27th October 2007         
GLENBUCK

 Tour:   Strathclyde RIGS/ OU W. Sc.            Participants: about 25

Weather:  Mostly dry, but a chilly wind. 

Summary of Visit:

This was a visit to the Spireslack Opencast Coal site at Glenbuck, near Muirkirk in Ayrshire.  The specific area studied was the Spireslack void, a large excavation from which coal was previously extracted, but which has lain dormant for about two years.  The succession here includes sandstones, shales and coals, along with some marine bands, and is part of the Limestone Coal Group of the Carboniferous Period.  It extends from the McDonald Limestone at the base to the Blue Tour Limestone at the top, and includes the Index Limestone.   At least six coal cyclothems are identifiable within the highwall.

 
  The highwall of the Spireslack void.  Dark bands are coal and shale, while lighter bands are sandstones with marine bands.
  Strata at the end of the highwall, showing the approximate true dip.
  A dyke, occupying a fault and altered to white trap.
  Brachiopods prove these beds to be of marine origin.

 
  Lepidodendron in sandstone.
  Another fine specimen of flattened Lepidodendron.
  Worm burrows indicate a coastal environment of formation for this rock.
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