Introduction. The Carrick Hills form an upland region abutting on the shore of the Firth of Clyde about 6 miles to the south-west of the town of Ayr. They consist of a series of lava flows of Old Red Sandstone age, which are exposed in a magnificent shore section and in many scarps in the interior. There are three principal areas of volcanic rocks in the district. By far the largest is that which forms the Carrick Hills proper. This area is irregular in shape, approximating to a scalene triangle, of which the coast forms one side. The longest direction of extension, E.N.E. from Dunure to a point on the Ayr-Maybole road 2 miles north-west of Dalrymple, is about 6 miles in length. The greatest breadth, from near the Heads of Ayr in a south-easterly direction, is about 2½ miles. The area covered by the lavas must be about 12 square miles.

Much smaller areas occur at Culzean and Turnberry. At Culzean the volcanic rocks are exposed in a fine mile-long cliff section, and they have a thinning, faulted extension for about a mile and a half inland towards Mochrum Hill, upon which is a small outlier of lava.

At Tumberry is another fine coastal section from Maidens to Turnberry Lighthouse, a distance of 1½ miles. The lavas are confined to a narrow strip along the shore, and any inland extension is masked by broad raised-beach deposits, which are backed by a cliff of Old Red

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