Geology Field Trip to Ross of Mull
Posted: Saturday, 15 December 2007 |
Saturday the 15th was the date for our third field trip. Weather looked OK, if not brilliant so we decided to go for it. The idea is that field trips are an integral part of the course and I try to get as much variety in them as possible. The Ross of Mull really is a gem as far as geology is concerned - there is so much to see in a relatively small area. I dont care for hyperbole laiden expressions like "amazing" "wonderful" and "fantastic" , but if I did , I would probably use them!
Anyway, we met up in the car park at Fionnphort and set off to look at some rocks. We were joined by Dr John Faithfull, a professional geologist who knows , the area intimately and this added an extra dimension to the whole trip. If you are reading this, John, many thanks again for taking the time - we all learned tons!
This sort of thing is always best explained in pictures so lets go:
First stop was to the rocks just south of Fionnphort jetty, where the granite (pink) has been intruded by a dioritic rock (grey in colour) The contrast is good. John explained in quite a bit of detail about what was actually happening here - good to get that in-depth knowledge - you can only get so much from books. Getting it from a professional geologist who has had papers published is so much better!
As you can see, the sea was quite rough NExt stop was the cafe then over to the granite quarry at Tormore. There is a neat rock face here where you can see the holes made to split the rock during quarrying:
Then down the path to the shore, past some very nicely made dry-stone walls of granite:
.
There is a fascinating little cave near the shore - its even got a window....
There are a lot of dykes and stuff running through the granite here. We learned a lot about some fascinating research that has been done on these rocks, some of it only recently published. The dykes contain "xenoliths", pieces of rock that have been brought up from grreat depths. By studying these it has been ascertained that they must have originated in the Upper Mantle. ie a very long way down!
Here's a dyke which has been eroded out to leave sort of cleft running up the hill:
And then it was back to the cars at the slipway, passing by the huge split boulder on the beach:
After lunch it was off to Ardtun for a look at the famous leaf beds. Didnt find any convincing looking leaves, but the scenery is spectacular here and it is always worth a visit. We really need to come here at low tide sometime to get a good view of things - the rocks on the shore are interesting but the tide was just a bit high. Got soaked in other words.....
Here's the gully where the leaves are found:
And yes it is quite steep and loose - if you go there, be careful.
Neil hunts for leaves:
The weather was starting to get a bit wild and anyway, it was time to head back. We had a really good day - I know we had been there before, but these are the sorts of places you just keep going back to and never get tired of.
Anyway, its off to Iona again on Tuesday and hey, the forecast is for sun. Maybe be back blogging again quite soon....
See you!
JW (MM)
Anyway, we met up in the car park at Fionnphort and set off to look at some rocks. We were joined by Dr John Faithfull, a professional geologist who knows , the area intimately and this added an extra dimension to the whole trip. If you are reading this, John, many thanks again for taking the time - we all learned tons!
This sort of thing is always best explained in pictures so lets go:
First stop was to the rocks just south of Fionnphort jetty, where the granite (pink) has been intruded by a dioritic rock (grey in colour) The contrast is good. John explained in quite a bit of detail about what was actually happening here - good to get that in-depth knowledge - you can only get so much from books. Getting it from a professional geologist who has had papers published is so much better!
As you can see, the sea was quite rough NExt stop was the cafe then over to the granite quarry at Tormore. There is a neat rock face here where you can see the holes made to split the rock during quarrying:
Then down the path to the shore, past some very nicely made dry-stone walls of granite:
.
There is a fascinating little cave near the shore - its even got a window....
There are a lot of dykes and stuff running through the granite here. We learned a lot about some fascinating research that has been done on these rocks, some of it only recently published. The dykes contain "xenoliths", pieces of rock that have been brought up from grreat depths. By studying these it has been ascertained that they must have originated in the Upper Mantle. ie a very long way down!
Here's a dyke which has been eroded out to leave sort of cleft running up the hill:
And then it was back to the cars at the slipway, passing by the huge split boulder on the beach:
After lunch it was off to Ardtun for a look at the famous leaf beds. Didnt find any convincing looking leaves, but the scenery is spectacular here and it is always worth a visit. We really need to come here at low tide sometime to get a good view of things - the rocks on the shore are interesting but the tide was just a bit high. Got soaked in other words.....
Here's the gully where the leaves are found:
And yes it is quite steep and loose - if you go there, be careful.
Neil hunts for leaves:
The weather was starting to get a bit wild and anyway, it was time to head back. We had a really good day - I know we had been there before, but these are the sorts of places you just keep going back to and never get tired of.
Anyway, its off to Iona again on Tuesday and hey, the forecast is for sun. Maybe be back blogging again quite soon....
See you!
JW (MM)
Comments
Thanks MM, great photos again. Loved the stripy rocks and the Hobbit cave (was it ever lived in, I wonder?) and those lovely rounded granite boulders. What are leaf beds?
Jill from EK
Love the pictures.
Hyper-Borean from Lake Orcadie
Jill, John told us that the cave is called "Uamh nam Marbh" - the Cave of the Dead. Good name eh? Would you want to spend a night there? The window in it is really neat - must be man made - highly unlikely that , given the nature of the rest of the granite that you would get a big cavity like that. As for the Leaf Beds, these are thin sedimentary layers, silt, shale and stuff like that in amongst the lava flows - reckoned to represent periods of quiet between the volcanic activity episodes, when plants would have colonised lakes (lochs?) in the area - the leaves that are found now are the fossils that are left. Famous locality and well worth a visit
MM from Tob
Amazing pictures. You would make an incredible tour guide. Your part of the world is also fascinating geologically.. I understand NM is also quite interesting, but the guide books I can lay my hands on are rather humdrum, and I don't know of any local "Mountainman." Ignorance is not bliss, that much I know.
mjc from NM,USA
Ah, a Hobbit funeral home, perhaps. But the presence of the window would make it a des. res. to a local hunter gatherer, surely? And do you have any pics of these leaves? I know you didn't find any on this trip, but I wondered if you had any earlier ones. They sound intriguing.
Jill from EK
I havn't found leaves yet, heard of the famous fossil tree just off Burgh - is it good? But I often find ammonites ( the right expression?) just in the rubble, around here it's just a case of keeping your eyes open.
sz from bunessan
where are you hiding MM are you okay??
carol from still in nz
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
RSS Feed