East Kirkton Quarry, or simply East Kirkton, is a former limestone quarry in West Lothian, Scotland, now a renowned fossil site. The quarry is known for terrestrial and freshwater fossils about 335 million years old, from the late Viséan stage of the Mississippian subperiod (Early Carboniferous Period).[1][2][3] The quarry is a 200-meter-long (~650 ft) depression located in the town of Bathgate. Geographically, it sits at the Bathgate Hills near the center of the Midland Valley, a fossil-rich region of southeast Scotland.[4] The site is dominated by volcanic tuff, limestone, and silica deposits of large freshwater lakes associated with hot springs and local basaltic (high-iron) volcanism. Three geological intervals are exposed: the East Kirkton Limestone (oldest), Little Cliff Shale (middle), and Geikie Tuff (youngest).
The East Kirkton Limestone in particular has produced numerous well-preserved fossils of tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) and arthropods (multi-legged chitinous invertebrates like millipedes and arachnids). East Kirkton had been ignored by paleontologists since the 1840s, but Scottish fossil collector Stan Wood managed to procure the land in 1985, sparking a rush of scientific interest. New species from East Kirkton have been named on a regular basis since 1990, and nearly all of these species have been found nowhere else. Notable discoveries include Westlothiana (one of the most reptile-like Mississippian tetrapods), Balanerpeton (a common early representative of amphibians in the group Temnospondyli), and Pulmonoscorpius (the largest known terrestrial scorpion). The East Kirkton area represents an unconventional environment: dry woodlands and mineral-rich lakes nestled among volcanic cinder cones. Aquatic animals, though not uncommon, are less diverse than those found in the swampy coal forests and coastal sediments prevalent at other Scottish Carboniferous fossil sites. The prevalence of terrestrial organisms represents a broader trend of decreasing reliance on an amphibious lifestyle during the Carboniferous Period.
^Rolfe, W. D. Ian (1993). "Preface". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 84 (3–4): 175. doi:10.1017/S0263593300005976. ISSN 1755-6910.
^East Kirkton, Bathgate (GCR ID: 2757) Archived 5 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine in Dineley, D. and Metcalf, S. (1999) Fossil Fishes of Great Britain, Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 16, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough, 675 pp. Chapter 15: Sites of British Fossil stem Tetrapoda and Amphibia. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
^White, T. & Kazlev, M.A. (2004): Paleozoic Sites, part 2 Archived 2010-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, from Palaeos website.
^Benton, M. (2005): Vertebrate Palaeontology 3rd edition. Blackwell Publishing
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EastKirktonQuarry, or simply EastKirkton, is a former limestone quarry in West Lothian, Scotland, now a renowned fossil site. The quarry is known for...
an extinct genus of early reptiliomorph found by Stan Wood in the EastKirktonQuarry of West Lothian, Scotland, in a sequence from the Brigantian substage...
counted and lignin remnants detected in the plant material. A disused quarry at EastKirkton in the Bathgate Hills is the location where the Carboniferous fossil...
It is known from two fossil specimens found within the Viséan-age EastKirktonQuarry in West Lothian. The type and only species, E. rolfei, was named...
and is the earliest and most common tetrapod in the EastKirkton Limestone of the EastKirktonQuarry assemblage of terrestrial amphibians in Scotland....
lizziae (affectionately referred to as Lizzie), was discovered in EastKirktonQuarry, Bathgate in 1987; it is now in the Museum of Scotland. Early in...
origin of the higher labyrinthodonts. Finds from this period found in EastKirktonQuarry includes the peculiar, probably secondarily aquatic Crassigyrinus...
Cunswick Scar Dinosaur Valley State Park Durupınar site Dudley Tunnel EastKirktonQuarry Elliot Formation English Riviera Geopark Falls of the Ohio State...
lizards. The type specimen was discovered in the EastKirkton Limestone at the EastKirktonQuarry in 1984. West Lothian was extensively settled in prehistoric...
The holotype was collected in the EastKirktonQuarry, near Bathgate of West Lothian, from "Bed 82" EastKirkton Limestone of the Bathgate Hills Volcanic...
of Scotland, 27 kilometres (16.8 miles) to the west of Edinburgh, EastKirktonQuarry contains deposits that were once a freshwater lake near a volcano...
recovered from Unit 82, a Viséan-epoch layer of black shale found at the EastKirktonQuarry of Scotland. Four of these specimens were described by English paleontologist...
A. (2011). "A new microsaur from the early Carboniferous (Viséan) of EastKirkton, Scotland, showing soft tissue evidence". Special Papers in Palaeontology...
Dunnichen Stone. The stone was initially erected at the unidentified "Kirkton Church", either in Dunnichen or in Letham, then it was moved to the garden...
in Kirkton of Auchterhouse, and aerial photography has since revealed further sites at East Adamston, Bonnyton, Burnhead of Auchterhouse and Quarry House...
example, the kirk session dealt with minor misdemeanors, such as a man from Kirkton (New Kirk) fined for "swearing wickedly and doing actual violence to his...
as a tumulus. Privately owned until the 1950s, the cairn was used as a quarry for paving stones. This activity, which threatened to destroy the monument...
Reservoir Waulkmill Glen Reservoir Walton Dam Glanderston Dam Snypes Dam Kirkton Dam Harelaw Reservoir, Fereneze Golf Course Harelaw Reservoir, Eaglesham...
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