lavas and the arrangement of cooling joints adjacent to the trees, implies rapid emplacement, ponding and slow, static cooling of voluminous and highly fluid basaltic magma. The specimens from Quinish include two prostrate casts and several prostrate moulds that collectively have a preferred orientation, aligning approximately perpendicular to that of the regional Mull Dyke Swarm, the putative fissure source of the lavas, suggesting local palaeo-flow was directed towards the WSW. The Quinish Lava is an excellent example of a classic pāhoehoe (compound-braided) type, preserving some of the best examples of surface and internal features so far noted from the Hebridean Igneous Province (HIP) lava fields.

These Mull megafossils are some of the oldest recorded examples, remarkably well preserved, and form a significant feature of the island's geotourism industry.

Keywords

Carsaig Treeeruption environmentMacCulloch's TreepalaeogeographyQuinish trees
Type
Articles
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 107 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 53 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

9. References

Akhmetyev, M. A. 1987. Cainozoic floras. In Meyen, S. V. (ed.) Fundamentals of Palaeobotany 328–44. London: Chapman and Hall. 432 pp.Google Scholar
Allen, S. R. & Smith, I. E. M. 1991. The lava flows north of Takapuna Beach. Tane (Journal of the Auckland University Field Club) 33, 49–58.Google Scholar
Armitage, R. W. 1910. Notes on the occurrence of plant remains in olivine-basalt, Clifton Hill Quarry. Victorian Naturalist 27, 21–30.Google Scholar
Bailey, E. B., Clough, C. T., Wright, W.B. & Richey, J. E. 1924. Tertiary and post-Tertiary geology of Mull, Loch Aline, and Oban. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Scotland. Edinburgh: HMSO. 445 pp.Google Scholar
Bartrum, J. A. 1925. An interesting lava-mould of a carbonized tree-trunk from Hokianga, North Auckland, New Zealand. Bull USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory 8, 55–56.Google Scholar
Bartrum, J. A. 1941. Unusual Weathering of Basalt and other Volcanic Phenomena at Edendale, Auckland. New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology 22, 205–09.Google Scholar
Bartrum, J. A. 1947. Lava injection of carbonised tree trunk and other interesting minor volcanic phenomena at Auckland. New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology 28, 188B–194B.Google Scholar
Bell, B. R., Williamson, I. T., Head, F. E. & Jolley, D. W. 1996. On the origin of a reddened interflow bed within the Palaeocene lava field of north Skye. Scottish Journal of Geology 32(2), 117–26.Google Scholar
Bell, B. R. & Williamson, I. T. 2002. Tertiary Igneous Activity. In Trewin, N.H. (ed.) The Geology of Scotland (4th Edition), 371–407. London & Bath: The Geological Society. 576 pp.Google Scholar
Boulter, M. C. & Kvacek, Z. 1989. The Palaeocene flora of the Isle of Mull. Special Papers in Palaeontology 42. London: The Palaeontological Association. 149 pp.Google Scholar
Boulter, M. C. & Manum, S. B. 1989. The ‘Brito-Arctic Igneous Province’ flora around the Paleocene/ Eocene boundary. Proceedings Ocean Drilling Program 104B, 633–80.Google Scholar
British Geological Survey. 2013. North Mull and Ardnamurchan. Scotland Sheets 51E and 52W. Bedrock and Superficial Deposits. 1:50 000 Geology Series. Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Bryan, S. E., Ukstins Peate, I., Peate, D. W., Self, S., Jerram, D. A., Mawby, M. R., Marsh, J. S. & Miller, J. A. 2010. The largest volcanioc eruptions on Earth. Earth-Science Reviews 102, 207–29.Google Scholar
Cas, R. A. F. & Wright, J. V. 1987. Volcanic Successions: Modern and ancient. London: Allen and Unwin. 544 pp.Google Scholar
Chambers, L. M. & Fitton, J. G. 2000. Geochemical transitions in the ancestral Iceland plume: evidence from the Isle of Mull Tertiary volcano, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London 157, 257–60.Google Scholar
