Iona then Ardtun for a walk
Posted: Thursday, 21 June 2007 |
The longest day and it was back to Iona for a hard days work. I love being able to say "Aye, nights fair drawin' in!" after the Solstice. Anyway, the longest day was a very sunny one in Iona, so after battling with the forces of intel, Microsoft and BT, it was up the road to Tob , but with a quick walk to Ardtun in between.
There are some rather nice basaltic columns in that area, and very accesible too - only about 20 minutes quick walk from the road, so its good if you want a quick top up of geology. A hefty dose of Geology during the day and a shot of Astronomy at night works wonders. I've got an 8" reflector in case anyone is wondering.... However at this time of year, the Astro is a thoroughly anti-social affair and probably good grounds for divorce... Cant help it if its only a wee bit dark at 1 am....
Anyway, back to the basalt. Heres a wodge of pics for you.
The view looking towards the east - a fine dramatic shoreline
the view over towards Ardmeanach - light wasnt great today but maybe that just adds to the atmosphere
A channel cut through the rocks
A close up view of the rocks at sea level - covered in barnacles - that's why they look creamy white. Compare that with the dark rock above sea level - its the same rock!
The polygonal structure of the basalt is well seen here. Note a lot of the columns are not vertical, and some are curved as well. Like in this next pic:
close up in this one:
Some of the other inhabitants:
Some thrift and heres an urchin:
It was time to head back, so just a final look round - there is actually a lot to see here. Cutting across the basalt is a sill - these are common all throughout Mull - sometimes they can be quite obvious, other times more subtle. They were intruded between the basalt layers after the basalt had been extruded. Sills basically run between other strata, dykes on the other hand cut across. This sill is a bit of a text book example:
The rock is quite different from the basalt. Here is a close up view of the contact between the two:
Finally, here is a pic of the view from the track back towards Bunessan. Not a great pic but it finishes off the set. See you soon!
There are some rather nice basaltic columns in that area, and very accesible too - only about 20 minutes quick walk from the road, so its good if you want a quick top up of geology. A hefty dose of Geology during the day and a shot of Astronomy at night works wonders. I've got an 8" reflector in case anyone is wondering.... However at this time of year, the Astro is a thoroughly anti-social affair and probably good grounds for divorce... Cant help it if its only a wee bit dark at 1 am....
Anyway, back to the basalt. Heres a wodge of pics for you.
The view looking towards the east - a fine dramatic shoreline
the view over towards Ardmeanach - light wasnt great today but maybe that just adds to the atmosphere
A channel cut through the rocks
A close up view of the rocks at sea level - covered in barnacles - that's why they look creamy white. Compare that with the dark rock above sea level - its the same rock!
The polygonal structure of the basalt is well seen here. Note a lot of the columns are not vertical, and some are curved as well. Like in this next pic:
close up in this one:
Some of the other inhabitants:
Some thrift and heres an urchin:
It was time to head back, so just a final look round - there is actually a lot to see here. Cutting across the basalt is a sill - these are common all throughout Mull - sometimes they can be quite obvious, other times more subtle. They were intruded between the basalt layers after the basalt had been extruded. Sills basically run between other strata, dykes on the other hand cut across. This sill is a bit of a text book example:
The rock is quite different from the basalt. Here is a close up view of the contact between the two:
Finally, here is a pic of the view from the track back towards Bunessan. Not a great pic but it finishes off the set. See you soon!
Comments
MountainMan, Thanks for the great pictures, the geology lesson too. I know what you mean about astonomy in the summer time. I'm afraid that I'm not much os a night owl, so I don't get much observing time in. -- CVBruce
CVBruce from CA,USA
Thank you so much for blogging. My heart aches everyday that I am away from Mull. (my wife and I were married there 21 June 2006). All of these pictures ease the pain.
JD from CA
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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