Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T19:32:20.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

V.—The Petrology of Byne Hill, Ayrshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2012

T. W. Bloxam
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University College, Swansea, Wales.

Synopsis

Byne Hill, two miles south of Girvan, Ayrshire, is composed of Lower Ordovician igneous rocks which form partof the Girvan-Ballantrae igneous series. Byne Hill consists of serpentinized harzburgite, gabbro, diorite and trondhjemite which probably form a N.E.–S.W. elongated dome with trondhjemite occupying the core. There are transitional passages from gabbro into dioritic gabbro, diorite, quartz diorite and trondhjemite with no sharp contacts, and gabbroidal minerals and textures persist into the marginal hornblendic phases of the trondhjemite. The mineralogical changes are mainly progressive amphibolization and albitization of the gabbro accompanied by increases in SiO2 and Na2O. Geochemical culminations of FeO, MnO and P2O5 occur in the intermediate dioritic gabbro and diorites. Comparing the intermediate rocks with similar rock series from other areas suggests that mineralogical and chemical criteria do not always distinguish intermediate rocks of metasomatic origin from those produced by fractional crystallization. On Byne Hill the textural evidence suggests that the intermediate rocks are hybrids produced by reaction between crystalline gabbro and silicic sodium-rich solutions related to the trondhjemite, although there is evidence that the trondhjemite is itself metasomatic in origin. Serpentinization and rodingitization of the Byne Hill gabbro at contacts with serpentinite are described, and it is concluded that the gabbro was emplaced into the ultrabasic rocks prior to their serpentinization.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1968

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

References to Literature

Bailey, E. B. et al. , 1924. “Tertiary and post-Tertiary Geology of Mull, Loch Aline and Oban”, Mem. Geol. Surv. U.K.Google Scholar
Bailey, E. B. and Mccallien, W. J., 1952. “Ballantrae Igneous Problems: Historical Review”, Trans. Edinb. Geol. Soc, 15, 1438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, E. B., 1954. “External Metasomatism Associated with Serpentine”, Nature, Lond., 174, 836.Google Scholar
Bailey, E. B., 1957. “The Ballantrae Serpentine”, Trans. Edinb. Geol. Soc., 17, 3353.Google Scholar
Balsillie, D., 1932. “The Ballantrae Igneous Complex, South Ayrshire”, Geol. Mag., 69, 107131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balsillie, D., 1937. “Further Observations on the Ballantrae Complex, South Ayrshire”, Geol. Mag., 74, 2033.Google Scholar
Bilgrami, S. A. and Howie, R. A., 1960. “The Mineralogy and Petrology of a Rodingite Dyke, Hindubagh, Pakistan”, Am. Miner., 45, 791801.Google Scholar
Bloxam, T. W., 1954. “Rodingite from the Girvan-Ballantrae Complex, Ayrshire”, Mineralog. Mag., 30, 525528.Google Scholar
Bloxam, T. W., 1955. “The Origin of the Girvan-Ballantrae Beerbachites”, Geol. Mag., 92, 329337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloxam, T. W., 1960. “Jadeite Rocks and Glaucophane Schists from Angel Island, San Francisco Bay, California”, Am. J. Sci., 258, 555573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloxam, T. W., 1964. “Hydrogrossular from the Girvan-Ballantrae Complex, Ayrshire”, Mineralog. Mag. 33, 814815.Google Scholar
Bloxam, T. W., 1966. “Jadeite-rocks and Blueschists in California”, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 77, 781786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cady, W. M., Albee, A. L. and Chidester, A. H., 1963. “Bedrock Geology and Asbestos Deposits of the Upper Missisquoi Valley and Vicinity, Vermont”, Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv., 1122b.Google Scholar
Coombs, D. S., Ellis, A. J., Fyfe, W. S. and Taylor, A. M., 1959. “The Zeolite Facies, with Comments on the Interpretation of Hydrothermal Syntheses”, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 17, 53107.Google Scholar
Dana, E. S., 1914. System of Mineralogy. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
Deer, W. A., 1938. “The Diorites and Associated Rocks of the Glen Tilt Complex, Perthshire. I. The Granites and Intermediate Hybrid Rocks”, Geol. Mag., 75, 174184.Google Scholar
Dewey, H. and Flett, J. S., 1911. “On Some British Pillow-Lavas and the Rocks Associated with them”, Geol. Mag., 8, 202–209; 241248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehlers, E. G., 1953. “An Investigation of the Stability Relations of the Al-Fe Members of the Epidote Group”, J. Geol., 61, 231251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fyfe, W. S., Turner, F. J. and Verhoogen, J., 1958. “Metamorphic Reactions and Metamorphic Facies”, Mem. Geol. Soc. Am., 73.Google Scholar
Gilluly, J., 1933. “Replacement Origin of the Albite Granite near Sparta, Oregon”, Prof. Pap. U.S. Geol. Surv., 175b, 6581.Google Scholar
Gilluly, J., 1937. “Geology and Mineral Resources of the Baker Quadrangle, Oregon”, Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv., 879.Google Scholar
Grange, L. I., 1927. “On the ‘Rodingite’ of Nelson”, Trans. N.Z. Inst., 58, 160166.Google Scholar
Hess, H. H., 1949. “Chemical Composition and Optical Properties of Common Clinopyroxenes”, Am. Min., 34, 621666.Google Scholar
Hey, M. H., 1950. Chemical Index of Minerals. Brit. Mus.(N.H.), London.Google Scholar
Hotz, P. E., 1953. “Petrology of Granophyre in Diabase near Dillsburg, Pennsylvania”, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 64, 675704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leighton, M. W., 1954. “Petrogenesis of a Gabbro-Granophyre Complex in Northern Wisconsin”, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 65, 401442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, P., 1911. “The Geology of the Dun Mountain Sub-Division, Nelson”, Bull. Geol. Surv. N.Z., 12, 3135.Google Scholar
Miles, K. R., 1950. “Garnetized Gabbros from the Eulaminna District, Mt. Margaret Goldfield”, Bull. Geol. Surv. West Aust., 103, 108130.Google Scholar
Nockolds, S. R., 1932. “The Contaminated Granite of Bibette Head, Alderney”, Geol. Mag., 69, 433452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peach, B. N. and Horne, J. (with petrographic notes by Teall, J. J. H.), 1899. “The Silurian Rocks of Britain. Vol. 1. Scotland”, Mem. Geol. Surv. U.K.Google Scholar
Phemister, J., 1964. “Rodingite Assemblages in Fetlar, Shetland Islands, Scotland”. In Advancing Frontiers in Geology and Geophysics (Krishnan Volume), 279295. Indian Geophysical Union.Google Scholar
Pistorius, C. W. F. T. and Kennedy, G. C., 1960. “Stability Relations of Grossularite and Hydrogrossularite at High Temperatures and Pressures”, Am. J. Sci., 258, 247257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, H. H., Phemister, J. and Ross, G., 1926. “The Geology of Strath Oykell and Lower Loch Shin”, Mem. Geol. Surv. U.K.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D. L., 1946. “The Sequence of Geochemical Changes Leading to Granitization”, Q. Jl Geol. Soc. Lond., 102, 389446.Google Scholar
Thayer, T. P., 1963. “The Canyon Mountain Complex, Oregon and the Alpine Mafic Magma System”, Prof. Pap. U.S. Geol. Surv., 475c, 8285.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. H. and Bailey, E. B., 1924. See Bailey, E. B. et al. , 1924.Google Scholar
Tyrrell, G. W., 1933. “Summer Field Meeting, 1932: Girvan-Ballantrae”, Proc. Geol. Ass., 44, 5786.Google Scholar
Wager, L. R. and Deer, W. A., 1939. “Geological Investigations in East Greenland. III. The Petrology of the Skaergaard Intrusion, Kangerdlugssuaq, East Greenland”, Medd. Grønland, 105.Google Scholar
Watson, K. P., 1953. “Prehnitization of Albitite”, Am. Miner., 38, 197206.Google Scholar
Yoder, H. S., 1950. “Stability Relations of Grossularite”, J. Geol., 58, 221253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar