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Cambrian and late Precambrian basaltic igneous activity in the Scottish Dalradian: a review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

C. M. Graham  and
H. J. Bradbury
C. M. Graham
Affiliation:
Grant Institute of Geology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW
H. J. Bradbury
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, U.S.A.
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Summary

In the evolution of the Scottish Dalradian basin, the climax of widespread tholeiitic magmatism pre-dated or coincided with major basement faulting and the onset of deep marine sedimentation in Lower Cambrian times. Earlier basin-deepening and precursory igneous activity had already occurred. Major and trace element chemistry of low-grade metabasites indicates their affinity with basalts from ocean-spreading centres, or transition to ‘within-plate’ types. Geological evidence favours a tectonic setting for this igneous suite and the Highland Border Series on the NW margin of an actively evolving Lower Cambrian ocean basin, possibly a marginal basin to the Iapetus Ocean System.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 118 , Issue 1 , January 1981 , pp. 27 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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