Permian 290 - 250 Ma ( Arran at 13-32 degrees North)

Continuing its northwards drift, Scotland moved into the same latitudes that contain many of the world’s modern deserts and the wind blown sands of the Permian are testament to this. The Sub-Saharan type of environment, with deposition of red aeolian sandstones (Corrie Sandstone) and flash flood conglomerates (Brodick Breccia), is well represented on Arran and covers nearly half of the southern part of the island.

Good outcrops of Permian can be seen olong the coast from Corrie to Lamlash. At Corrie, opposite Colonel Laird’s bench, the first wind blown sand deposits can be seen to rest unconformably on the last white fluvial sandstones of the Carboniferous. The unconformity represents a break in deposition and major climatic change.

The red aeolian sandstones are easily workable and have been quarried on Arran for use in construction. Of notable interest is the presence of a fossilized lightening strike preserved in the dune bedded Permain sandstones at Corrie and the Cock of Arran. Such structures are referred to as fulgurites, and consist of a tube of fused sand with softer sediment filling in the middle. The Permian represents half of the lithostratigraphical unit referred to as the New Red sandstone, the other half is represented by the Triassic.