Lanarkshire Coalfield Research Articles

After Industrial Citizenship: Adapting to Precarious Employment in the Lanarkshire Coalfield, Scotland, and Sudbury Hardrock Mining, Canada

After Industrial Citizenship: Adapting to Precarious Employment in the Lanarkshire Coalfield, Scotland, and Sudbury Hardrock Mining, Canada

A case study on past shortwall mining methods and the risk of ground subsidence in the Lanarkshire Coalfield, Scotland

Abstract A site investigation involving archival research and a borehole drilling programme was carried out in order to assess the risk to surface stability from abandoned shallow shortwall mineworkings at a proposed housing development site located on the Lanarkshire Coalfield. Of the exploitable coal seams present below the site, the Ell coals were confirmed to be at shallow depth and were mined into the mid-1950’s from the adjacent Thankerton Colliery. The Ell coal in this part of the coalfield occurs in three distinct leaves, the uppermost of which crops through the site and was not mined. The investigation confirmed the extent of mining in the Mid and Lower Ell seams which were proved to be no more than 0.5 m apart with a combined unworked thickness of 1.5 to 1.9 m. The mine records indicate that the Mid and Lower Ell seams were mined by shortwall methods, individual panels having been worked from a network of main roadways or headings with subsidiary side or haulage roadways. Due to the thin partings between the seams, a method of mining each seam from common roadways extending to the full height of combined seams was used in addition to single seam workings of the thicker Mid Ell. From the abandonment information it has been deduced that mining involved the total extraction of the Mid Ell whilst maintaining the integrity of the roadways. Subsequently, the same roadways allowed access to the Lower Ell for extraction below the collapsed Mid Ell workings. The investigations recorded the shortwall panels to be largely consolidated but also noted that several panels had been undeveloped with respect to the lower seam and that some roadways were confined to the Mid Ell seam. The borehole investigation together with the use of down-the-hole closed circuit television (CCTV) also confirmed the presence of broken ground and open voids of 0.3 to 2.0 m height along former roadway alignments. A risk to surface stability was identified from these open voids and development constraints zones are discussed in relation to the likely mining methods. Seam depths, void heights, condition of roof strata and thickness of superficial cover are considered in the assessment of void migration mechanisms arising from such a past mining situation.

Institution of Mining Engineers : Mr. A. M. Bryan

THE Council of the Institution of Mining Engineers has elected Mr. A. M. Bryan as president for the year 1950–51, in succession to Prof. J. A. 8. Ritson. The president-elect will take office at the annual general meeting of the Institution, which is to be held in London on February 2, 1950. Mr. Bryan obtained his early practical mining training and experience in the Lanarkshire Coalfield, Scotland. He received his academic training in the University of Glasgow, where he obtained the degree of B.Sc. (Mining), with special distinction. In 1920 he was appointed a government junior inspector of mines in the Northern Division and was promoted to the rank of senior inspector in 1926. In 1932 he became professor of mining in the University and the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. In 1939, Mr. Bryan returned to Government service, to assist the war effort, as deputy-director of mining supplies, a post which he relinquished in 1940 to join the Shotts Iron Co. as general manager. Two years later he became managing director of the Company. During the War he was chairman of the Coal Industry Joint Fuel Efficiency Committee. He was also a group production director, under the Ministry of Fuel and Power (Scottish Region), during 1944–45. In April 1947 he was appointed chief inspector of mines. Mr. Bryan has taken a keen interest not only in the science and practice of mining, but also in matters relating to the education, training, health and safety of persons employed in coal mines, and has made numerous contributions to the literature on these subjects.

XII. The Carboniferous Sediments around Strathaven

The uplands of Lanarkshire are of abounding interest to the field geologist; they have long afforded material to both amateur and professional, so that certain parts may be regarded as classic ground. Of the less-known portions one of the most interesting is certainly the triangular area of Carboniferous rocks between Limekilnburn, Stonehouse, and Strathaven; nevertheless, apart from the Geological Survey maps and Explanation (Sheet 23), no publications dealing with this ground seem to have appeared; the paper now presented is the result of revision work carried out for the Survey in the autumn of 1912. The strata in this region lie on the south-western fringe of the great Lanarkshire coalfield; they range from the base of the Coal Measures down to the Calciferous Sandstone Series, so that all the more important members of the Lower Carboniferous rocks are present, although one must confess that they are developed in an attenuated form. Broadly speaking, these strata are divided into four distinct areas1 by a series of step faults, all with a downthrow to the north, and with a general direction east by south. It thus follows that the highest strata are let down in the most northerly of these fault blocks, namely, that in the Crookedstone district, between Limekilnburn and Darngaber Castle. Within the Crookedstone fault block the strata as a whole are inclined at a very gentle angle to the south-east. The lowest horizon may be taken as the band of limestone running through the hamlet of Limekilnburn; as this This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

Proceedings of Session 1888-89

Society's Rooms, 207 Bath Street, 11th October, 1888. Mr. William Jolly, F.G.S., Vice-President , in the Chair. Mr. Robert Dunlop exhibited specimens of Altered Intrusive Dolerite, the “White Horse” of the miners, from the Lanarkshire coalfield; also Plant remains from the Airdrie district, including Cyclothea (a new genus), Lepidodendron Peachii, Cordaites , sp., leaves and stem. Remarks on the dolerite were made by Messrs. John Young, F.G.S., Sommerville, Blair, F.G.S., and other members. It was stated that in mining phraseology altered columnar coal was known as “Black Horse.” Mr. James B. Murdoch, F.R.Ph.S.E., Honorary Secretary , exhibited a specimen of a rare fossil crustacean, Prestwichia rotundata , Woodward, found in Carboniferous Shale near Stevenston, Ayrshire. Unlike its congeners, the Trilobites and Eurypterids, this form is still represented in recent seas by the nearly-allied King- or Horse-shoe Crab. It has only been found previously in Western Scotland near Kilmaurs. Its occurrence in the present locality is another proof, if one were needed, that the freshwater or brackish-water strata of the Upper Coal Measures are prolonged westwards. The Kilmaurs specimen was described and figured in the Transactions , vol. ii., part 3, page 241. Mr. Dunlop said that when Mr. B. N. Peach of the Geological Survey was identifying some fossils from strata near Airdrie he had found and named an imperfect example of this rare limuloid form. Mr. James White, Honorary Librarian , read a paper entitled “Notes on Gairloch, Ross-shire.” [See p. 192.] The paper was illustrated by diagrams and by specimens of the rocks of This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

XLV.—On a new species of Psilotites from the Lanarkshire coal-field

XLV.—<i>On a new species of</i> Psilotites <i>from the Lanarkshire coal-field</i>

IV. Notes on some Fossil Plants collected by Mr. R. Dunlop, Airdrie, from the Lanarkshire Coal-field

Through the kindness of Mr. Dunlop I have had the opportunity of examining the fossil plants collected by him from several localities in the Lanarkshire Coal-field. The annexed list of species compiled from this collection, though of considerable interest, must not be regarded as a complete representation of the Carboniferous fossil flora of this district; but it contains one or two species which have not been previously recorded from Scotland. I have only to express my hope that Mr. Dunlop will continue his investigations in a field of natural history on which he has so successfully entered. Many of the specimens he has secured are exceedingly fine; of some of the species, they are finer than any I have yet seen from the British Coal-fields. As it is my intention to work out the distribution of the Carboniferous flora, I am much indebted to Mr. Dunlop for the facilities he has given me in examining his specimens. I shall be very glad if others, who possess specimens of Carboniferous fossil plants, would kindly allow me to examine them, and so assist in working out their distribution; on my part I shall be most happy, as far as I can, to help any who may wish for assistance in the study of this most interesting class of fossils. It is only possible, by mutual co-operation, to compile a complete list of the Carboniferous fossil plants from an area so large and rich as that of the British Coal-fields. Calamariae. Calamites, Suckow. This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

XLIV.—Notes on some fossil plants collected by Mr. R. Dunlop, Airdrie, from the Lanarkshire Coal-field

(1885). XLIV.—Notes on some fossil plants collected by Mr. R. Dunlop, Airdrie, from the Lanarkshire Coal-field. Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 15, No. 90, pp. 473-491.

