Palaeogeographical evolution of the Lower Old Red Sandstone basin in the western Midland Valley

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Abstract
Synopsis: Lower Old Red Sandstone rocks in the western Midland Valley form a red-bed sequence of probable alluvial origin. They accumulated in a NE-SW elongated basin linked in its early stages of development with similar depositional conditions in North Argyll. The basin, whilst changing its morphology with time, maintained a regional south-westerly dipping palaeoslope with deposition in a longitudinally draining floodplain environment replaced by laterally draining alluvial fans close to the inferred northern margins of the basin. A lithostratigraphy is proposed within which rocks are attributed to four distinct groups corresponding to those recognized in the NE Midland Valley. Within this lithostrarigraphical framework changes in sedimentation, palaeogeography and tectonic controls can be studied through time. The sedimentation time-trends suggest that along the northern margin deposition was controlled by faulting which, west of Loch Lomond, probably occurred along small normal faults shifting their location with time. Any extension of the Highland Boundary Fault into this western area was ineffective as a major feature either controlling deposition or defining the basin margins.

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