SBRX@XRBS? Some big rock xenoliths @ X-Random Bank in Scotland!
Throughout the 20th century, the town of Burnside was served by a well known bank at 272 Stonelaw Road, before it closed in 2017. Today the old bank is occupied by a pharmacy, but the granite cladding remains unchanged and this is where we will make our observations for this earthcache.
Xenoliths - what are they? Literally translating as “foreign rocks”, xenoliths are pre-existing rocks swallowed up during the creation of other rocks. The terms is usually, but not always used to describe inclusions in igneous rocks, such as this example embedded in granite. A key factor in a true xenolith is that it must be observably different from the surrounding rock which contains it.
Granite is an igneous rock, formed when magma in the Earth’s crust cools below the surface and solidifies. The surrounding area during cooling is known as country rock and it insulates the magma so that it cools slowly, resulting in an intrusive rock with large crystals. This leads to a very hard and an aesthetically pleasing rock, extremely popular in construction. If part of the country rock breaks off during the cooling and solidification process, a xenolith is formed.
Stand just left of the entrance and you will see the panels below. We will focus on the area blurred out in white below:
Questions:
- In your own words, describe how the xenolith got into this granite?
- What shape and colour is the xenolith?
- How does the appearance of the xenolith compare to the appearance of the granite?
- What is the approximate length and width of the xenolith?
- OPTIONAL. A picture of you or a personal item at ground zero.