The age and tectonic significance of the Bute amphibolite, Highland Border Complex, Scotland

Abstract
Sm–Nd and K–Ar isotopic determinations on an amphibolite from the Highland Border Complex yield Cambrian ages. Collisional events which might have generated the amphibolite appear incompatible with the passive margin character of Laurentia at that time. A possible explanation is that the part of the Highland Border Complex containing the amphibolite and associated rock units was generated outside Laurentia.