On a calcareous deposit at Starleyburn, Fifeshire

Abstract

Most people passing along the footpath that skirts the shore between Aberdour and Burntisland must have observed the pretty little waterfall formed by the Starleyburn stream falling over the rocks into the harbour of that name; and any ordinary observer might notice the rocks and weeds, over which the water falls, incrusted with a grayish, slimy-looking substance, which, if he took the trouble to examine, he would find to be a deposit of carbonate of lime. The Starleyburn, the stream to which I allude, has been long known in the district for its petrifying properties, as fragments of wood and other substances which have lain for some time within the reach of its spray have been found to be incrusted with lime. On passing along the road on one or two occasions I have observed this deposit of lime on the rocks and weeds within reach of the stream, and also incrustations of considerable thickness on the rocks a long way out of the reach of the stream, but it was only lately, when passing along the shore on the west side of the little harbour of Starleyburn, that I was struck with the vast amount of limestone that has been deposited here from the burn and springs in the neighbourhood. Close on the west pier of the harbour the deposit has accumulated to a thickness of between 20 and 30 feet. Even within reach of the tide it stands up in an overhanging cliff, from which great masses have