The record of coal exploration in the Ordovician-Silurian in the Southern Uplands of Scotland and the north of Ireland

Abstract

The Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane (SUDLT) saw exploration for coal in Ordovician-Silurian marine rocks for several centuries, including well after it was understood that land plant coals would not occur in such rocks. Some lithologies were so carbonaceous that a fuel of sorts was mined. The record of this exploration and mining activity is mostly forgotten, but there are diverse sources to show that it was widespread. Exploration was mostly inspired by outcrops of Moffat Shale, in which deformation and hydrocarbon generation left coal-like products. The hydrocarbon origin conferred high calorific value to the fuel, so it did burn and encouraged exploration. The deposits show that an accretionary prism can be a reservoir of locally abundant carbon.