silica Archives - Geology North

Upper Harthope Valley

Stephen — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 18:16:30 +0000

On Tuesday 29th November we set out to make a more detailed study of the rocks in the upper Harthope Valley above Harthope Linn. We believe from preliminary samples that these may differ significantly from the granitic rocks of the Cheviot pluton. The day is bright and cold with a hard frost promising to make boggy ground easier to walk over. The furthest permitted parking is at the Hawsen Burn just below Langleeford. From there it is a long but easy farm track to Langleefordhope, and then about a quarter of a mile to the lower Harthope Linn close to the stell (circular sheepfold). After that, the going becomes much rougher with several potentially difficult burn crossings.

The rocks outcropping above the stell prove to be granitic Central Belt group although rather more mafic than usual. Similarly the dyke-like outcrop beside the path about 200 yards above the upper Harthope Linn, is also granitic. This rock seems to give rise to a fairly even rolling hillsides.

Looking down the Harthope Valley from near Harthope Linn.
The granitic rocks of granite/quartz-monzonite give smooth rounded slopes.

From this point onwards, the type of rock changes consistently. We checked this most of the way to the watershed. The rock appears to be a form of breccia. In many places it has obviously been severely shattered. In other places it seems more stratified and less disturbed. Because of the shattered nature of the rock, it erodes into gullies more readily giving a more irregular pattern to the slopes of the hills.

A view looking up the Harthope Valley from above Harthope Linn.
The erosion gullies formed from the breccia rocks can be clearly seen.

An outcrop of typical breccia.

An outcrop of stratified breccia.

The breccia has been cemented together by silica and red haematite. The silica occasionally has space to crystallise out into attractive quartz crystals, mostly rock crystal but a few specimens show a hint of mauve. Occasionally, veinlets of black tourmaline appear with the quartz.

The Harthope valley marks the line of a SW-NE fault almost bisecting the pluton. Lateral displacement can be detected from the plutonic/lava margins on either side of the fault, and can be measured to about a quarter of a mile. Vertical movement, if any, is unknown. The faulting begs the question whether the breccia is a product of a crush zone, or evidence for volcanic vent activity. We remain uncertain about this. However, certain conclusions can be drawn. The breccia must have been cemented together under high temperatures for crystalline silica and tourmaline to have been deposited. The flatter layers imply more stable conditions for at least some of the hydrothermal activity. The presence of haematite (ferric oxide) indicates oxidising conditions but whether these were the result of iron reacting with high temperature water vapour inside the magma chamber, or exposure to the air at a vent, is uncertain.

Severely shattered breccia outcrop

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Shielcleugh Edge

Stephen — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:13:01 +0000

SHIEL CLEUGH EDGE

Ian made an expedition to Shiel Cleugh in 2015 and noted the rather complex variety of granitic rocks here. We return to check this out, and also to see if we can find where Al-Hafdh (1985) reckoned he had found the ‘Standrop’ type chilled against the ‘Dunmoor’ type (both names Al-Hafdh’s classification). If correct, this would indicate that the coarser ‘Standrop’ was intruded later than the finer ‘Dunmoor’, both of which Al-Hafdh interpreted as part of a series of ring intrusions.
In the course of the day we climb to the top of Shiel Cleugh Edge, and notice wistfully in the distance the prominent tor of Coldlaw Cairn. This is within the plutonic area and needs a visit but it is very remote and only reached over trackless blanket bog.
We find a rather bewildering confusion of rock types. There is no clear cut boundary between finer (Dunmoor) and coarser (Standrop) types. Both are found widely over the Southern side of Shiel Cleugh. The position is complicated by the limited exposures, many of which cannot be accepted with certainty as bedrock. However, a pattern does emerge as the day progresses. The coarser ‘granite’ predominates at a higher level, while the finer ‘granite’ predominates lower down. At the very bottom close to the parent Breamish burn. The rock becomes much more mafic and dioritic. This appears to be a continuation of the Marginal type which is found extensively on the Southern slopes of High Cantle.

From left to right: the succession of rock=types down the Shiel Cleugh Burn
We see increasing mafic content as the burn is descended to the River Breamish.

However, there is little sign of clear boundaries. The rocks which are fairly well exposed in the Shiel Cleugh burn which flows off the southern slope of the Edge into the Breamish, show a gradual change from coarse to finer pink ‘granite’ and then a gradual increase in colour index towards Marginal rock.
There however some rather exciting dicoveries. At NT 91922 16767 we do find a distinct boundary between coarser and finer rock.

Contact between the coarser and finer-grained rock

At NT 91847 16893 and NT 91825 16916 we find further junctions between the two types. At these locations, there is evidence for compression of one against the other together with some flow structure. Significantly there appears to be a chilled margin, and later thin section analysis confirms this. However it is the finer (‘Dunmoor’) which is chilled against the coarser (‘Standrop’). This suggests that the coarser rock cannot have been intruded into the finer.

Thin section with crossed polars showing the chilling of the finer-grained rock against the coarser-grained

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Up the Hawsen Burn to Goldscleugh

Stephen — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 19:44:30 +0000

Our objective is to examine the different types of ‘granite’ on the uplands above the Hawsen Burn and in the upper reaches of the College Valley around Goldscleugh where the northern ‘granite’ meets the andesite. On the climb up past Hawsen Crags we have an excellent view of a pair of stonechats. The torrential rain of November and December 2015 has gouged out a ditch by the path to a depth of at least a metre (NT93932 23084). In this gulley we find plenty of breccia which may perhaps be bedrock. One piece in particular consists of rather fine banded agate which has obviously been formed before brecciation and then cemented together again with more silica. This may be evidence for the location of one of the elusive volcanic vents.
The summit plateau before descending to Goldscleugh offers splendid views of the upper College Valley. The terrain is peat bog, and what few rocks appear are of the pink porphyritic type, some coarser, some finer grained. We descend to the Lambden Burn. Ian explores along the streambed in an easterly direction, and confirms the geological survey that tongues of ‘granite’ penetrate the andesite on the north side of the burn.
We stop to examine the rocks at the southerly branch of the head of the Lambden Burn. Ian discovers an outcrop (NT 92655 22523) which closely resembles the Evolved granular granite on the upper slopes of Cheviot. We contemplate the nearby Woolhope Crag but decide to leave that for another expedition.
As we return down the Hawsen Burn, Ian branches off to examine the Hawsen Crag (NT 94797 23216).

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