Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:55:53.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The structural evolution of the Dalradian of the Central Highlands of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

J. E. Treagus
J. E. Treagus
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, The University, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The first section of the paper is concerned with a detailed account of the structure of the classic Schiehallion area. The account is extended to the flat belt via the Glen Lyon-Ben Lawers area. It is demonstrated that major D1 folds involve the whole of the Appin and Argyll groups and now face SE. However, the original D1 folds were probably open upward-facing folds which have been refolded and modified by the dominant D2 deformation. D2 is represented by an antiformal complex which culminates downwards in the Boundary Slide, a zone of strong deformation associated with NW translation of Dalradian over the ‘young Moine’ rocks. D3 has been responsible for the rotation of the originally flat D2 structures into their present ‘steep’ attitudes N of Glen Lyon. D4 is represented by the strike-swing of the lower Dalradian formations, possibly related to early movements on the two major faults that bound the area. The concept of a D1 Tay Nappe which roots in the ‘young Moine’ to the N is retained, although the scale and flat attitude of that fold is regarded as in part a product of D2.

Keywords

Appin GroupArgyll GroupCaledonidesGrampian Orogenypolyphase deformationPrecambrian‘young Moine’
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , 1987 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

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

Anderson, E. M. 1923. The geology of the schists of the Schiehallion district. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 79, 423–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E. M. 1942. The dynamics of faulting. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Bailey, E. B. 1922. The structure of the SW Highlands of Scotland. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 78, 82–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, E. B. & McCallien, W. J. 1937. Perthshire Tectonics: Schiehallion to Glen Lyon. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 54, 79–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, A. M. 1981. Vergence; an evaluation. J STRUCT GEOL 3, 197–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borradaile, G. J. 1973. Dalradian structure and stratigraphy of the Northern Loch Awe district. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 69, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradbury, H. J., Harris, A. L. & Smith, R. A. 1979. Geometry and emplacement of nappes in the central Scottish Highlands. In Harris, et al. (eds) Caledonides of the British Isles—reviewed, 213–20. SPEC PUBL GEOL SOC LONDON 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A. L., Bradbury, H. J. & McGonigal, M. H. 1976. The evolution and transport of the Tay Nappe. SCOTT J GEOL 12, 103–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A. L., Baldwin, C. T., Bradbury, H. J., Johnson, H. D. & Smith, R. A. 1978. Ensialic basin sedimentation: the Dalradian Supergroup. In Bowes, D. R. & Leake, B. E. (eds) Crustal evolution in northwestern Britain, 115–138. Liverpool: Seel House Press.Google Scholar
Harte, B. & Johnson, M. R. M. 1969. Metamorphic history of the Dalradian rocks in Glens Clova, Esk and Lethnot, Angus, Scotland. SCOTT J GEOL 5, 54–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holdsworth, R. E. & Roberts, A. M. 1984. Early curvilinear fold structures and strain in the Moine of the Glen Garry Region. J GEOL SOC LONDON 141, 327–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutton, D. H. W. 1983. Deformational history of an area with well-developed tectonic slides: Dalradian rocks of Horn Head. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 73, 151–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M. R. W. 1983. Dalradian. In Craig, G. Y. (ed.) Geology of Scotland, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.Google Scholar
Johnstone, G. S. 1966. The Grampian Highlands, 3rd edn. Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Mendum, J. R. & Fettes, D. J. 1985. The Tay nappe and associated folding in the Ben Ledi—Loch Lomond area. SCOTT J GEOL 21, 41–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nell, P. A. R. 1984. The geology of lower Glen Lyon. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Nell, P. A. R. 1986. Discussion on the Caledonian metamorphic core: an Alpine model. J GEOL SOC LONDON 143, 723–728.Google Scholar
Ramsay, J. G. 1967. Folding and fracturing of rocks. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Rast, N. 1958a. Tectonics of the Schiehallion complex. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 114, 25–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rast, N. 1958b. Metamorphic history of the Schiehallion Complex (Perthshire). TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH 63, 413–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rast, N. & Litherland, M. 1970. The correlation of the Ballachulish and Perthshire (Islay) Successions. GEOL MAG 107, 259–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. L. 1974. The structure of the S W Highlands of Scotland. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 130, 93–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. L. and Treagus, J. E. 1964. A re-interpretation of the Ben Lui Fold. GEOL MAG 101, 512–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. L. and Treagus, J. E. 1975. The structure of the Moine and Dalradian rocks in the Dalmally district of Argyllshire, Scotland. GEOL J 10, 59–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. L. & Treagus, J. E. 1977. Polyphase generation of nappe structures in the Dalradian rocks of the SW Highlands of Scotland. SCOTT J GEOL 13, 237–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. L. & Treagus, J. E. 1979. Stratigraphical and structural correlation between the Dalradian rocks of the SW and Central Highlands of Scotland. In Harris, et al. (eds.) Caledonides of the British Isles—reviewed, 199–204. SPEC PUBL GEOL SOC LONDON 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, R. M. 1958. Downward-facing structures of the Highland Border. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 113, 361–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, R. A. & Harris, A. L. 1976. The Ballachulish rocks of the Blair Atholl district. SCOTT J GEOL 12, 135–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soper, H. J. & Hutton, D. H. W. 1984. Late Caledonian sinistral displacements in Britain. TECTONICS 3, 781–794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sturt, B. A. 1961. The geological structure of the area south of Loch Tummel. Q J GEOL SOC LONDON 117, 131–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, P. R. 1979. New evidence for a Central Highland root zone. In Harris, et al. (eds.) Caledonides of the British Isles—reviewed, 205–211. SPEC PUBL GEOL SOC LONDON 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, P. R. 1980. The stratigraphy and structure of the Moine rocks N of the Schiehallion complex, Scotland. J GEOL SOC LONDON 137, 469–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treagus, J. E. 1964a. Notes on the structure of the Ben Lawers Synform. GEOL MAG 101, 260–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treagus, J. E. 1964b. The Moine and Dalradian rocks south of Loch Rannoch. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Liverpool.Google Scholar
Treagus, J. E. & King, G. 1978. A complete Lower Dalradian succession in the Schiehallion district, Central Perthshire. SCOTT J GEOL 14, 157–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treagus, J. E. and Roberts, J. L. 1981. The Boyndie Syncline, a D1 structure in the Dalradian of Scotland. GEOL J 16, 125–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upton, P. 1983. A stratigraphic, structural and metamorphic study of the Lower and Middle Dalradian between Braemar and the Spittal of Glenshee N E Scotland. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Upton, P. 1986. A structural cross-section of the Moine and Dalradian rocks of the Braemar area. REP BR GEOL SURV 17, 9–19.Google Scholar
Watson, J. 1984. The ending of the Caledonian orogeny in Scotland. J GEOL SOC LONDON 141, 193–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. G. S. 1905. The geology of the country round Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, and Aberfeldy (Sheet 55). MEM GEOL SURV SCOTLAND.Google Scholar