XXIII. On the Occurrence of Saccammina Carteri (Brady) in the Limestone Series of the Lanarkshire Coalfield

The organism which forms the subject of the following remarks was found, as far back as the year 1864, while on an excursion in the Carluke district, in company with Messrs. Armstrong and Thomson. On that occasion we were conducted to several interesting fossil-bearing localities by our corresponding member, J. S. Hunter, Esq., of Daleville, Carluke. Amongst the places visited was a recent opening, a short distance to the south-east of Braidwood Railway Station, where a quantity of limestone and light-coloured felspathic trap was exposed. In masses of the limestone we noticed an abundance of small spherical spots of white carbonate of lime embedded in the dark gray matrix, which gave to the stone a peculiar mottled appearance, somewhat like that observed in limestone, in which cross sections of the corals Syringopora and Lithodendron junceum are shown; but as these spheres did not show any apparent organic structure to the naked eye, we concluded at the time that they had probably been superinduced in the limestone by being in contact with the bed of white trap above referred to, and which had indurated the rock to a considerable extent. Shortly after the above-mentioned excursion, I received from Dr. Rankin, Carluke—who is alive to every thing of geological interest that turns up in his district—a small chip of the limestone, with an inquiry if I could say what the spheres of carbonate of lime had been. I was not then able to give him any information beyond the conclusion formerly arrived This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

XXV. On Some Sections of Carboniferous Limestone near Busby

These sections are situated about seven miles south of Glasgow, a little to the north-east of the Eaglesham Road Station, on the Busby and East Kilbride Railway, and at a height of from five to six hundred feet above the level of the sea. At this place we are near the south-western edge of the Lanarkshire coalfield, and a good idea may be formed of its transverse extent by ascending any of the hills in the district; as, for instance, that to the east of Thornton farm-house. In the distance to the west we descry the Bowling hills and the range of mountains from Ben Voirlich to Ben Ledi, while on the north the Clyde basin is bounded by the trap hills of Campsie and Kilsyth. A corresponding range of trap hills runs behind us on the south. The strata here dip under all the intermediate strata and reappear near the base of the Campsie hills, as we shall afterwards have occasion to notice. Between these points the strata are overlaid by part of the lower limestones, the middle ironstones, and the upper limestones, as well as by strata corresponding to the millstone grit, and the whole, or nearly the whole, of the upper coal measures. The surface of the ground is of an undulating character, rising gradually towards the south. The sections to be described occur at four quarries, viz.,—Thornton, Thornton Hall, Braehead, and Phillipshill—the first being on the southern, the second on the western, and the third and This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

V. On a Specimen of Acanthodes Wardii, Egerton, from the Lanarkshire Coal Field

For a number of years I have frequently found small, curved spines, grooved parallel to tbe plane of the anterior face, embedded in the carbonaceous shales that overlie the Palace Craig blackband ironstone in the neighbourhood of Airdrie, and also in the roof of the splint coal at Newmains, Wishaw, and Newton, near Cambuslang. As they had not been found associated with other parts of the fish, I felt unable to establish their generic or specific characters. Associated with these were found small scales, confusedly scattered over the slabs of shale. In form they are rhomboidal, smooth, and much raised in the centre. Associated with these were portions of what appeared to be shagreen. The doubts surrounding these interesting forms were happily dispelled by bhe discovery, in the spring of this year, of a portion of a tolerably-well-preserved specimen of Acanthodes, with the ventral, anal, and a part of the dorsal spine, in position, contained in a slab of the Palace Craig ironstone. The specimen measures, from near the extremity of the caudal fin to an inch beyond the ventral spine, fully fifteen inches. Through the kindness of Mr. John Ward, Longton, Staffordshire, who forwarded me a specimen of Acanthodes Wardii, I was enabled to compare my specimen with it; and finding it agreed in every detail with that species, except in the size,* I had no difficulty in recognising in the Lanarkshire specimen both the generic and specific characters of that species. The structural characters of this fish have This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

XX. On Palæocoryne , a genus of the Tubularine Hydrozoa from the carboniferous formation

Palæocoryne is a new genus containing two species, and belongs to a new family of the Tubulaiidæ. The forms described were discovered in the lower shales of the Ayrshire and Lanarkshire coal-field, and an examination of their structure determined them to belong to the Hydrozoa, and to be parasitic upon Fenestellæ. The genus has some characters in common with Bimeria (St. Wright), and the polypary is hard and ornamented. The discovery of the trophosome, and probably part of the gonosome of a tubularine Hydrozoon in the Palæozoic strata brings the order into geological relation with the doubtful Sertularian Graptolites of the Silurian formation, and with the rare medusoids of the Solenhofen stones.

