River Esk, Glencartholm
Geological Conservation Review site | GCR #1151 | Igneous Petrology | Carboniferous - Permian Igneous
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Summary
The western part of the Scottish Borders provides evidence of three periods of chronologically distinct and increasingly violent magmatic activity in the Lower Carboniferous (Dinantian). The youngest of these, dominantly pyroclastic in nature, is known as the Glencartholm Volcanic Beds and is important in any comprehensive understanding of the regional stratigraphy and the evolution of the Northumberland Basin. Lithologically the beds are extremely variable in detail - interstratified crystal and lithic tuffs, tuffaceous sediments, shales, sandstones and rare limestones and coals; locally lavas are found at the base of the sequence. Some of the intercalated sediments have yielded an important early Carboniferous vertebrate fauna. The section in the River Esk is the type locality for the Glencartholm Volcanic Beds.
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