Chambers, L. M. & Pringle, M. S. 2001. Age and duration of activity at the Isle of Mull igneous centre, Scotland, and confirmation of the existence of subchrons during anomaly 26r. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 193, 333–45.Google Scholar
Chao, Chin Ju. 1984. China – Metasequoia: the national fossil tree. Unasylva (International Journal of Forestry and Forest Industries), FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations 36(1). Website: www.fao.org (accessed June 2015).Google Scholar
Cleal, C. J., Thomas, B. A., Batten, B. J. & Collinson, M. E. 2001. Mesozoic and Tertiary Palaeobotany of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series 22. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 335 pp.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. E. & Cleal, C. J. 2001. The Palaeobotany of the Palaeocene and Palaeocene – Eocene transitional strata in Great Britain. In Cleal, C. J., Thomas, B. A., Batten, D. J. & Collinson, M. E. Mesozoic and Tertiary Palaeobotany of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series 22, 155–84. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 335 pp.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. E. & Hooker, J. J. 1987. Vegetational and mammalian faunal changes in the Early Tertiary of southern England. In Friis, E. M., Chaloner, W. G. & Crane, P. R. (eds) The origins of angiosperms and their biological consequences, 250–304. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 358 pp.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. E. & Hooker, J. J. 2003. Paleogene vegetation of Eurasia: Framework for mammalian faunas. Deinsea 10, 41–83.Google Scholar
Davies-Vollum, K. S., Boucher, L. D., Hudson, P. & Proskurowski, A. Y. 2011. A Late Cretaceous Coniferous woodland from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Palaios 26, 89–98.Google Scholar
Dillhoff, T. A. 2012. Miocene Woods of Eastern Washington. Article published on website: http://www.evolvingearth.org/mcabee/fossilwoods/fossilwoodsmain.htm Accessed: June 2015Google Scholar
Dorf, E. 1964. The petrified forests of Yellowstone Park. Scientific American 210, 107–14.Google Scholar
Emeleus, C. H. & Bell, B. R. 2005. British regional geology: The Palaeogene Volcanic Districts of Scotland (4th edition). Nottingham: British Geological Survey. 214 pp.Google Scholar
Emeleus, C. H. & Gyopari, M. C. 1992. British Tertiary Volcanic Province. Geological Conservation Review Series 4. London: Chapman and Hall, for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 259 pp.Google Scholar
Gardner, J. S. 1887. On the Leaf-beds and Gravels of Ardtun, Carsaig, &c., in Mull. With notes by Grenville A. J. Cole. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London 43, 270–300.Google Scholar
Garland, M. J., Bannister, J. M., Lee, D. E. & White, J. D. L. 2007. A coniferous tree stump of late Early Jurassic age from the Ferrar Basalt, Coombs Hills, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics 50, 263–69.Google Scholar
Geikie, A. 1897. Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain. London: MacMillan & Co. 523 pp.Google Scholar
Gilman, E. F. & Watson, D. G. 1994. Taxodium distichum, Bald cypress. US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Factsheet ST-620. Accessed June 2015. Official Website: www.hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/taxdisa.pdfGoogle Scholar
Gudmundsson, A. 1998. Magma chambers modelled as cavities explain the formation of rift zone central volcanoes and their eruption and intrusion statistics. Journal of Geophysical Research (Solid Earth) 103(B4), 7401–12.Google Scholar
Hayward, J. J. & Hayward, B. W. 1995. Fossil forests preserved in volcanic ash and lava at Ihumatao and Takapuna, Auckland. Tane (Journal of the Auckland University Field Club) 35, 127–42.Google Scholar
HVO-USGS. 2016. Photo & Video Chronology (for Kilauea). Hawaiian Volcano Observatory - United States Geological Survey. Website: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/archive.html. Accessed August 2016.Google Scholar
Hyde, H. P. T. 1951. Tree trunks preserved in a volcanic flow in the northern Cameroons. American Journal of Science 49, 72–77.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T. H. 1982. Fossil forests from the Lower Cretaceous of Alexander Island, Antarctica. Palaeontology 25, 681–708.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T. H., Siders, M. A. & Haban, M. A. 1983. Jurassic trees engulfed by lavas of the Kirkpatrick Basalt Group, northern Victoria Land. Antarctic Journal of the United States 18, 14–16.Google Scholar
Jolley, D. W. 1997. Palaeosurface palynoflora of the Skye lava field and the age of the British Tertiary volcanic province. In Widdowson, M. (ed.) Palaeosurfaces: Recognition, Reconstruction and Palaeoenvironmental Interpretation. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 120, 67–94.Google Scholar
Jolley, D. W., Widdowson, M. & Self, S. 2008. Volcanogenic nutrient fluxes and plant ecosystems in large igneous provinces: an example from the Columbia River Basalt Group. Journal of the Geological Society, London 165, 955–66.Google Scholar
Jolley, D. W., Bell, B. R., Williamson, I. T. & Prince, I. 2009. Syn-eruption vegetation dynamics, paleosurfaces and structural controls on lava field vegetation: An example from the Palaeogene Staffa Formation, Mull Lava Field, Scotland. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 153, 19–33.Google Scholar
Kent, R. W., Thomson, B. A., Skelhorn, R. R., Kerr, A. C., Norry, M. J. & Walsh, J. N. 1998. Emplacement of Hebridean flood basalts: evidence from an inflated pāhoehoe lava flow on Mull, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London 155, 599–607.Google Scholar
Kerr, A. C. 1995a. The geochemical stratigraphy, field relationships and temporal variation of the Mull-Morvern Tertiary lava succession, NW Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 86, 35–47.Google Scholar
Kerr, A. C. 1995b. The geochemistry of the Mull-Morvern lava succession, NW Scotland: an assessment of mantle sources during plume-related volcanism. Chemical Geology 122, 43–58.Google Scholar
Klein, F. W. 1982. Patterns of historical eruptions at Hawaiian volcanoes. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 12, 1–35.Google Scholar
LePage, B. A. 2007. The Taxonomy and Biogeographic History of Glyptostrobus Endlicher (Cupressaceae). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 48, 359–426.Google Scholar
Lockwood, J. P., Tilling, R. I., Holcomb, R. T., Klein, F., Okamura, A. T. & Peterson, D. W. 1999. Magma migration and resupply during the 1974 summit eruptions of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1613. 37 pp.Google Scholar
Lockwood, J. P. & Lipman, P. W. 1980. Recovery of datable charcoal beneath young lavas: lessons from Hawaii. Bulletin of Volcanology 43, 609–15.Google Scholar
Lockwood, J. P. & Williams, I. S. 1978. Lava trees and tree moulds as indicators of lava flow direction. Geological Magazine 115, 69–74.Google Scholar
MacCulloch, J. 1819. A description of the Western islands of Scotland, including the Isle of Man: comprising an account of their geological structure; with remarks on their agriculture, scenery, and antiquities. London: Hurst Robinson.Google Scholar
Macdonald, G. A. 1967. Forms and structures of extrusive basaltic rocks. In Hess, H. H. & Poldervaart, A. (eds) Basalts: The Poldervaart Treatise on Rocks of Basaltic Composition. Volume I, 1–61. New York: Interscience. xvi + 498 pp.Google Scholar
Macdonald, G. A. 1972. Volcanoes. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. xii + 510 pp.Google Scholar
MacNab, P. A. 1986. The Stone Trees of Quinish. Scots Magazine 124/5, 591–94.Google Scholar
Mao, K., Milne, R. I., Zhang, L., Peng, Y. Liu, J., Thomas, P., Mill, R. R. & Renner, S. S. 2012. Distribution of living Cupressaceae reflects the breakup of Pangea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(2), 7793–98.Google Scholar
