II.— Pleistocene sediments at Girvan, Ayrshire

Abstract

1. Introduction The floors of the valleys of the Water of Girvan west of Dailly and of the Bynehill Burn west of Daltippan, together with the Firth of Clyde seaboard from Ardwell, three miles south of Girvan, to beyond Gallow Hill, one mile north of the town, are largely covered by a mantle of unconsolidated deposits. In the original Geological Survey One-Inch maps (Sheet 7, 1867; Sheet 8, 1893) and accompanying Explanation of Sheet 7 (A. Geikie and J. Geikie, 1869) the bulk of these sediments, from sea-level to about 100 feet O.D., was regarded as raised beach deposits or Recent alluvia. Current Geological Survey maps (Sheet 7, Solid and Drift, 1961; Sheet 8, Solid and Drift, 1929; and Sheet 14, Drift, 1951) differ little from the originals, minor modifications being based on limited revision (Simpson and MacGregor, 1932; Eyles, Simpson, and MacGregor, 1949). On the bases of a routine soil survey of One-Inch Sheets 7 and 8 commenced in 1958 and carried out in conjunction with Mr. A. D. Walker of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen, and of more detailed investigation between 1960 and 1963, further data on the Quaternary deposits of the Girvan area are now available. The Post-glacial sediments have already been discussed (Jardine, 1962). Here the remainder of the stratified unconsolidated deposits are considered. They fall into two major groups, the one, comprising littoral or neritic deposits, adjoining the Post-glacial sediments flanking the Firth of Clyde coast (Fig. 1), the other, dominantly of fluvio-glacial This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract The author wishes to thank Professor T. Neville George for reading the original typescript and for encouraging further investigation that has improved this piece of research. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the University Court of the University of Glasgow for grants towards field expenses.