| P number: | P519708 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Specimen of marble from Tiree, Argyllshire, Scotland |
| Description: | The sample is a cut slab of marble from the Hebridean island of Tiree. It has a distinctive rich pinkish colour with large dark greenish-black patches, making it a very attractive rock that was exploited for decorative purposes. The specimen is of Precambrian, Lewisian age. British Geological Survey Petrology Collection sample number EMC 5697. The main outcrop of marble on Tiree occurs as a large irregular mass several tens of metres across surrounded by gneiss, exposed in the Balephetrish Quarry. The rock is composed of granular calcite with subordinate dolomite, and a green pyroxene called salite, a calcium- and magnesium-rich diopside. It also contains less common dark green amphibole, rare greenish-brown mica and sphene. The discovery of marble on both Tiree and Iona led to the founding of the Argyle Marble Company which was established to quarry the marbles in both islands. This may have been as a result of a visit to the Hebrides by the German geologist Rudolph Erich Raspe around 1789. |
| Date taken: | Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT 2003 |
| Photographer: | Bain, T.S. |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 169.33 KB; 1000 x 775 pixels; 85 x 66 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 205 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Unsorted Images |
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