Moore, H. J. & Kachadoorian, R. 1980. Estimates of lava-flow velocities using lava trees. Reports of Planetary Geology Program, 1979–1980, NASA Technical Memorandum 81776 (Jan 1980), 201–03.Google Scholar
Moore, J. G. & Richter, D. H. 1962. Lava tree molds of the September 1961 eruption, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Geological Society of America Bulletin 73, 1153–58.Google Scholar
Mussett, A. E, Dagley, P. & Skelhorn, R. R. 1988. Time and duration of activity in the British Tertiary Igneous Province. In Morton, A. C. & Parson, L. M. (eds) Early Tertiary volcanism and the opening of the North Atlantic. Geological Society of London Special Publication 39, 337–48. London & Bath: The Geological Society. viii + 478 pp.Google Scholar
Neiland, J. & Neiland, L. (eds). 1994. Caves of Mount St. Helens – Guidebook. Northwest Caving Association Regional Meet. Reprinted: Web-article ‘Wild Caving at Mt. St. Helens’: http://oregongrotto.com/mtsthelens.shtml. Accessed June 2015.Google Scholar
Nichols, R. L. 1940. Velocity of basaltic flows indicated by lava-trees. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 21, 357.Google Scholar
Ogawa, T., Tachihara, H., Oosako, T., Katsumata, R., Nakamura, Y., Watanabe, T., Hinata, H., Makita, T., Tachika, M., Kuroishikawa, Y., Nakaue, K., Satou, M., Watanabe, T., Miyashita, H., Suzuki, K., Inose, K., Murakami, H., Gomi, M., Hayakawa, H., Fujiya, K., Kawamura, K., Kokado, A., Hirano, K., Miyazaki, A. & Honda, T. 1999. Results of survey of Ganno-ana Cave System, example of co-existence of lava caves and tree molds. Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Volcanospeleology, Catania, EN84–86.Google Scholar
Orr, T., Heliker, C. & Patrick, M. 2012. The ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i – 30 years of eruptive activity. US Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2012–3127. 6 pp.Google Scholar
Óskarsson, B. V. & Riishuus, M. S. 2013. The mode of emplacement of Neogene flood basalts in Eastern Iceland: facies architecture and structure of the Hólmar and Grjótá olivine basalt groups. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 267, 92–118.Google Scholar
Parcheta, C. E., Houghton, B. F. & Swanson, D. A. 2012. Hawaiian fissure fountains 1: decoding deposits – episode 1 of the 1969–1974 Mauna Ulu eruption. Bulletin of Volcanology 74, 1729–43.Google Scholar
Peterson, D. W. & Swanson, D. A. 1974. Observed formation of lava tubes during 1970–71 at Kīlauea volcano, Hawai‘i. Studies in Speleology 2, 209–23.Google Scholar
Sameshima, T., Ogawa, T. & Kashima, N. 1988. Volcanic Caves in Asia – Chapter 8: Japan. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Vulcanospeleology, Excursion Guide Book.Google Scholar
Searle, E. J. 1958. A note on the formation of native iron and other effects associated with contact of basalt and carbonized wood at Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 1, 451–58.Google Scholar
Self, S., Thordarson, T. & Keszthelyi, L. 1997. Emplacement of Continental Flood Basalt Lava Flows. In Mahoney, J. & Coffin, F. (eds) Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic and Planetary Flood Volcanism, Geophysical Monograph 100, 381–410. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union. x+438 pp.Google Scholar
Seward, A. C. 1919. Fossil Plants, Volume 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 572 pp.Google Scholar
Seward, A. C. & Holttum, R. E. 1924. Tertiary Plants from Mull. (Chapter 4) In Bailey, E. B., Clough, C. T., Wright, W.B. & Richey, J. E. (eds) Tertiary and post-Tertiary geology of Mull, Loch Aline, and Oban, Being a Description of Parts of Sheets 43, 44, 51 and 52 of the Geological Map, 77–78. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Scotland. Edinburgh: HMSO. 445 pp.Google Scholar
Sheldon, N. D. 2003. Pedogenesis and geochemical alteration of the Picture Gorge basalt, Oregon. Geological Society of America Bulletin 115(11), 1377–87.Google Scholar