XVIII. Notes on the Section of Strata in the Gilmorehill Quarry, and Boulder-Clay, on the site of the New University Buildings, Glasgow

During the working of the sandstone in the western portion of the Gilmorehill grounds, for the purpose of obtaining stone for the New University Buildings, an interesting section of carboniferous strata has been exposed, which belongs to that division of our coal measures lying between the upper and the lower limestone series found to the north and west of Glasgow. Throughout the district this group of rocks is best known as the Possil and Govan ironstone series, from the valuable bands of that ore which it contains. But the equivalents of the group are also to be found in other tracts of our western Scottish coalfield, as at Kilsyth, Wilsontown, Carluke, and Lesmahagow, to the north-east, east, and south-east, and in the west at Johnstone and Dalry. The group of strata in which the Gilmorehill beds are placed, ranges from about 440 fathoms under the upper red sandstone of the Lanarkshire coalfield, down to the horizon of the Govan ironstone, which is stated to lie about 588 fathoms under the above-mentioned red sandstone. This series of rocks, nearly 900 feet in thickness, is therefore in the position of the middle division of the carboniferous limestone system of this and other countries, yet in the Glasgow district it contains very few persistent bands of limestone or other calcareous strata. The mineralogical aspect of the group is so much alike to that of our upper coal measures, that I have no doubt but that they were deposited under somewhat similar conditions. The This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

LII. Notes on the Occurrence and Range of L ingula in the Carboniferous Series of the West of Scotland

Up till the present time, the carboniferous limestone series of the west of Scotland has yielded but four species of Lingula, the position and range of which I will indicate in the following brief notes:— They have been named as follows:— Lingula squamiformis, L. mytiloides, L. Scotica, and L. Thomsonii. Figures and descriptions of the first three species are given by Thomas Davidson, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., in his Monograph of British Carboniferous Brachiopoda in the volumes of the Palæontographical Society, and also in his Monograph of the Carboniferous Brachiopoda of Scotland.* The last species, L. Thomsonii, is figured by Mr. Davidson, but not described, in this Society’s Transactions, vol. II. pl. 2. Lingula squamiformis is the most abundant species in many localities, and is found ranging from the horizon of our lower marine limestones and shales to the higher beds of our upper limestone series. Impressions of its thin and delicately sculptured valves are found in many of the ironstones and shales of the Lanarkshire coalfield, on many distinct geological horizons; but nowhere is it found in so great profusion, or of so large a size, as in the lower black-band ironstone wrought at Possil, to the north of Glasgow. It is there found in thousands; but, owing to the specimens being imbedded in a matrix of the gas coal and ironstone, the shells have been very badly preserved. It also occurs in great numbers in a shale connected with the black-band ironstone wrought at Govan and elsewhere. The This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

XXXVI. Exhibition of Carboniferous fish remains

A collection of fish remains from the carboniferous strata of the West of Scotland, including fine examples of Megalichthys Hibberti, and an undescribed species of the same genus; jaws with teeth of Rhizodus sauroides —these last being among the finest yet found in the Lanarkshire coal-field; and also numerous specimens of palatal teeth, and bones of placoid fishes of the genera Cochliodus, Petalodus, and Ctenodus, all of which were briefly described. This 70-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

Palichthyologic Notes. No. 5.—On two new species of Placoid Fishes from the Coal Measures

Some years have now elapsed since I first became aware of the occurrence of a large species of Cestraciont in the shale-beds of the Lanarkshire coal-field; but I have postponed from time to time the task of describing it, partly from an unwillingness to rush before the public, on the discovery of each new species, with inconsiderate haste in the general scramble for priority of credit, now, I regret to say, so much the vogue, but principally in the hopes that some cognate materials might come to light to render the communication more worthy of the time and attention of the Society. The recent discovery of a second species, and the increased and increasing interest which the researches of the last few years have imparted to the fauna of the Carboniferous epoch, may perhaps now be considered a sufficient justification for the present memoir, meagre tough it be. The first specimen which attracted my attention to this subject was a defence-bone discovered by a collector named Doran in the black shales of the Carluke district. This is now in the British Museum. Similar rays have since been found in several localities. The Museum of Practical Geology possesses specimens from the Talwyn works, near Mold in North Wales, in shale; and from Hady, near Chesterfield, in ironstone. And Lord Enniskiilen and myself have several very perfect examples from the neighbourhood of Dalkeith, where they are associated with finer specimens of Gyracanthus spines than I have seen from any other locality. Ctenacanthus