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TORRIDONIAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 62 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TORRIDONIAN , in See also:

geology, a See also:series of pre-See also:Cambrian arenaceous sediments extensively See also:developed in the See also:north-See also:west high-lands of See also:Scotland and particularly in the neighbourhood of upper See also:Loch Torridon, a circumstance which suggested the name Torridon See also:Sandstone, first applied to these rocks by J. See also:Nicol. The rocks are mainly red and See also:chocolate sandstones, arkoses, flagstones and shales with coarse conglomerates locally at the See also:base. Some of the materials of these rocks were derived from the underlying Lewisian See also:gneiss, upon the uneven See also:surface of which they See also:rest; but the bulk of the material was obtained from rocks that are nowhere now exposed. Upon this See also:ancient denuded See also:land surface the Torridonian strata rest horizontally or with See also:gentle inclination. Their outcrop extends in a See also:belt of variable breadth from Cape Wrath to the Point of See also:Sleet in See also:Skye, See also:running in a N.N.E.-S.S.W. direction through See also:Ross-See also:shire and See also:Sutherlandshire. They See also:form the isolated See also:mountain peaks of Canisp, Quinag and Suilven in the neighbourhood of Loch Assynt, of Slioch near Loch See also:Maree and other hills. They attain their maximum development in the Applecross, See also:Gairloch and Torridon districts, form the greater See also:part of Scalpay, and occur also in See also:Rum, Raasay, Soay and the Crowlin Islands. The Torridonian rocks have been subdivided into three See also:groups: an upper Aultbea See also:group, 3000-5000 ft.; a See also:middle or Applecross group, 6000-8000 ft.; and a See also:lower or Diabeg group, 500 ft. in Gairloch but reaching a thickness of 7200 ft. in Skye. See " The See also:Geological Structure of the North-West See also:Highlands of Scotland," Mem. Geol. Survey (See also:Glasgow, 1907).

(J. A.

End of Article: TORRIDONIAN

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