Sheldon, N. D. 2006a. Using paleosols of the Picture Gorge Basalt to reconstruct the middle Miocene climactic optimum. Paleobios 26(2), 27–36.Google Scholar
Sheldon, N. D. 2006b. Quaternary Glacial–Interglacial Climate Cycles in Hawaii. Journal of Geology 114, 367–76.Google Scholar
Sigurgeirsson, M. A. & Jacobsson, O. S. 1997. [Basalt tree casts in a Tertiary lava at Mt. Skridnafellsnupur, NW Iceland. Natturrufraedinurinn 67(1), 33–43. [In Icelandic.]Google Scholar
Speight, J. M., Skelhorn, R. R., Sloan, T. & Knapp, R. J. 1982. The dyke swarms of Scotland. In Sutherland, D. S. (ed.) Igneous Rocks of the British Isles, 449–60. Chichester: Wiley. xv+645 pp.Google Scholar
Stahle, D. W., Burnette, D. J., Villanueva, J., Cerano, J., Fye, F. K., Griffin, R. D., Cleaveland, M. K., Stahle, D. K., Edmondson, J. R. & Wolff, K. P. 2012. Tree-ring analysis of ancient bald cypress trees and subfossil wood. Quaternary Science Reviews 34, 1–15.Google Scholar
Tomkieff, S. I. & Blackburn, K. B. 1942. On the remains of fossil wood enclosed in a Tertiary lava on the Isle of Rum, Inner Hebrides. Geological Magazine 79, 14–17.Google Scholar
Thordarson, T. & Larsen, G. 2007. Volcanism in Iceland in historical time: Volcano types, eruption styles and eruption history. Journal of Geodynamics 43, 118–52.Google Scholar
Thordarson, T. & Self, S. 1993. The Laki (Skaftar Fires) and Grımsvotn eruptions in 1783–1785. Bulletin of Volcanology 55, 233–363.Google Scholar
Walker, G. P. L. 1962. A note on occurrences of tree remains within Antrim basalts. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 73, 1–7.Google Scholar
Walker, G. P. L. 1970. The distribution of amygdale minerals in Mull and Morvern (Western Scotland). In Murty, T. V. V. G. R. K. & Rao, S. S. (eds) Studies in Earth Sciences: West Commemoration Volume, 181–94. Faridabad, India: Today's & Tomorrow's Printers & Publishers.Google Scholar
Walker, G. P. L. 1993. Re-evaluation of inclined intrusive sheets and dykes in the Cuillin volcano, Isle of Skye. In Pritchard, H. M., Alabaster, T., Harris, N. B. W. & Neary, C. R. (eds) Magmatic processes and plate tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 76, 489–97. London & Bath: The Geological Society. x+526 pp.Google Scholar
Walker, G. P. L. 1995. Plant moulds in Hawaiian Basalts: Was Oahu a Desert, and Why? Journal of Geology 103, 85–93.Google Scholar
Waters, A. C. 1960. Determining the direction of flow in basalts. American Journal of Science 258A, 350–66.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, W. D. & Allen, J. E. 1959. Field Trip No.7: Picture Gorge to Portland via Arlington. In Wilkinson, W. D. (ed.) Field Guidebook: College Teachers Conference in Geology (June 15–17, 1959). State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Bulletin 50, 109–35. Portland: State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. 148 pp.Google Scholar
Williams, C. J., Johnson, A. H., LePage, B. A., Vann, D. R. & Taylor, K. D. 2003. Reconstruction of Tertiary Metasequoia forests. I. Test of a method for biomass determination based on stem dimensions. Paleobiology 29, 256–70.Google Scholar
Williams, C. J., LePage, B. A., Johnson, A. H. & Vann, D. R. 2009. Structure, biomass, and productivity of a late Paleocene arctic forest. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 158, 107–27.Google Scholar
Williamson, I. T. & Bell, B. R. 2012. The Staffa Lava Formation: Graben-related volcanism, associated sedimentation and landscape character during the early development of the Palaeogene Mull Lava Field, NW Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology 48, 1–46.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Bell and Williamson supplementary material

Bell and Williamson supplementary material 1

Download Bell and Williamson supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 41.3 KB
Supplementary material: PDF

Bell and Williamson supplementary material

Bell and Williamson supplementary material 2

Download Bell and Williamson supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 116.3 KB