Extract

1. Introduction

The object of this short communication is to draw attention to what appears to be an uncommon variety of limestone which is exposed in a small bluff, about 15 ft. high and about 80 ft. long, just above high water level at Colinswell, 1,300 ft. to the north-north-west of Ross Point, Burntisland. The outcrop, on the southern side of the Aberdour-Burntisland railway line, is only fully accessible at low tide.

No detailed account of the nature and possible significance of this limestone has been traced in the literature and there is even an element of doubt about its precise position in the local Oil Shale Group succession. The geometrical relationship to the overlying Burdiehouse Limestone which dips at 5 to 15 degrees to the north, and was once well exposed 1,500 ft. inland (Geikie, 1900, p. 46), suggests a position approximately 400 ft. further down the succession. A comparison with the more fully recorded succession 7 miles to the south-west, south of the Firth of Forth (Carruthers, 1927, p. 81), indicates a horizon possibly below the Queensferry Cements.

At Colinswell, the limestone and associated beds dip at 10 to 15 degrees north-west and the following section can be observed:—

2. Nature of the Limestone

The most distinctive feature of the limestone is its well-bedded nature, on which is superimposed a marked and persistent lamination. The laminae are particularly evident towards the base of each unit, and are due to relatively rapid fluctuations in amount of carbonaceous matter and

This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract