Permian intermontane basin sedimentation in southern Scotland

Towards the end of the Carboniferous period, several isolated basins were eroded into Carboniferous sediments lying within the Lower Palaeozoic Southern Uplands massif. Eruption of basaltic lava flows ensued, followed by deposition of thin pediment breccias as desert conditions became established, leading to the development of extensive aeolian sands which interfinger with alluvial fan breccias at the basin margins. Such intermontane desert basins have rarely been documented in the stratigraphic record and the Permian deposits are here compared to similar deposits and processes operating in Recent intermontane desert basins. A number of breccia types have been distinguished, some attributable to secondary reworking of deflation areas on alluvial fans, and the deposits of streamfloods, braided streams, sheetfloods and desert-floor ephemeral streams have been recognised.