Palaeomagnetism of the British Tertiary Igneous Province: The Skye Lavas

Abstract

Sampling of five lava sequences from different Skye lava sets as put forth in the Memoir of the Geological Survey of Scotland, The Geology of Northern Skye, has produced the following information. (1) Each of the independently proposed Skye lava sets has a different and characteristic distribution of directions of magnetization. Separate lava sequences within any one set have so far shown similar distributions. It follows that the sets were emplaced at different times, although we could not discover the order from the palaeomagnetic evidence alone. (2) There is some conflict between palaeomagnetic and geological inference concerning the time of tilting of the lavas. The geological evidence seems stronger–that the tilts are original, and should not be corrected for. (3) As in earlier British Tertiary studies, all lavas are reversely magnetized, and many of the lavas have that shallow reversed inclination which characterizes the British Tertiary igneous province. Copyright © 1972, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved