The Suisnish Layered Dyke

G. R. Parslow
Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Regina, Regina, Canada, S4S 0A2

Summary: A minor picritic body at Suisnish Point, Isle of Skye, is described. The mass has a dyke-like form, and is rhythmically layered. Cryptic layering, however, is absent. From a study of the field relations, contacts, metamorphic aureole, and other physical features, it is concluded that the mass crystallized in situ (i.e. it is a true dyke) and is not an upfaulted block of pre-existing igneous rock. The main physical and chemical features of the layered units and their mineralogy are described. The problems of generating horizontal rhythmic layers in a relatively small, essentially vertical, planar intrusion are discussed. It is concluded that the surrounding country rock was maintained at a moderate temperature during, and after, intrusion of the picritic magma and that this allowed a combination of gravity settling and magma flow currents to produce a cumulate rock with characters normally only observed in much larger intrusions.

Mineralogical Magazine; September 1976 v. 40; no. 315; p. 683-693; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1976.040.315.02
© 1976, The Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Society (www.minersoc.org)