VIII. A Contribution to the Petrography of Iceland

Abstract

I. Introduction. The material studied in this paper is the rock collection made by Sir George Steuart Mackenzie during a visit to Iceland during the summer of the year 1810. This collection, comprising originally some three hundred specimens, from which, unfortunately, nearly a hundred specimens are now missing, was presented by the collector to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, where it created some interest at the time (Lyell speaks of Mackenzie’s “magnificent Icelandic treasures”), but seemingly escaped the notice of later geologists interested in Icelandic petrography. When the Royal Society of Edinburgh disposed of their collections some years ago, the interest of the West of Scotland was recognised, and the Hunterian Museum of Glasgow University received the custody of the Mackenzie collection. The specimens are carefully labelled, and accompanying them is Mackenzie’s catalogue of localities and descriptions of the hand specimens. By means of the catalogue (Appendix to Mackenzie, 1811) it is possible to trace Mackenzie’s route over Thoroddsen’s geological map, and to relate the specimens with a fair degree of certainty to the various formations now recognised. The region visited by Mackenzie was the south-west of Iceland, and a map incorporating the essentials of Thoroddsen’s geological survey and Mackenzie’s route will be found facing page 273. To avoid unnecessary detail only such place names have been inserted as are referred to in the text. As a pupil of Professor Robert Jameson, the ardent Wernerian who afterwards became a convert to the views of Hutton, Mackenzie was naturally attracted to This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract